Among the issues is a R5bn fuel oil tender Eskom has asked the courts to review, claiming it was riddled with irregularities and corruption. Eskom hired Mouton on a three-month contract, which was not advertised, and was then extended for another three months. Eskom’s intention to cancel the contract led to the resignation of former board member Sifiso Dabengwa, who accused De Ruyter of misleading the board about the tender. Business Live. Sifiso Dabengwa leaves Eskom's board over disagreement with his colleagues over the cancellation of a fuel oil tender. Eskom. Cheating pupils, leaked papers among Gauteng matric exam challenges, Agrizzi applies for bail in corruption case involving former ANC MP Vincent Smith, Lesufi urges NPA to appeal against ‘sunflower’ murder acquittal. The content of Trengove’s report reveals fissures and mistrust among the board that extend beyond Dabengwa. De Ruyter wanted the multibillion-rand contract scrapped, saying that it was riddled with irregularities and price-fixing. The total amount was for R14 billion. Eskom’s endeavour to pull out of a R5bn tender for fuel oil that it awarded to Econ Oil last November has been dealt a blow after independent adjudication found it was valid and enforceable. This is the same contract that Eskom, through a media statement on July 31, said it intended to cancel because of “irregularities”. Eskom had also written to the national treasury stating that it would cancel the contract. Econ Oil is owned by advocate Nothemba Mlonzi and has supplied fuel oil to Eskom since the early 2000s. By October of that year, Eskom approved awards to three suppliers – Sasol, Econ Oil & Energy and FFS Refiners. TimesLIVE has seen an adjudication decision on the matter issued by senior counsel Kevin Trisk last Friday, which settles the months’ long dispute that has seen one non-executive director resign as well as threats of a defamation lawsuit against Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter. Tender information: Tender information. According to the Eskom invitation to tender Corp 4786, the buyer remains the only contact person, but the commercial management have chosen to discard this procedure, she said. Invitation to tender for leasing of land at Eastern & Northern Cape, KZN & GautengName of... IRP288. The treasury has since reported the collusion. Insiders have said that they have never heard of a sign-on fee at Eskom before. Nothemba Mlonzi, whose company, Econ Oil, is one of three involved in the latest tender controversy at the state power utility. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has become the name of the game for knowledge workers in the tech industry. It was established that the rehabilitation programmes implemented as part of Eskom's normal operations would contribute considerably to the restoration and revaluation of … [7]. THE BAT­TLE for Eskom’s R5.2 bil­lion fuel oil ten­der is set to drag on as the power util­ity has chal­lenged the ju­ris­dic­tion of an ad­ju­di­ca­tor on the mat­ter. Cape Town – Eskom head Andre de Ruyter is alleged to have misled the board, leading to the cancellation of a R5.2bn fuel oil contract. It goes right back to Tshitangano’s first email of 1 April 2020 to raise issues with Eskom board chairperson Malegapuru Makgoba — with the subject line “Fuel Oil Tender 4786 Cancellation”. please consider taking out a subscription, ‘We are all innocent,’ VBS eight tell court, Like Molefe, Singh tells Zondo commission ‘bags of money’ story is all lies, Gama says the Gupta meeting was an ambush, Meet Norman Chisale, Malawi’s richest bodyguard, Former GP health MEC Masuku calls disciplinary ‘unfair’, Mabuyane targeted in Eastern Cape road debacle, LRA’s Ongwen: A critical first ICC conviction. “Many of these matters you are raising will soon be the subject of a court case, whose public ventilation ahead of that may prejudice Eskom’s case”. He also said Eskom had an obligation to review its own decision, in court, if it discovers that the tender  was awarded unlawfully. function loadDoc() {var xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() { if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) { document.getElementById("pressoffice").innerHTML = this.responseText; }}; xhttp.open("GET", "https://mg.co.za/scripts/rss/pressofficeServer.php?menu=false&items=5&feed=http://pressoffice.mg.co.za/feed/rss2.php", true); xhttp.send();} loadDoc(); For all the latest information and advice from the Department of Health relating to Covid-19, please visit sacoronavirus.co.za. Econ Oil and Energy, a black-owned company that won the fuel oil supply tender, has taken the matter for adjudication after the parastatal decided to renege on implementing the tender … The Gauteng education department has had its fair share of challenges when it comes to the National Senior Certificate matric examinations. The explanation for the delay in the issue of the urgent application … The M&G was told De Ruyter handpicked Mouton. US has officially entered first recession since 2009. by Alphonse diderot 7 months ago. This week Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the company was due to approach the courts for a review and to set the contract aside. This instability has spread to Eskom’s administration, which is stuck in a vicious fight between its board, chief executive André De Ruyter and the treasury. Supporting black businesses by buying their products during a Buy Black Week could result in more than R7bn being circulated in black communities. Eskom issued a statement earlier this year confirming it would cancel the five-year contract to supply 14 million litres