DA Councillor Jacqui Uys at the Public Protector office in Pretoria
The City of Tshwane has increased the budget of a security company that was formerly owned by current City of Tshwane Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise.
The original budget of this security tender under the ousted DA-led administration was R300 million a year, but now it has ballooned to R651 million a year.
The said increase was announced during the City of Tshwane Municipality’s budget adjustment process at the end of February this year.
The name of the said company is Triotic Protection Services.
The so-called security services offered by Triotic Protection Services are nothing but a group of watchmen posted at various City of Tshwane buildings, according to DA Councillor Jacqui Uys.
“During its tenure the DA-led administration opted for a security approach that utilised cameras, early warning systems and control rooms with armed response to optimise security for all City assets at a cheaper cost to the City than the present static security guards who are mere watchmen,” said Uys.
“The residents of Tshwane deserve a Deputy Mayor and MMC of Finance who puts their needs first, who is responsible with the public purse and the DA will therefore not relent until the truth comes out,” vowed Uys.
Councillor Uys insists that Deputy Mayor Modise still has strong ties with Triotic Protection Services and wants an investigation into whether the Deputy Mayor is still benefiting financially from his former security company via the said tender.
To this effect Uys lodged a complaint with the Public Protector on Tuesday in Tshwane, and made the following claims:
1.Deputy Mayor Modise’s former security company Triotic Protection Services is a tax delinquent.
2.Triotic Protection Services was awarded the security tender by the City of Tshwane even though it didn’t have a Tax Clearance Certificate.
3.Triotic Protection Services has a judgement against it for owing SARS R59 million.
4.Triotic Protection Services has been awarded various other contracts including a R49 million security tender by the Gauteng Health Department despite the fact that it doesn’t have a Tax Clearance Certificate.
5. City of Tshwane Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya is dragging her feet in launching an investigation against her deputy Modise.
6. The present City of Tshwane Coalition government has increased the budget of the tender awarded to Modise’s former company Triotic Protection Services despite being aware of the fact that the awarding of the said tender awarded to Triotic was being questioned by the DA.
“The DA has on three occasions written to the Tshwane City Manager Johan Mettler to investigate how Triotic Protection Services was appointed to a panel to provide security services to the City of Tshwane if they didn’t have a Tax Clearance Certificate, but this has not yielded any results, and the DA has now taken a decision to approach the Public Protector to probe the aforesaid matters,” said Uys.
She opines that Mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya is dragging her feet in launching an investigation against her deputy Modise.
She said the DA has previously written to Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya regarding clear guidelines and terms of reference, as well as the commencement date of the investigation against Modise, yet they are still waiting for a response from the Mayor in this regard.
In response to Uys’ allegations against him, Deputy Mayor Eugene Modise told Tshwane Talks that an investigation against him has already been instituted regarding the said tender and that Mayor Dr Moya has announced this fact.
“The hopping and attention-seeking antics (of the DA) are aimed at intimidating the investigation process we are embarking on and also to defocus us from finding expression in the hearts of the residents, who are now appreciating our efforts,” said Modise.
“The City of Tshwane Municipality is currently focusing on security as result of the loss incurred due to negligence and incompetence of the DA-led coalition which removed security services from municipal buildings and in the process the Municipality lost R800 million,” he said.