The City of Tshwane will be approaching the courts yet again to get out of another botched contract deal after a “massive” irregular property transaction that deeply affected the finances of the city was uncovered.
According to MMC for corporate and shared services Cilliers Brink, the previous ANC government and former city manager Jason Ngobeni approved a 99-year lease deal between the city and private company Tsoseletso Consortium.
The deal initially involved the sale of 128 council-owned properties to Tsoseletso to supposedly build student accommodation. But council approved the deal in 2011 without being informed that the alienated land would be used by the city for municipal service delivery, Brink explained.
“At the time, councillors were not informed that the alienated land might in fact be needed for the purposes of municipal service delivery. In 2013, the deal was changed to a 99-year lease by the municipal council, but the deal Ngobeni concluded [with] Tsoseletso’s shelf company, Zambli 279 Properties (Pty) Ltd, went way beyond what the municipal council had ever authorised.”
ALSO READ: Court declares R5m a day contract between Tshwane and two service providers invalid
For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