a month to its power stations. These tenders can consist of Request for Information (RFI), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Request for Proposal (RFP), Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Tender (RFT) listings. He states in his report that the so-called resolution had been referred to by other Eskom officials in official documentation before De Ruyter joined. Eskom. Friday, October 23, 2020 Deputy President David Mabuza says government has no reason to doubt the findings of the Trengove report in a forensic investigation that cleared the Eskom CEO of allegations of misleading the board. These are unprecedented times, and the role of media to tell and record the story of South Africa as it develops is more important than ever. Contracts were awarded to Sasol, Econ Oil … The treasury said the reasons given by Eskom, including those given by the consultant Mouton, to cancel the tender were not justifiable. “Sasol is a responsible, law-abiding corporate citizen and legal compliance is one of our company’s core values. De Ruyter took the review to the board and attempted to make the case that the R14-billion contract must be cancelled. Business Live. The chief executive went to his old colleague from Sasol, Werner Mouton, a consultant, to investigate whether the companies that won the bid could possibly be involved in price-fixing. Tender Information . “One would have expected, if the defendant was genuinely concerned by the claimant’s alleged non-disclosure, that steps would have been taken by it to set aside what, on its version, purported to be but was in fact not an enforceable transaction or that it would have sought, at the least, to interdict performance under what it believed was a fictitious contract,” he said. The stakes have risen in the impasse between limping state power company Eskom and a black woman-owned contractor, Econ Oil, which stands … Amid all of the furore and resignations, De Ruyter has also had to explain himself to the board after Eskom announced the appointment of Mlawuli Manjingolo to the position of company secretary after the board had chosen Cheryl Singh. That reality means the economy will struggle to rebuild after the effects of Covid-19. Trisk also awarded R21.6m in damages to Econ Oil in respect of four months of orders that Econ Oil was not given as per the contract requirements. This urgent application was only issued on the 12 th of September 2019. Eskom’s defence was premised on the fact that Trisk did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter because there wasn’t a valid contract and that a letter of award did not constitute a contract. Econ Oil had taken the matter to arbitration when the ability utility determined to cancel the tender, with Eskom questioning the adjudicator’s jurisdiction on the matter. “Eskom will litigate through the courts, not through the media,” the company said. The report also concluded that Eskom’s procurement team working on the bid was so hapless that it did not pick this up. He also questioned why Eskom did not approach the high court to set aside the contract or at least interdict performance or even the adjudication itself. Material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission. A source close to the furore said the appointment of Mouton is “nepotism at its best. Mlonzi has consistently denied all allegations of impropriety and laid criminal defamation charges against Eskom and De Ruyter. On Burn, he said Eskom would not be drawn to comment on an individual’s employment contract, adding that the company did have a process in which it can pay a sign on bonus, and that “each case is treated on its own merit and must be approved by a sub-committee of the board. In December that year, Eskom’s procurement officer asked for increase to R18 billion. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd invites you to submit a tender for the provision of inspections and repairs for PF pipes and fuel oil burners during outage at Kusile Power Station on an "as and when required" basis for a period of three (3) years. It also said it’s not clear why the collusion was not reported to the Competition Commission, “or why prices were not renegotiated with bidders”. New twist in Eskom’s R5bn fuel oil tender. This was because Econ Oil’s price for the same oil was lower than Sasol’s — even though it bought its product from Sasol. Trengove’s report, as well as its acceptance by eight of the 10 Eskom board members, led to Dabengwa resigning in anger and charging that the board was failing in its fiduciary duties. US has officially entered first recession since 2009. by Alphonse diderot 7 months ago. Eskom loses battle to cancel R5.2bn tender On Dec 15, 2020 443 Eskom has suffered an embarrassing defeat in its attempt to cancel a R5.2 billion fuel tender with black-owned company Econ Oil … Business. Durban - ESKOM has suffered an embarrassing defeat in its attempt to cancel a R5.2 billion fuel tender with black-owned company Econ Oil when an arbitrator … Fuel and Petroleum Products Tenders. A third of our freshwater fish are dying out due to climate change and invasive species. Other steps to fight climate change include improved reporting, monitoring and laws, The ANC’s regional secretary in the Amathole is at the head of an alleged scheme to fundraise for his party, Lord’s Resistance Army leader found guilty of forced pregnancy charges in landmark case. Earlier this month, Instagram began testing new navigation in its app that gave its shopping destination a more prominent position. Econ Oil had taken the matter to arbitration when the power utility decided to cancel the tender, with Eskom questioning the adjudicator’s jurisdiction on the matter. One reason may be to protect Sasol, and the other may be they are afraid to be sued if he cannot prove collusion.”