The mayor of the Sasolburg-based Metsimaholo Local Municipality, Jeff Zwane, has been accused of appointing a bodyguard and driver, Tubatsi Sefatsana, as a technical contact person.

However, the municipality has denied the allegations and cited them as untrue. 

According to the municipal spokesperson, Gino Alberts, Mayor Zwane was not involved in the appointment process. He says the Local Government Municipal Finance Management Act clearly states that councillors are barred from serving on municipal tender committees. Alberts says no councillor of any municipality may be a member of a municipal bid or any other committee evaluating or approving tenders. Alberts adds that the Municipal Manager took the decision to appoint Sefatsana as the end-user. The Municipal Manager was then prompted to search for a suitable candidate within the organisation who possesses the required expertise, skills and qualifications.

“Taking into consideration VIP Protectors from the Executive Mayor, Council Speaker’s Office, as well as the Council Whip’s Office, Mr Sefatsana is the highest qualified in the VIP Unit with relevant experience, including the National Key Point Certificate. The current security is operating on a month-to-month basis since February 2021 and as per the Auditor-General's findings, this resulted in irregular expenditure for the entire period to date,” Alberts further adds.

Meanwhile, the tender scandal has since received attention from the ruling ANC party in the Fezile Dabi Region. ANC regional spokesperson, Thabo Baleni, says the party is deeply worried by the number of errors, including the unashamed irregular appointment of Zwane's bodyguard and driver as the contact person for a Security Tender contract at the Metsimaholo Local Municipality.

“The ANC is convinced that these errors are deliberate and intended to ensure the Executive Mayor, Cllr Zwane, directs the procurement process behind the scene towards a predetermined outcome. It is very suspicious that this Security Tender is being re-advertised and suddenly the Security Manager at the Municipality is unwilling to participate in the tender process, the Security Coordinator is on suspension and we are told the remaining contact person on the abandoned tender process is conveniently on leave. This situation seems very fishy and as the ANC, we will demand answers. We have to understand why the initial tender process was abandoned and why this tender was re-advertised, what changes were made to the specifications and why the Executive Mayor's bodyguard was made the technical contact person,” Baleni says.

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