Blacklisted firm at centre of R130 million crisis in uThukela

Parliament has called for an urgent probe into a controversial R120 million tender awarded by uThukela District Municipality to a blacklisted company. The tender is now at the centre of calls for an investigation into the affairs of the municipality. Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) portfolio committee chairperson Dr Zweli Mkhize recently questioned how a contract was awarded to RASP Consultants without taking into account clear risks and prior warnings.

“In 2023, a letter from the then municipal manager instructed that this company should never be contracted, yet the municipality continued to engage it,” he said. Mkhize added that the Auditor-General and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Finance must investigate the matter. Attempts to get a comment from the company yesterday were unsuccessful. A payment arrangement was subsequently agreed for R137 million, structured into 24 instalments over seven years, with payments scheduled to align with equitable share disbursements.