A company that offered R44 million for part of the grounds of Jan van Riebeeck High School is planning to take the Western Cape government to court over an apparent tender bungle.
After dithering for 17 months about the offer for 2.4ha of prime land in Tamboerskloof, the province finally awarded the tender to a black empowerment company in October. In the meantime, however, the land had increased in value by R23m - from R43m to R66m.
Last month the provincial cabinet inexplicably reversed the decision and decided to call for new tenders, despite a handwritten note by public works MEC Marius Fransman expressing concerns about the delay.
Yesterday, Fezile Calana, chairman of Rowmoor Investments 490 - the company that lost out - said they intended issuing a summons against the province today.
"The summons will say that the government dealt with the tendering process unprocedurally," Calana said. "We will call on the court to reverse the decision.
It is intended to develop the property for housing.
Invitations to tender for the land were first advertised in April last year and closed that May 19.
Rowmoor Investments 490 offered R44m, nearest to the estimated value of R43m. But the province then delayed for almost 18 months before recommending Rowmoor be sold the land.
The document recording the decision to award the tender to Rowmoor was signed by Fransman and Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool, as well as several top provincial officials including the chief financial officer, the chief director of asset management in the treasury, the head of legal services in the premier's office, and the head of public works.
Under the points system used to award tenders in the Western Cape, Rowmoor, the second highest bidder, scored highest with 77.
The stated reason for awarding the tender to Rowmoor was that it "lends itself favourably insofar as transformation and empowerment are concerned".
Based on this, the departmental monitoring and evaluation committee issued a report on September 1 last year concurring that the tender should be awarded to Rowmoor.
The tender document was submitted to the Western Cape property committee in February. Its members then split over the tender award.
The committee recorded its concern about the time that it had taken to evaluate the tender and in its submission to the cabinet, recommended the entire process be scrapped due to the delays.
The Department of Public Works overruled this and said that "although the market value may be much higher at this stage, the tenderers should not be penalised for the delay (almost a year)".
Concerns were noted in the resolution recommending the sale of the land to Rowmoor, including the fact that the assessed value of the land had increased by R23m - from R43m to R66m - since the first tender had been issued.
Despite this, the resolution recommended that Rowmoor be sold the land.
Fransman, who is in Cuba and could not be contacted for comment, signed the tender documents. In a hand-written note alongside his signature, he noted his concern at the "unnecessary delays in the bureaucracy" in the processing of the tender.
Fransman wrote that he concurred with the steps taken by his predecessor, Mcebisi Skwatsha, in awarding the tender. These included having "processed the matter to the premier".
The Cape Argus has the September 30 note from Fransman to Rasool, recommending the tender be awarded to Rowmoor. Signed by director-general Gilbert Lawrence and other top officials, the document was approved by Rasool on October 3.
But in an about-turn last month, the provincial cabinet decided to scrap the entire tender process.
Documents in the Cape Argus's possession, which include cabinet minutes dated November 2, show a decision was taken to reopen the tender and that "new offers to purchase be sought for Erf 1526 in Tamboerskloof".
The minutes of the cabinet meeting do not give reasons for the reversal.
In addition, the cabinet said the Department of Transport and Public Works had to ensure "all reasonable steps are taken to speed up the process of accepting an offer to purchase and awarding a tender".
The cabinet minutes state that the department is responsible for informing Rowmoor and other tenderers of the decision. The department is also responsible for inviting them to submit new offers.
But Rowmoor's Calana said his company had been told only two weeks ago that the property would again be put out to tender - and then only after its lawyer had asked for details on how far the process had gone.
Under the original tender conditions, the department reserved the right to negotiate further with the successful applicant on any aspect related to the tender.
But Calana said Rowmoor had not been consulted about the increased value of the property. His company had a copy of the second valuation, which it found "totally challengeable".
At the time of going to press the province had not replied to questions about the tender e-mailed last week. They were faxed yesterday.
Timeline
April 2004: Tenders are invited for Erf 1526, Tamboerskloof, vacant land of about 2.4429ha.
May 19, 2004: Deadline - 34 tenders are received.
September 1, 2004: Department of Transport and Public Works monitoring and evaluation committee approves the award to Rowmoor Investments Pty Ltd, which received the highest points.
September 20, 2005: Thami Manyathi, head of department, Transport and Public Works, signs the tender.
September 27, 2005: MEC Marius Fransman signs the tender.
October 3, 2005: Premier Ebrahim Rasool signs the tender.
November 2, 2005: Provincial cabinet decides that new offers to purchase be sought for Erf 1526. - Cape Argus
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