The ANC-led coalition government of the City of Tshwane has strongly refuted reports of corruption within the municipality.
Mayor Nasiphi Moya, her deputy Eugine Modise, and the full executive presented a united front during a media briefing on Thursday, pledging their full cooperation with the Madlanga Commission.
The leadership challenged city officials to be transparent and avoid implicating political parties.
“At some point, there were allegations in procurement that people were going around saying, ‘Give me this tender; we represent the ANC, the EFF, or ActionSA,’” said Obakeng Ramabodu, the Environmental Affairs MMC and EFF regional leader.
“We are sitting here with clear consciences. We don’t know anything about these allegations. We are considered suspects simply because we are not involved. People are concerned we are not part of it—they thought we would be the first. But we have no companies; we have nothing,” Ramabodu added.
Mayor Moya emphasized the safeguards in place under the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). “The MFMA excludes us from the procurement process entirely. For me to benefit improperly, I would need to collude with at least eight officials in the value chain. That is extremely difficult, and investigations into UIFWs have confirmed this,” she said.
Moya also highlighted challenges inherited from the previous administration. “When we took over, the DA administration left nearly R13 billion in unresolved UIFW matters. Within six months, around R12 billion was investigated and referred to the MPEG, whose chair is here to oversee processing. Today, we are dealing with six confidential reports from MPEG continuing with UIFWs,” she explained, noting the city inherited complicated finances.
She added, “What we are seeing is manipulation within various committees, where officials try to position themselves as preferred bidders. For example, this occurred with the security tender property outcome. Our response is guided by legislation: any instance of UIFW must be investigated and processed. The city manager has a special delegation to address these matters, even outside council processes.”
The Madlanga Commission, which recently resumed after a week-long recess, is expected to continue hearing testimony from city officials regarding alleged tender rigging. Divisional Commissioner Revo Spies told the inquiry that procurement procedures were allegedly manipulated to benefit certain companies, with Chief Financial Officer Gareth Minisi reportedly at the center of the scheme.