Nelson Mandela Bay's acting city manager, Lonwabo Ngoqo, has announced that the metro will take a lease agreement for a R25m transformer to the high court for judicial review. The agreement was allegedly concluded without following due process.
In August this year, Coega Steel, one of Nelson Mandela Bay metro's highest energy users, requested to lease a R25-million transformer from the municipality after the smelter's failed.
On Tuesday, executive mayor Babalwa Lobishe brought an item to council to have the lease agreement of R250,000 a month approved.
However, as leader of the DA in the metro council Rano Kayser pointed out yesterday, this lease was recorded on a document that looked as if it was "bought at PNA or Clicks", with hand-written annotations.
It had also already been concluded, and payment had been received by the metro. Public participation, as required for assets of more than R10-million, did not happen. Kayser said that while former acting city manager Ted Pillay claimed he had done due diligence, the timeframe during which the lease was signed casts doubt on this. "He made the decision in less than 24 hours," Kayser said.
Criminal case opened
Lawrence Troon from the Good party has opened a criminal case against Pillay, relating to the signing of the lease.
"I have opened a criminal case. There is no policy for what he did," Troon said.
As Kayser, who obtained several documents relevant to the lease...
