Cape Town - The management of a construction company accused of colluding for City of Cape Town tenders has denied any wrongdoing, after being blacklisted by the municipality.
This comes amid shocking revelations by City manager Lungelo Mbandazayo, following an investigation into the bids submitted by Glomix CC – a company belonging to Nicole Johnson, the wife of an alleged gang boss, along with Boon Group and ZSM developers, that showed they had colluded.
The collusion was discovered as part of an investigation into links between the underworld, contractors and City officials in the human settlements department.
The investigation came after the death of City staffer Wendy Kloppers, who was shot and killed at the Delft housing site last year amid extortion attempts by the underworld.
According to legal documents supplied to the three construction companies, Mbandazayo listed intricate details of how expert evidence proved they had violated various aspects of the Supply Chain Management Policy.
In the letters, Mbandazayo said neither Boon Group or ZSM developers informed the City and any point that they were linked to or involved with Glomix CC, but as they were all rival bidders, the rules stipulated that they could not be linked when bidding.
The shocking analysis by Mbandazayo and a handwriting expert revealed that with the aid of an electrostatic detection device, they were able to ascertain that due to the consistent indentations and impressions that not only did the same person complete the forms for all three companies, but when printing ID documents of the directors, the same printer was used.
But Shuayb Amod, the director of Boon Group, based in Johannesburg, said they were reviewing their legal options as they believed the blacklisting was “malicious”.
“Boon Group denies any collusion with Glomix CC or ZSM developers in our tender applications. Our interactions with Glomix were limited to joint ventures and joint venture tenders, which are unavoidable in Cape Town. It is important to note that these collaborations were in 2022, at which time there were no explicit instructions or restrictions regarding such partnerships, as these companies had previously provided valuable services to the City Cape Town. Regarding ZSM developers, we have no knowledge of any dealings with them.”
Amod said the group was deeply concerned that the City of Cape Town’s decision to blacklist them appeared to be a “deliberate attempt to shift blame onto their company for issues unrelated to their operations.
“It seems evident that our company has been made a scapegoat in the City’s efforts to deflect attention from their failures in managing alleged gangsterism and extortion. We are currently evaluating our legal options in response to this unjust decision. We firmly believe that the City’s actions are not only unjust but also malicious, aimed at tarnishing our reputation without grounds. We remain committed to transparency and compliance in all our operations,” Amod said.
Mbandazyo said the Boon Group was trying to deflect.
“The tender in question was not a joint venture.
“They are trying to deflect from the real issue because the documentary evidence is incontrovertible. They tendered separately, not as a joint venture. If it was a joint venture; they would have submitted one bid, not separate bids,” said Mbandazyo.
The Cape Argus reached out to Abdul Kader Davids, who is the director of ZSM developers, but despite promising to respond, he had not done so at the time of going to print.
Cape Argus