. 26 Mar 2021 10:00AM. These tenders can consist of Request for Information (RFI), Request for Quotation (RFQ), Request for Proposal (RFP), Expression of Interest (EOI) or Request for Tender (RFT) listings. De Ruyter is also accused of hiring chief technology officer Faith Burn with a R500 000 sign-on bonus without the necessary board permissions in line with Eskom policy. The applicant therefore became aware or ought reasonably to have become aware that Eskom intended to proceed with a new tender process in respect of the supply of fuel oil to Eskom’s Coal Powered Stations. South Africa, Durban – ESKOM experience defeat in a bid to cancel a R5.2 billion fuel tender with black-owned company Econ Oil when an arbitrator ruled that a contract existed between the two parties. Trisk based his assertion on the fact that a letter of award had been signed by all parties, and that the contract envisaged by the letter of award was a NEC3 supply contract, the terms of which were publicly available. The budget was set at 14 billion rand. Here's what we know. He charged that De Ruyter was misleading the board about the resolution, and was using unsubstantiated allegations of price fixing, as well as untested allegations of fraud and corruption, to sway the board. The M&G learned there are three different investigations that have uncovered malfeasance in more than R15-billion worth of supplier contracts given to the company from 2012. It said cancelling the award was not in line with regulations in the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (PPPFA) of 2017, which requires permission from the national treasury, as well as a price assessment, before a tender is advertised. Econ Oil claims paras­tatal re­neged on con­tract The Star Early Edition - 2020-12-02 - METRO - CHRIS NDALISO. South Africa’s freshwater fish face extinction. According to the report, as far back as May 2019, Eskom issued a tender for the supply of heavy fuel oil to its power stations for five years. It was Mouton’s report that found that there were pricing irregularities and possible price collusion between Econ Oil and Sasol. He also added that, last year in January, the board had resolved to purchase fuel oil only from refineries because this was cheaper, and that the appointment of Econ Oil, which was awarded the majority of the contract, flew in the face of this decision, because the company was a reseller. Â. “National treasury does not, with respect, have jurisdiction to refuse Eskom’s decision to cancel the tender,” De Ruyter said in his letter to treasury chief procurement officer Estelle Setan. Extensive environmental studies were conducted in accordance with Eskom's Environmental policy. MPs on Wednesday morning accused Eskom… In a response on August 3, Eskom told the treasury it did not need its permission to cancel the tender, because the PPPFA regulations speak only to bids that are cancelled before being awarded. Both the treasury and the source said Eskom failed to report any alleged collusion that Mouton had found to the Competition Commission, as required by law. Trisk however found that a signed letter of award from Bheki Nxumalo, Eskom’s group executive responsible for generation, last November, contained two essential terms necessary for a contract to provide services: the description of the services and the amount of money to be paid in return. Still the applicant took no action to obtain an interdict. This situation has already seen one board member resign. Bid Number:MPGXC006136 Bid Description:Fuel oil storage tank repairs and commissioning at Matla Power Station for the period of Twelve (12) months. See below for a list of ESKOM Tenders that may form part of the official ESKOM Tender Bulletin. The adjudicator, Kevin Trisk SC, mentioned he felt {that a} legitimate, binding and enforceable contract was concluded between the events on November 8, 2019. The Mail & Guardian has seen documents related to the debacle — including an independent report by advocate Wim Trengove into shocking allegations that De Ruyter misled the board when he asked for permission to cancel the tender. by shalom marita 1 month ago. Pandemic vote: What will the local government elections look like? Construction of Lethabo started in 1980. The power utility’s tender cleanup exposes rifts inside Megawatt Park amid allegations of selective prosecution ESKOM has suffered an embarrassing defeat in its attempt to cancel a R5.2 billion fuel tender with black-owned company Econ Oil when an arbitrator ruled that a … “The defendant’s contention … that a contract could not have come into existence until a document detailing the terms of such contract had been signed by the parties, is not persuasive,” he added. This was after it found evidence of irregularities, including collusion with Eskom employees and price-fixing suspected to include previous contracts dating back to 2011 worth a combined R15bn. However, the report makes no findings that there are grounds to cancel the R14-billion contract. In a previous M&G article, Mlonzi denied any impropriety and said her company was looking at a civil suit against Eskom because of all the allegations being made about its work. This was rejected by non-executive director Sifiso Dabengwa. Eskom issued a tender in May 2019 seeking heavy fuel oil for power plants for five years. The already turbulent labour market could see more strain if aspiring students lose out.