City tries to cancel fleet contract
"When the multiparty government took power in August, we found the metro’s fleet [division] in a shambles,"
Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga has revealed that the metro would launch a legal bid to extricate itself from a fleet contract it suspected was riddled with corruption and wastage.
A forensic report earlier implicated a former metro service provider in corrupt collusion with officials, he said.
“When the multiparty government took power in August, we found the metro’s fleet [division] in a shambles,” he added.
– Officials could not account for the thousands vehicles leased to or owned by the metro.
– Hundreds of vehicles due for repairs or maintenance stood idle at metro depots.
– No coherent system or standard procedures applied to the metro’s management of vehicles.
– The capacity of the metro to do even a minor service had completely diminished, severely affecting service delivery.
“The shambolic state of the City’s fleet pointed not only to the breakdown of internal controls and capacity, but to delinquent service providers,” he said.
“The metro will apply to the high court for a declaratory order to confirm that no agreement between the City and the Moipone Group of Companies ever came into existence.
“We will also appeal an interdict obtained by Moipone which prevents us from procuring fleet management services from other service providers.”
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Rekord understands that the metro had entered into a public-private partnership (PPP) with Moipone for the exclusive supply, repair and maintenance of the metro’s vehicles.
“Moipone never had the capacity to perform its obligations under the PPP, never complied with the suspensive condition in the in the contract – to provide a guarantee to the metro,” said Msimanga.
“In other words, Moipone never had the goods to deliver.
“This is the basis on which the metro is now approaching the high court to declare that our supposed contract with Moipone never came about.
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“If we discover that the PPP was an attempt at state capture by politically connected tenderpreneurs, we will also cancel other agreements under the PPP.”
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