Cops crack down on dogdy council tenders - 20/06/2010
Police have raided the Rustenburg Local Municipality offices as an investigation into alleged corruption in the upgrading of stadiums gathers steam. The Times reports that the tender was for the improvement of local facilities so they could be used as practice fields by teams participating in the 2010 World Cup. But poor workmanship means the pitches have not been used.
The South Gauteng Court ruled to lift the veil of secrecy over the 2010 World Cup tendering process. The New Times notes that this came after the Mail and Guardian had made an application for such to the court asking it to force the LOC to release the documents to it. Acting judge Les Morrison ruled that the LOC must turn over such documents to the newspaper within 30 days. The LOC had sought to defend the claim on the grounds that it was not a public entity and as such did not have to comply with public procurement legislation.
The LOC is ’too busy organising the World Cup’ to provide the Mail & Guardian with copies of tender documents. The LOC’s advocate Alfred Cockrell told the South Gauteng High Court on Monday that even if the court grants the M&G access to copies of all tender documents relating to the tournament, it would be ’impossible’ to provide the paper with copies three weeks before the tournament kicks off. Acting judge Len Morison reserved judgment and said he would attempt to rule as soon as possible ’due to the urgency of the matter’.
The Mail & Guardian have taken an application in the South Gauteng High Court against the LOC of the 2010 World Cup and its CE, Danny Jordaan, over their refusal to release any tender documents relating to the tournament. Jordaan and the LOC have refused to disclose any information regarding the tenders awarded to provide a range of services during the 2010 World Cup and the 2009 Confederation Cup. This includes the name of companies to which these contracts were given and the value of the tenders.
The Sunday World has uncovered damning criticism from the National Intelligence Agency of a firm providing security for the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium during World Cup. Nationwide Security was awarded a security tender, worth in R18m, in February. According to sources of the Sunday World the contract may be cancelled by the LOC. The Sunday World asserts that Nationwide Security will be replaced with the South African Police Service, who are gearing up for the possibility of taking over the World Cup’s security functions.
With just 20 days to kick-off, security arrangements for the Nelson Mandela Bay World Cup stadium have been thrown into disarray, notes a Daily Dispatch report. According to highly placed sources, the LOC is preparing to oust the stadium’s nominated security provider, with police bracing for the possibility of taking over all security for the event.
Alleged fraud linked to 2010 World Cup tenders amounting to tens of millions of rands is behind the arrest of municipal officials in Stellenbosch, a senior official revealed. And more officials are to be arrested soon as the investigation by the elite Hawks unit is widened to include more Boland municipalities. The five former officials, who include an ex-mayor and an ex-deputy mayor, are to make their first court appearance in Stellenbosch. The Cape Times has also learnt that one of the accused has turned state witness and will provide the state with vital information.
The sky is not the limit for emerging black entrepreneur Mandla Sibeko (31), whose lucky star shone at the right time, helping him scoop a multimillion rand FIFA deal to handle the entire look and feel of the 2010 World Cup. Sibeko, who grew up in rural Mpumalanga and owns 40% of Icon SA, a partnership with a UK-based company, declined to disclose the deal’s monetary value, but confirmed that the contract will create 3000 jobs nationwide from, among others, production and installations.
SA flags with a ’made in China’ label 30/04/2010
South Africans are flying their flags high, showing support for the national team Bafana Bafana, notes a Mail & Guardian report. Although most South Africans don’t expect Bafana to win, this hasn’t stopped the excitement. Proof lies in the South African flags fluttering from moving cars and side mirrors dressed in flag ’socks’. But as South Africa prepares to host the 2010 World Cup, China is also hard at work. ’We have received a government mandate to help distribute over 47m South African flags ahead of the World Cup as part of the Fly Your Flag for Football Campaign,’ said Aden Samuels, director of National Flag & Branding company.
With the 2010 World Cup a mere six weeks away, common sense would dictate that all citizens join forces to bring Jozi and other host cities to world standards.
However, this is not the case if events of the past week, which culminated with the City of Johannesburg turning down an offer for assistance, are anything to write home about. Sibongile Mazibuko, the executive director in the municipal 2010 project office, had other ideas. This is how Mazibuko responded to a request for an urgent meeting to discuss the campaign, ’Kindly be advised that the beautification of Johannesburg is out on tender and we are in the process of appointing a service provider. As such we are unable to meet with you until the tender process has been finalised’.
Traders hoping to sell alcohol at public viewing areas during the 2010 World Cup could find that their special liquor licences may not be processed in time because of a series of blunders by the Department of Trade and Industry. A Cape Argus report says the department has re-published regulations for the sale and consumption of alcohol during the tournament. The DTI first issued regulations in January, incorrectly stating that any venue screening football matches, including pubs and restaurants, must pay R50 000 for a licence.
