The Competition Commission has warned that collusion between rival companies bidding for government tenders is considered “cartel conduct”.
This comes amid shocking revelations by the City of Cape Town as they have unearthed evidence against two companies who have now been blacklisted by the municipality for colluding with alleged 28s gang wife Nicole Johnson.
On Wednesday, City Manager Lungelo Mbandazayo said their suspicions of collusion were confirmed after a handwriting expert assessed tender applications made by Johnson’s company Glomix CC and two other entities for a housing development on the Cape Flats.
It comes amid a mammoth investigation into links between the underworld, contractors and City officials in the Human Settlements department following the murder of City staffer Wendy Kloppers.
Kloppers was shot and killed at the Delft Housing Site last year amid extortion attempts by underworld figures.
While an alleged hitman affiliated with Johnson’s husband, alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield, has been charged with Kloppers’ murder, the Daily Voice can reveal that her company has been blacklisted again amid the collusion claims.
According to legal documents supplied to Glomix CC and other entities, Mbandazayo listed intricate details of how expert evidence proved the three companies had violated various aspects of the Supply Chain Management Policy.
The City Manager says the directors of both companies signed two schedule forms, indicating that they were not linked to any individual or organisation that could be considered as a competitor for the same tender.
But, he says, with the aid of an electrostatic detection device, the handwriting expert found that not only did the same person complete the forms for all three companies, but when printing ID documents of the directors, the same printer was used to print the tender documents.
Mbandazayo says: “It was even found that when the forms were filled in by hand for all three tenders, they were in fact on top of each other and so the top page made an impression on all the pages underneath it.”
Mbandazayo also uncovered that one of the construction companies produced the exact same Health and Safety Plans as Glomix CC, with the same grammatical errors.
While the paperwork has been handed to SAPS and the municipality prepares their documents to be handed to the Competition Commission, Mbandazayo warns that more individuals may come under scrutiny.
He explains: ‘We are not targeting the Stanfields, but the brazen nature in which they infiltrated the department could not go unnoticed. And it’s not only them, there are others.“
Sipho Ngwema, head of communication at the Competition Commission clarifies: “Collusion is an offence in terms of the Competition Act and we have investigated, prosecuted, and fined many companies in this regard. Collusion is cartel conduct and is prohibited under the Act.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirms the SAPS Commercial Crimes Unit is investigating the matter.
But he adds: “Due to the sensitive nature of this investigation, this office is not in a position to provide a response as it may compromise the investigation.”
monique.duval@inl.co.za