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MINISTRY
COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE AND TRADITIONAL AFFAIRS
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NUMBER 1757
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15 MAY 2015
Mr K J Mileham (DA) to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and
Traditional Affairs:
(1) Whether the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency (MISA) made any
recommendation and/or proposal regarding the Siyenza Group, or any of
its affiliated companies, to the Amathole District Municipality; if so,
(a) on what basis and/or criterion was the recommendation made, (b)
when was the recommendation made and (c) which official within MISA
made the recommendation;
(2) whether a competitive tender or bidding process was followed in
awarding the contract to Siyenza Group in the Northern Cape; if not,
why not; if so, (a) when was it advertised, (b) how many bids were
received and (c) on what basis was the decision made to award it to
Siyenza Group;
(3) why the contract awarded to the Siyenza Group to build toilets in the
Northern Cape is behind schedule? NW1975E
Reply:
1) MISA did not make any specific recommendation or proposal to Amathole
District Municipality for the appointment of Siyenza Group. The
municipality wrote a letter to MISA on 08 April 2014 requesting to
participate in the MISA contract for the implementation of the bucket
eradication project in the Northern Cape. This request was made in
terms of Regulation 32 of the Municipal Supply Chain Regulations, read
with Regulation 16A6.6 of the PFMA Treasury Regulations. On 11 April
2014, MISA responded to the letter confirming that MISA has contracts
that were concluded through a competitive bidding process with two
companies for the implementation of a bucket eradication project in the
Northern Cape, viz. Siyenza Group and Xigombe Business Enterprise, and
further indicated that MISA had no objection to the municipalityâs
request. MISA then attached both contracts, appointment letters, bid
documents, evaluation and adjudication reports to the letter to
Amathole District Municipality. The objective of supplying these
documents was to provide the municipality with the necessary
information on the contracts between MISA and the two companies.
2) Yes, a competitive bidding process was followed.
a) The bid was advertised on 03 of November 2013 in the Sunday Times
and City Press.
b) Twenty bids were received for the tender.
c) The tender was awarded to two bidders, namely Siyenza Group and
Xigombe Business Enterprise, based on the fact that both bidders
scored the highest points during the bid evaluation process.
3) The change in the scope of work from dry sanitation to a water borne
sanitation system necessitated the construction of water and sanitation
reticulation systems, bulk services infrastructure and a pump station,
which was not included in the original planning. This construction
necessitated engineering designs that delayed the start of the project
by two months. Extremely hard rock conditions experienced during
construction necessitated blasting on some of the sites contributing to
further delays in the project. The change in scope to a water borne
system meant that trenches had to be excavated for water and sewage
pipes, and a large percentage of the excavated material was hard rock.
The project was further delayed by another two months due to delays in
the transfer of funds from the Department of Water and Sanitation. The
delay was caused by the transfer of the sanitation programme from the
Department of Human Settlements to the newly constituted Department of
Water and Sanitation after the elections in 2014. The transition
process involved fresh engagements between MISA and the Department of
Water and Sanitation regarding the continuation of the project.
