Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) boss Trevor Abrahams shares a private events management company with his fiancee. The company has tendered for, and benefited from, CAA contracts — as has the fiancee’s brother.
The CAA is the government body responsible for air transport safety in South Africa and reports to Minister of Transport Dullah Omar. Abrahams, a controversial figure close to Omar, is a civil servant and therefore bound by the rules covering government expenditure and tendering.
In September last year Rafael Fortuin, through Carole Fortuin, won a tender to supply the CAA with pilots’ shirts.
Carole Fortuin was asked last year by a CAA official — on the instruction of Abrahams — to look for a company that could provide the CAA with pilots’ shirts. She linked up Rafael Fortuin with the CAA and he secured the deal.
Rafael Fortuin used Mpumelelo Communications’s letterhead for his application for the CAA tender. The tender, though, was awarded to Rafael Fortuin and not Mpumelelo. At this stage, however, the connections between Mpumelelo and Rafael Fortuin were apparent.
The connections were also clear at later stages. The pilots’ shirts the CAA ordered from Rafael Fortuin were delivered to the CAA office by Carole Fortuin.
Abrahams this week denied any conflict of interest. Although he admitted he had specifically asked a CAA official to contact Carole Fortuin to help them identify companies that could provide services needed, he said he was not responsible for the selection process.
”I do not see any conflict of interest where I do not participate in or influence the decision-making in awarding such contracts. If I am aware of any conflict of interest, I declare it as such, as in the case of Mpumelelo’s tender for the September 2001 CAA golf day. I think you need to reflect that having an interest in a supplier does not disqualify such a supplier from providing a service to your company. You must not, however, be involved in or influence the decision-making on the award of the contract,” he said.
Speaking to the M&G this week Rafael Fortuin confirmed that Carole Fortuin contacted him about the R15 000 CAA contract. Rafael Fortuin said he did not have a trading company.
”All the work I do for companies I do in my personal capacity,” he said.
He also confirmed having ”personal” meetings with Abrahams. He denied, however, discussing the details of the CAA contract with Abrahams during their ”personal” meetings.
It is not clear why, if Rafael Fortuin does not own a company, he was chosen as a preferred bidder over the two other companies that bid for the same contract.
Abrahams said he was not happy that only two companies had bid and had asked Jackie Mfeka, former communications manager at the CAA, to contact Carole Fortuin to help her identify other companies in Cape Town.
Rafael Fortuin was identified by Carole Fortuin and introduced to Mfeka.
Abrahams said: ”Jackie Mfeka in fact asked Carole to provide a written quote at short notice as she needed to table it for decision. Hence Carole returned to her home and rushed off the quote on her [Mpumelelo] letterhead.”
Asked why he used Mpumelelo’s letterhead, Rafael Fortuin said: ”She was just doing me a favour. I asked Carole to use Mpumelelo letterheads as Jackie could not accept a verbal quotation from me.”
Rafael Fortuin admitted that he had difficulty getting the CAA to pay him for services he rendered as he did not have a VAT number. He was forced to use the VAT number of his employer, Stalin Clothing, to invoice the CAA. But the CAA refused to pay as Stalin Clothing was not the company that won the tender.
The money was eventually deposited into Rafael Fortuin’s account. CAA officials this week said some of the shirts supplied by Rafael Fortuin had to be sent back to him as they were of ”poor quality”. Rafael Fortuin confirmed that, but said: ”I fixed them up and sent them back to them.”
In May last year Mpumelelo tendered for a contract to manage the CAA’s golf day in Centurion.
The CAA this week said Abrahams and Carole Fortuin declared their interest in Mpumelelo when applying for the tender. In a letter to the CAA, Carlole Fortuin wrote: ”As you are well aware that Trevor Abrahams is my partner, I trust that this will not be seen as a conflict of interest.”
Despite the declaration of interest Mpumelelo’s bid was elected the best after evaluation of three companies, which included Vulindlela Communications, by the CAA’s tender committee.
The CAA this week said that because of the declared statements of interest, the deal was referred to the CAA board chairperson, Israel Skosana, who then disqualified Mpumelelo. Skosana decided that second choice company Vulindlela be awarded the contract in view of Abrahams’s interest and on the grounds that no independent party had participated in the tender evaluation process.
Despite this the M&G has established that Carole Fortuin did play a role in the golf day and that Mpumelelo benefited financially from it. Her involvement was through Trevor Davids Communications, at the time the CAA’s communications consultant.
Trevor Davids Communications played a major role in the golf day and oversaw the work of Vulindlela. Carole Fortuin was sub-contracted by Trevor Davids Communications and her payment was channelled into Mpu-melelo’s bank account. This was confirmed by Carole Fortuin.
In a statement to the M&G the CAA this week said: ”Fortuin was contracted by Trevor Davids Communications, a company that had a pre-existing contract with the CAA to perform various communications functions, to oversee the smooth flow of events on the golf day due to her considerable experience in managing events of this nature.”
The problem in this is that, in the first instance, Abrahams’s fiancee got a job — even if indirectly — from a company that he had to oversee. Secondly, the company in which Abrahams has shares benefited financially from a company he is supposed to oversee.
Trevor Davids, owner of Trevor Davids Communications, is now employed by the CAA as head of communications. He was appointed by Abrahams. In his capacity as owner of Trevor Davids Communications, Davids said Abrahams did not influence him to employ Carole Fortuin. He said the decision to employ her was taken ”at my own discretion and I paid for it myself”.
”I believe that I can engage whomever I wish to engage. There was no obligation on the CAA. It was after I engaged Carole that Trevor [Abrahams] got to know about it,” Davids said.
Speaking of behalf of the CAA Davids said: ”Fortuin was contracted by Trevor Davids Communications in her personal capacity to assist with the golf day on September 4 only as an emergency measure after it became apparent that the events management company, which the CAA had contracted, was having some difficulties in organising the event.”
Last year’s golf day was not the only golf event Carole Fortuin was involved in, however. A company called Lakwela Communications was the successful bidder for the organisation of the CAA’s golf day in May 2000 in Houghton. Shortly after securing the contract Lakwela employed Carole Fortuin, who helped Lakwela with the organisation. The CAA this week said Lakwela was paid R14000 for the golf day.