Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa seeks to cancel controversial GladAfrica contract
Tshwane's contract with GladAfrica sparked tension between Mokgalapa's predecessor, Solly Msimanga, and city manager Moeketsi Mosola, who was being probed as a result of the contract
New Tshwane mayor Stevens Mokgalapa has decided to end engineering consultants GladAfrica’s controversial contract with the city.
Now the city council, in which the DA-led coalition needs the support of the ANC or the EFF to pass any decision, will have to approve his plans.
The contract with GladAfrica has been at the heart of tension between Mokgalapa's predecessor, former mayor Solly Msimanga and city manager Moeketsi Mosola, who was being investigated as a result of the contract, in which procurement irregularities were alleged.
Mokgalapa said on Monday at a media briefing in Tshwane that during his inaugural address, he said he would deal with the irregular expenditure incurred as a result of the GladAfrica contract.
“To this end I am pleased to announce my intention to terminate the consultancy agreement between the City of Tshwane and GladAfrica project managers by mutual consent on June 30 2019.
“As such I intend to take a report to this week’s ordinary sitting of council to this effect and ask council to support me in bringing this matter to a close so that we may focus on providing decent basic services to the people of Tshwane,” Mokgalapa said.
He said he would ask the council to consider terminating the agreement, and that the city must implement the auditor-general’s recommendations on the irregular expenditure incurred by the GladAfrica contract, as well as all other irregular expenditure for the 2017/2018 financial year.
He will also ask the council to establish a financial misconduct board so that it can consider all associated material that led to the conclusion of the GladAfrica contract, and make recommendations about what steps to follow to ensure that the officials responsible are appropriately dealt with.
“This includes, but is not limited to, the city manager’s involvement in all matters related to GladAfrica,” Mokgalapa said.
The council will also be asked to approve processes to procure new project management services with immediate effect. GladAfrica will be put on a strict performance plan and monitoring to complete work already in progress by the financial year end.
He also disclosed that an amount of R495,718,909.52 had been spent on the GladAfrica contract from its inception to February 20 2019 and that it is anticipated that at the end of the 2018/2019 financial year end, an additional R250m would be incurred.