Ladysmith KZN: Don’t fall prey to tender scam

uThukela District Municipality would like to warn residents about a tender scam. Emails are evidently circulating that ask potential bidders to pay money to a ‘municipal official’ in order to secure tenders. These scammers appear to have hacked the Internet and are using the email address of a senior uThukela official to communicate with targeted victims.

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It is alleged that the con artists phone potential victims, informing them that they have been awarded a particular tender. They ask the unsuspecting victim to deposit money via e-wallet as a ‘golden handshake’ for being awarded a tender in the municipality.

uThukela District Municipality wishes to inform the public that they follow strict Supply Chain Management processes in accordance with the Supply Chain Management Policy and Municipal Finance Management Act when procuring goods and services.

Service providers are urged to be vigilant and to carefully scrutinize any tender communication, be it a phone call or via email, that purports to be from the municipality. The public is also notified that those people who are currently calling service providers are not in the employ of uThukela.

Remember that participating in the process of awarding tenders is free of charge, and no fees are required.

Service providers are therefore encouraged to keep in contact with their Supply Chain Management section to verify their bid status by calling 0366385100 / 2400.

The municipality urges the public to report any suspected fraud to law enforcement authorities.

An investigation is currently underway.

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