Acsa in multimillion-rand tender row

Johannesburg - Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) is at the centre of a multimillion-rand tender believed to be well over R4 million that is said to have been rigged from the onset.

According to insiders, Acsa recently appointed a new vegetation control and grass-cutting service provider at OR Tambo International Airport after the contract of a previous company came to an end. However, the company that was appointed, Themba Qongo, is said to have been a shelf company which was in the process of deregistration when it was awarded the contract.

“The newly appointed company was a dormant shelf company which was in the deregistration process until it was revived two weeks before the Acsa request for quotes (RFQ) was to be advertised. The company details, including the directors, were all changed on June 6, 2022,” said a source speaking on condition of anonymity.

Documents seen by the Sunday Independent indicate the change of directorship was done on June 6, 2022, with Qongo being added as a director and others resigning.

Insiders with intimate knowledge of the tender said the company being awarded the contract raised a lot of eyebrows as it did not meet the requirements.

“Because the company had not been operational for some time, their tax and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (COID) status would have disqualified them at the time of closure of bidding.

“The COID Act aims to provide for compensation in the case of disablement caused by occupational injuries and diseases, sustained or contracted by employees in the course of their employment, or death resulting from such injuries and diseases, and to provide for matters connected therewith," one insider said.

Attempts to get a comment from Qongo drew a blank. He did not respond to questions sent via WhatsApp.

Another insider added that they found it odd that if the company was dormant since its registration in 2017, how were they able to get reference letters for previous work done?

The insiders have also questioned the adjudication process and said those responsible “did something illegal”. They added that the company submitted incomplete documents but still managed to be awarded the contract.

“There is further documentary proof that on the day of submission of the tender documents, 26 companies were registered on the submit room register. But it has subsequently come to the fore that the tender process adjudicated 28 proposals, undoubtedly proof that at least two proposals were submitted after closing time.

“Acsa also has to explain why the submission of the ‘winning company’ had an incomplete pricing schedule where certain prices/rates were omitted,” said the insider.

Grass cutting is an essential service which manages wildlife at the national key point to prevent bird strikes and debris from being ingested into aircraft engines, which could have catastrophic results including the loss of human lives. Despite its importance, sources claim that has not happened since the company was appointed, allegedly due to it being under-resourced.

“This essential service has not been performed for the whole month of July and August as the new contractor is under-resourced and requires assistance from Acsa to perform its duties. No handover was performed when the previous contract came to an end,” the insider added.

Acsa spokesperson Gopolang Peme refuted the claims. He said the organisation conducted a thorough due diligence on the company that was eventually appointed.

He explained that companies had to go through a rigorous process which included having to appease three processes of adjudication before they could even be considered.

Pre-qualification: Tenderer having a B-BBEE status level of contributor 1 or 2.

Mandatory requirements: Bidders must complete in full and sign ACSA Terms and Conditions – Appendix C; ii. Bidders must complete in full and sign the Form of offer C1.1. (Found in the NEC 3 Term Service Contract)

Functionality evaluation requirements: Company’s Experience in Grass Cutting and Vegetation Management and Tree Felling works. Only completed grass cutting and vegetation management and Tree Felling works will be accepted with completion certificates and contactable reference letters with proof of the scope of work for evaluation purposes. The minimum accepted is 3 reference letters for grass cutting and vegetation management and Tree felling works. ii. Key Personnel Experience.

"Bidders who met all requirements under a, b and c as stated above were shortlisted under price and BEE. The bidder who ranked number one scored the highest points in terms of price (80 points) and BBBEE status level (20 points) as per the PPPFA," he said.

Peme further added that the company’s documents were in order, including their tax and COID status. He maintained that no tempering took place with the documents.

"As far as ACSA’s control measures are in place, the documents were not tampered with. The Tender deposit box was made available to prospective bidders for submission of their bids on Friday, 24 June 2022 to accommodate bidders who wanted to submit early. The additional submissions which do not appear on the tender submission register are submissions that were made before the register could be made available for completion by bidders. The register was only made available on the closing date. To avoid manipulation, we don’t keep the register when no resource is available to monitor it and this is to prevent finding a name on the register and no corresponding submission in the tender box," Peme added.