Soccer City, the R3.4-billion showpiece stadium set to host the 2010 World Cup final in June, is being managed by a company whose major empowerment shareholder is a former security guard who lives in a poor township outside Heidelberg, Gauteng.
The Sunday Times reports that the 43-year old partner, Gladwin Khangale, ’bought’ 26% of Global Event Management (GEM) less than a year before a consortium led by GEM landed a plum tender from the City of Johannesburg, in 2009, to manage Soccer City for the next 10 years. Khangale, who is listed as a ’human resources executive’ in tender documents, did not pay a cent for the shares and, when contacted, denied still owning any.
The company that won the right to resell hospitality tickets has links with the nephew of the FIFA president, Sepp Blatter. If you can afford to pay $1,500 for a FIFA business seat at England’s opening 2010 World Cup match against the USA, then the Zurich-based company that was controversially awarded the rights to resell hospitality tickets for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups would like to hear from you. The Guardian reports that the appointment of Match Hospitality, which won the right to sell packages in an open tender in 2007, raised eyebrows because of the involvement of Sepp Blatter’s nephew Philippe.
Police detained former ANC Youth League member and current senior Cope member James Nkambule for questioning over an alleged hit list targeting Mpumalanga politicians in an alleged feud over 2010 World Cup tenders.
’I can confirm that we took James Nkambule in for questioning with regards to a statement issued by the alleged Josh,’ said Mpumalanga police spokesperson Captain Leonard Hlathi. According to a report on the News24 site, the person, known to the police only as Josh, apparently made a statement containing a list of names of people in Mpumalanga who ’(have) to be killed’, said Hlathi.
South African flag manufacturers are fuming because 10 000 2010 World Cup flags seem set to be imported, robbing them of millions of rands and denying them an opportunity to create jobs. The Star reports that the flags are to be displayed along main roads during the World Cup, an international event meant to create thousands of jobs and business opportunities. According to a local manufacturer who lost out on the deal, the order would have been worth about R4 million, if sourced locally. The flags are destined for 10 major cities, where they will decorate the protocol routes - the major routes between airports and official FIFA hotels, headquarters and stadiums.
Aggreko has won a £30m contract to provide power for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Telegraph reports that the company signed the contract to provide temporary power and temperature control for broadcast and technical services for the tournament. As part of the deal, Aggreko will supply broadcasting power in all 10 World Cup stadium venues, the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and FIFA headquarters. It will also provide temperature control at the IBC. Rupert Soames, chief executive of Aggreko, said: ’Having recently supplied temporary power to both the Vancouver Winter Olympics and last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa, we are delighted to have been selected by the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee to secure their broadcast power.’
The eThekwini municipality’s preferred bidder for the R65m entertainment contract for the 2010 World Cup has links to the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the municipality and the Moses Mabhida Stadium. That the company is also not ’100% local’ has many at the heart of Durban’s entertainment industry furious. The Mercury reports that they have hit out at the employment of the Black Pepper Consortium instead of purely Durban-based companies for the lucrative contract to oversee and manage events at the official FIFA Fan Fest, beach festival and public viewing areas in Umlazi and KwaMashu.
Mugabe’s nephew lands major FIFA deal 22/02/2010
In Zimabwe, the exclusive and lucrative contract to sell FIFA’s World Cup hospitality packages has been awarded to president Robert Mugabe’s nephew, businessman and former Zanu-PF MP Philip Chiyangwa, who is the subject of international sanctions. Chiyangwa’s Native Investment Group (NIG) was hand-picked late last year to sell World Cup packages for FIFA. The Cape Times reports that while ticket prices are being slashed in South Africa to fill stadiums, and Zimbabwean fans had only bought 546 tickets by the beginning of this month, Chiyangwa has claimed his Native Investment Group, which he directs, is doing a rip-roaring trade.
A 25-year-old contract killer has accused an influential ANC leader in Mpumalanga of offering him R100000 and a cushy government job if he poisoned government officials who were blocking access to tenders linked to the 2010 soccer World Cup. The ANC boss, whose name is known to the Sunday Times, was fingered by more than a dozen other sources interviewed during a three-week investigation into the killings of at least a dozen senior politicians in Mpumalanga starting in 1998. The would-be assassin said he had been given the poison and had been ready to do the job, but had pulled out after a disagreement with his ’client’ over an advance fee.
The 2010 Local Organising Committee has listed the following tender: The provision of flood lighting systems for team base camps during the 2010 World Cup. So me training sites will require complete installations. The closing date for submissions is 22 February.
