The ANC-led Rand West District Municipality has awarded a tender valued at R76.18 million to a state official.
This information was revealed in the Auditor-General’s report regarding the state of municipal finances for the 2023/2024 financial year.
This pattern of officials doing business with the state is concerning and indicates a breakdown of processes within the municipality.
This results in residents not receiving adequate service delivery such as access to refuse removal, water and electricity.
What is actually unfolding right before our eyes, is that officials are lining their pockets with money from tenders that should not have been awarded in the first place while basic service delivery is collapsing.
This takes us on a journey to a place found deep in Rand West City, in a tavern frequented by residents, where a cautionary tale is being told to a passerby:
There is something sinister roaming the corridors of the ANC-led Rand West City Local Municipality. It leaves the roads riddled with potholes, yet it does not drive. It dries out the reservoirs, yet it does not drink water. It does not pay rates, yet it has an enormous appetite for public money.
A gust of wind makes the windows rattle and a collective shudder runs through the crowd as a biting chill enters the air. The locals murmur uneasily among themselves in hushed tones. There are muffled movements as those standing nervously shift from foot to foot. They look warily at one another as someone whispers under their breath: “It is known as the Tender.”
The Tender grows bigger and bigger as it feasts on poor planning that creates avoidable emergencies. It smacks its lips at contracts awarded without adequate competition or transparency. It grinds its teeth over projects that have been paid for but left incomplete. It salivates at repeated deviations and contract extensions.
Its belly growls at the prospect of weak contractor monitoring and investigations that never seem to reach a conclusion. It gobbles down political leaders who “note” reports instead of enforcing consequences and then picks them out of its teeth. Every time accountability is postponed, the Tender gets another meal and releases a satisfied belch.
The Tender’s meal is now increased by unfair property taxes, that kill businesses and rob households, to make sure the plate is always filled. The rot in Randwest tenders must be stopped. The increase in appetite has grown because of lack of consequences and accountability.
As it grows, contracts consume money, roads crumble and remain unrepaired, water leaks continue, streetlights stay broken, parks and public spaces deteriorate, refuse services become unreliable and municipal buildings and equipment fall into decline. The contractor’s invoice arrives on time, while the service rarely does.
The Tender’s caretakers are the ANC-led mayoral committee, senior administration and governing councillors. They are responsible for controlling the creature. However, it is safer to say that the creature controls them, using their own greed for money and power against them.
These political handlers are easily swayed by the assurances of the beast and are willing to do its bidding in exchange for the tempting promise of personal gain. They try to deflect blame for the unruly beast by claiming that procurement is a technical matter. However, elected leaders approve budgets, receive oversight reports, and have a duty to demand consequences.
It is a failure on behalf of the ANC-led political leadership that is caused by a lack of oversight, secrecy and inaction. The Tender may live in the supply chain office but it is protected in the council chamber.
The creature’s favourite word is “emergency”, a cue that sparks excitement and it responds in haste. Poor planning results in urgent procurement and the Tender loves emergencies, especially those that could have been foreseen months in advance.
There are indeed legitimate emergencies. However, most emergencies arise from predictable infrastructure problems that could have been avoided through proper management. Urgency is often used to weaken competition, public scrutiny, and proper planning.
Once a year, the auditors enter the cave, count the bones and produce a report. The council receives it, expresses disingenuous concern and flippantly promises to improve. The Tender lazily lifts its head and slowly blinks, unfazed. It is familiar with the ritual and simply goes back to eating. After all, this happens all the time.
There is an initial uproar whenever Rand West City faces financial scandals, such as National Treasury funding freezes, R1.5 billion in alleged mismanagement and irregular multimillion-rand tenders. The uproar eventually dies down and nothing changes. The Tender’s food supply remains as secure as ever.
Behind the joke lies a far less humorous reality: residents who cannot afford municipal failure; struggling families who cannot afford increasing taxes while water continues to leak into the streets; and businesses that cannot afford to have investors lose confidence in the municipality.
Rand West City could starve the Tender by striving to do the following:
- Disclose contract values, extensions, deviations and completion statuses.
- Introduce public deadlines for investigations.
- Recover losses from responsible officials or contractors where legally justified.
- Strengthen contractor-performance monitoring.
- Blacklist companies that breach contracts, subject to lawful processes.
- Publish Municipal Public Accounts Committee recommendations and progress reports.
- Require political office-bearers to report publicly on unresolved audit findings.
The Tender that ate Rand West City is not unstoppable. It survives on secrecy, weak oversight, and political excuses. Transparency will starve it. Consequence management will restrain it. A competent government will ensure that municipal contracts serve residents instead of consuming their town through corruption.
Rand West City does not need fewer tenders. It needs tenders that build the town instead of eating it.
Jacques Julius is the Democratic Alliance (DA) Rand West mayoral candidate.