Cape Town - The Competition Commission has warned that collusion between rival companies bidding for government tenders is considered “cartel conduct” and entities could face hefty fines and prosecution if caught.
This comes amid shocking revelations by the City of Cape Town, which unearthed evidence against two companies, now blacklisted by the municipality, for allegedly colluding with Nicole Johnson, the wife of alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield.
This week, City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo told the Cape Argus how their suspicions of collusion were confirmed after a handwriting expert was roped in to assess tender applications made by Glomix CC and two other entities for a housing development on the Cape Flats.
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.
While an alleged hitman affiliated with Johnson’s husband, Ralph Stanfield, has been charged with Kloppers’ murder, the Cape Argus can reveal that her company has now been blacklisted again amid the collusion claims.
According to legal documents Mbandazayo listed details of how expert evidence proved they had violated aspects of the Supply Chain Management Policy.
Mbandazayo says both construction companies had at no point informed the City that they were linked or involved with Glomix CC, but because they were all rival bidders, the rules stipulate that they cannot be linked when bidding.
The directors of both companies signed two schedule forms indicating that they were not linked to any individual or organisation that could be considered as a competitor for the same tender.
The analysis by Mbandazayo and the handwriting expert, with the aid of an electrostatic detection device enabled them to ascertain consistent indentations and impressions. This revealed that not only did the same person complete the forms for all three companies, but when printing the ID documents of the directors, the same printer was used.
“It was even found that when the forms were filled in by hand for all three tenders they were in fact on top of each other and so the top page made an impression on all the pages underneath it,” said Mbandazayo.
All the tender documents were filled in with a pencil before going over the text with a ballpoint pen.
WMbandazayo warns that more individuals may come under scrutiny.
Sipho Ngwema, head of communication at the Competition Commission, said complaints such as these can be very technical. “Sometimes they are of a consumer, criminal, civil or competition nature, it would all depend on the merits of the complaint.
Police spokesperson, FC van Wyk, confirmed the Commercial Crimes Unit is investigating the matter and said: “Due to the sensitive nature of this investigation, this office is not in a position to provide a response as it may compromise the investigation.”
Cape Argus