POLOKWANE – “It can’t be coincidence. On the last day of the bid, the tender box explodes. It makes no sense.”
This was education spokesperson Paena Galane’s comment to the media yesterday morning after a tender box at the department’s offices in Biccard Street had been set alight, destroying all documents it contained.
“If whoever did this thought we would cancel the tender, they are in for a big shock,” he added.
The box was set alight on the last day of submission of tenders for a R870 million food scheme tender, a contract set to supply food to at least 3 000 schools and over a million learners. The Limpopo education department condemned the incident: “This is a step backward in the provision of this important programme,” Galane said. By 10:00 on Wednesday morning, employees were still standing outside the building as the police searched for clues.
According to a statement handed out by police, a charcoal coloured Mercedes-Benz entered the premises and deposited documents into the box in the early morning hours.
Shortly after the vehicle left the grounds, the box exploded, destroying all its contents. Cases of arson and malicious damage to property have been opened. The war over feeding scheme tenders in the province is not new. In November last year, suppliers’ contracts had been terminated with immediate effect after contaminated food resulted in the hospitalisation of learners in Sekhukhune.
Several schools reported that learners had been taken to hospital after falling ill after eating at school. Food analysed contained traces of crushed glass, stone, poison and expired ingredients.
Learners suffered from diarrhoea, dizziness, vomiting and cramps. An investigation found that an established contractor failed to comply with requirements and standards, both in terms of the quality of the foodstuffs delivered to schools and the condition of its warehouse.
The monitoring team strongly recommended that the supplier, Amandla Karabo, be released from the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) in Limpopo. The monitoring team also recommended that a company named Dingatana’s involvement in the NSNP in Limpopo should be discontinued after several attempts failed to locate the company director and its physical address for inspection.
Galane said the act of sabotage would not hinder the process as the names of prospective bidders have already been recorded.
“At the moment all those who have already submitted the documents will be advised in due course.” Between October 2014 and December 2014, in Vhembe and Mopani, 38 034 learners did not receive their NSNP food due to the non-delivery. R700 million in tender irregularities in the NSNP has been identified by the Auditor General,”
Limpopo leader Jacques Smalle said through a press statement.
The department must open the tender process, make it 100% transparent, and dispel fears that there are violent interests at play in this multi-million rand contract, he said.
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