Times Of Swaziland: MPS WANT SLOMOES’ E12M TENDER INVESTIGATED

MPS WANT SLOMOES’ E12M TENDER INVESTIGATED
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Sabelo Majola on 21/03/2023 15:09:00


LOBAMBA – MPs have recommended that a select committee be chosen to
investigate the issue of the E12 million tender awarded to Slomoes Corporation.
The tender had been awarded to the company to provide a local government
elections system. The idea of an inquiry into the tender was brought to the fore
by Kukhanyeni Member of Parliament (MP) Malavi Sihlongonyane during the adoption
of the reports of ministries’ portfolio committee annual performance reports
and budget estimates for the financial year 2023/24 in Parliament yesterday. The
MP, who declared his desire to address some of the issues on the report of the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development prior to its adoption, minced no words
when he submitted that there was rot in the issuance of the tender.
The legislator said the country found itself engulfed by issues of corruption
because there was a lot of rot in government ministries. The bone of contention
from the legislator was that there were three companies who bid for the same
tender, but the expensive bidder, whose price was E12 million, was preferred
over the two others who would have cost government E1.2 million and E800 000
respectively. The latter, as revealed by the MP, were Wits Tech and the Royal
Science Technology Park (RSTP).
Bidding
The legislator said in his investigations on the tender, he found that even
though there were three companies bidding for the tender, it turned out that it
was actually a single source. Single source procurement, according to
procurementtactics.com, is one in which two or more vendors can supply the
commodity, technology and /or perform the services required by an agency, but
the department selects one vendor over the others. “The ministry opted for the
expensive bidder and the others were not even engaged on the tender,” he said.
Referring to the expensive tenderer as company C, Sihlongonyane said his
investigation unearthed that the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC)
together with the ministry, came to an agreement to award company C the tender.
“It leaves a lot to be desired that the tender became a single source; why is
that, when there were companies, especially the one that belongs to government,
which could have cost a mere E800 000. One wonders if we really need the system
because we successfully did by-elections with the help of RSTP, alone,” he
submitted.
Asserted
Sihlongonyane said he had a conversation with the RSTP CEO and he asserted that
the entity had all the necessary gadgets to get the job done and it boggled the
mind that the ministry opted for an expensive bidder when better options were on
the table.  “There is a lot of rot in this ministry and I recommend that we
have a select committee that will look into this tender and if there is
something that was not done procedurally, the implicated persons should be
brought to book. We can’t carry on like this as a country,” he said.
Sihlongonyane was supported by Manzini South MP Thandi Nxumalo, who is also the
Chairman of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Portfolio Committee.
Nxumalo also alluded that there was a lot of rot in the ministry which the
Minister, Prince Simelane, was aware of. She even stated that they had been
working closely with the minister in addressing the rot in the ministry, but he
had been unsuccessful putting a stop to it.
Dismay
In fact, Nxumalo said the minister was not at ease at his home (akaphatseki
kahle ekhaya lakhe), while referring to the ministry, much to the dismay of the
legislators who made exclamation to the submission. “I would suggest Mr
Speaker that you prioritise the motion so that the matter is addressed
appropriately. All that has been submitted concerning the rot in the ministry is
true and the minister is also aware of it,” she said. Ludzeludze MP Vusi Swali
wondered what the E12 million tender was meant for when the essential stage of
the elections, which was the registration, had been completed but the company
had not offered the services it had been paid for. “The company selected for
the tender has not participated in the registration stage in terms of offering
the system it was awarded the tender for, yet this is the critical stage of the
elections. The question then is, why pay E12 million for a service that has not
been rendered?” he asked.