{"id":7447,"date":"2018-11-29T10:29:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T10:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amabhungane.org\/?post_type=stories&p=7447"},"modified":"2024-09-21T10:38:13","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T10:38:13","slug":"firm-that-won-r1bn-joburg-fleet-contract-paid-malema-eff-slush-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/firm-that-won-r1bn-joburg-fleet-contract-paid-malema-eff-slush-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Firm that won R1bn Jo’burg fleet contract paid Malema-EFF ‘slush-fund’"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has long been rumoured that the EFF was given patronage over lucrative City of Johannesburg tenders as a quid pro quo for working with Herman Mashaba\u2019s DA-led administration.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, an amaBhungane investigation shows that before controversially winning a mega-deal from the city, a fleet firm made payments to a company whose account was used for the benefit of Julius Malema and his party.<\/em><\/p>\n

Is this evidence of kickbacks to the EFF \u2013 or rather, as the fleet firm maintains, unrelated payment for services rendered?<\/em><\/p>\n

The contract for the City of Johannesburg\u2019s \u201cvanilla\u201d vehicle fleet is big, financially. It is also vital for the city to run smoothly, requiring the supply and maintenance of some 2 700 sedans, bakkies and trucks. Bungle the contract and the city risks grinding to a halt.<\/p>\n

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But with the previous five-year contract coming up for renewal last year, it appears the vultures started circling, concerned less with service delivery than with the carrion of public-private greed.<\/p>\n

A long, messy tender process had the incumbent, Avis, in the lead. But the tender stalled, eventually to be cancelled in June this year. This gave a relative bit player in the fleet scene the gap. Without a competitive tender, Afrirent was appointed to the mammoth task at a fee to match: R1.26-billion.<\/p>\n

Financial records show that as the rain was about to fall for Afrirent, it transferred R500\u00a0000 in two tranches to a company fronted by Julius Malema\u2019s cousin but used it as a \u201cslush fund\u201d for the EFF and Malema.<\/p>\n

A Daily Maverick<\/em> article<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>last week gave details of large amounts flowing from its account to the EFF and a Sandown, Johannesburg house where Malema lived.<\/p>\n

Sources in the city and the DA-led coalition charge that Mayor Herman Mashaba\u2019s tough talk belies a willingness to sacrifice clean governance on the altar of political expediency, and that to maintain power he has allowed the EFF to control departments and tenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EFF has the DA by the balls,\u201d said one.<\/p>\n

The city administration denied impropriety, saying in a statement that allegations of politicians and senior officials unduly influencing the procurement are \u201cmischievous and entirely unsubstantiated. The city wishes to state it categorically \u2026 that in terms of the city\u2019s supply chain management policy, no politician participates in the supply chain processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two rounds of questions later, the city said that \u201call allegations surrounding the fleet contract are a subject of investigation by Group Forensic Investigation Services \u2026 and cannot be entertained further pending the outcomes of the investigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to detailed questions, the EFF denied influencing the fleet tender. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about,\u201d spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi wrote, adding that it was \u201cabsolute nonsense\u201d that the party had been handed control of departments.<\/p>\n

About the Afrirent payments, he wrote: \u201cNone of your questions have anything to do with the EFF and its leadership. The individuals and companies you mention can speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malema\u2019s cousin Matsobane John Phaleng, sole director of Mahuna Investments, the company to which Afrirent made the payments, claimed it was for services rendered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to put it on record that we never received any bribe \u2026 and we are not involved in the fleet contract with the [city]. We provided services to Afrirent from May until August 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did not respond to further queries regarding the nature of the services.<\/p>\n

Afrirent, however, stated via its lawyer that it had contracted Mahuna \u201cto provide training and logistics for the delivery and implementation\u201d of a contract it, Afrirent, had won from the department of rural development and land reform to supply tractors and farming equipment in Limpopo.<\/p>\n

Afrirent provided evidence of its contracts with the department and Mahuna, saying \u201cpayments made by Afrirent to Mahuna were strictly in terms of this contract\u201d.<\/p>\n

Afrirent also said it \u201cwas unaware that the CEO of Mahuna was related to Mr Julius Malema and denies in the strongest terms that any monies paid by it to Mahuna \u2026 were a kickback to the EFF and\/or Mr Malema\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the face of it, Afrirent\u2019s explanation is good. But this is a tale of coincidences, some so large as to challenge the credulity of its version. You be the judge.<\/p>\n

Bureaucratic bungles<\/h5>\n

City officials started preparing a tender for the non-specialised, \u201cvanilla\u201d vehicle fleet well before Avis\u2019s five-year contract was to expire at the end of September last year.<\/p>\n

The successful service provider would own and service the vehicles, lease them to the city and offer support services such as call centres.<\/p>\n

A project plan was put forward in March last year, according to which the bid would be advertised in May, evaluated, and a bidder recommended in July. But there were severe delays and the tender ended up being advertised in September only.<\/p>\n

By the time applications closed in November last year, 16 bids had been received. An evaluation team then filtered down the bidders, disqualifying those that did not meet criteria.<\/p>\n

Tender records show<\/a> <\/span>that five bidders ultimately went through the final scoring process. Avis was ranked top, followed closely by Fleet Africa.<\/p>\n