Mayor named in 2010 scandal - 04/02/2010
The executive mayor of Thembisile Hani municipality in Mpumalanga has been fingered in a R2,6 million 2010 World Cup Fan Parks project scandal that led to the suspension of municipal manager Koos Mahlangu during a special council sitting. The Sowetan reports that an internal investigation found Mahlangu guilty of unauthorised expenditure for awarding a contract to Friends Events Management Services in which executive mayor Victor Nkosi is listed as a ’patron’. According to the committee tasked with investigating the scandal, Mahlangu confessed that the documents were not asked for or received from the company.
World Cup Fan Fest organisers say Capetonians can get ready for a month-long ’jol’ on the Grand Parade during the tournament. The Cape Argus reports that the historic square opposite the city hall will be the official fan park for the 2010 World Cup. Phase one of a multi-phased upgrade has been completed, with city officials expected to add the final touches closer to the event. The 2010 fan fest tender was last month awarded to a joint venture between World Sport, VWV and Grand Parade Investments. World Sport is also the organiser of the J&B Met.
Three months to pull off one of the biggest publicity events Durban has seen is the ’mission impossible’ facing potential bidders. The Independent reports that this week, eThekwini Municipality released the tender document for a consortium to provide Event Management Services for the 2010 World Cup, which must reflect the city’s aim of ’Durban marketing itself as the Events Capital of Africa’.The tender, which incorporates three major events to run alongside the 2010 World Cup, closes on February 1 and has been described by some in the public relations and marketing field as an ’almost impossible task’ to complete in the time frame.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lambasted government’s investment in competing undersea cables through two separate state-owned businesses.
DA shadow deputy minister of science and technology Marian Shinn says there is no valid reason both Broadband Infraco and Sentech should have financial obligations to two separate cable systems.
Sentech has been in financial dire straits for several years and has battled to source funding for some of its major projects. These include the roll-out of digital migration across SA, expected to be completed by 2011; and its involvement as a backup service to Telkom for the 2010 World Cup this year.
German auto giant Daimler has won a contract to deliver 460 long-distance Mercedes-Benz buses to South Africa in April for use in the 2010 World Cup. Daimler signed a contract with Autopax, a subsidiary of the South African national railway PRASA. Parts of the buses are to be manufactured in Brazil, with final assembly in a South African factory located in East London, where Daimler has invested one million euros to boost capacity. In August, Daimler won a contract for 125 Mercedes-Benz shuttle busses to be used in providing access to a high-speed train line being built for the World Cup.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in Limpopo has demanded that hawkers not be removed from their places of trade during the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Limpopo secretary Dan Sebabi said Cosatu, along with other lobby groups and the South African Municipal Workers Union, were busy organising hawkers in Polokwane to ensure that their strategic place in the city’s economic activities was not undermined during the soccer spectacle next year. ’We have already had several preparatory meetings with hawkers and our partners, and we will be officially launching the initiative early next year.’
The government has compromised existing contractual relationship in its deal with Fifa for the right to stage next years World Cup. According to Sake24, the agreement will lead to a breach of contract for outdoor advertisers. In terms of the agreement, municipal regulations in the host cities will ban outdoor advertising in several zones. Les Holley, of Out of Home Media SA, said the regulations would force its members to break contracts, as they had entered into agreements of at least one year, or, more commonly, five years with outdoor advertisers. Holley also said it was not clear who would pay for the removal and re-installation of the advertisements.
German auto giant Daimler said it has won a contract to deliver 460 long-distance Mercedes-Benz buses to South Africa starting in April for use in the 2010 World Cup. Daimler signed a contract with Autopax, a subsidiary of the South African national railway PRASA, a statement said without providing financial details, notes a report on the iafrica.com site. Parts of the buses are to be manufactured in Brazil, with final assembly in a South African factory located in East London, where Daimler has invested $1.46-million to boost capacity.
Mbombela municipal manager Jacob Dladla was found guilty of corrupt practices related to the R920m 2010 World Cup Mbombela Stadium scandal last week and fired with immediate effect. Sunday World reports that Dladla lost his R820 000 a year salary after he was found guilty on all of the five charges he faced, including one that he manipulated the tender awarded to construction company Lefika Emerging Equity Group, which is co-owned by Kaizer Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung. Lefika was awarded the deal to build the 43000-seater stadium in Nelspruit that will be used for 2010 World Cup games at a cost of R920m.
The City of Cape Town says a lease agreement error, which could see its 2010 World Cup stadium being rented to operator Sail Stadefrance for R1 a year, is ’immaterial’. A bungle on the Cape Town Stadium lease agreement has reduced the annual base rental from R100 000 to R1. The error was repeated twice - in digits and words - in the lease agreement. But the city says the mistake is nothing to worry about, because the lease agreement obliges the operator to pay the greater amount of either the base rental of R1 or 30% of the operator’s profit before tax. The city’s 2010 project head, Mike Marsden, told the Cape Argus that the base rental would only come into play if the operator’s earnings before tax fell below R333 333.
