Western Cape Premier Alan Winde. Photo: Jaco Marais
- A losing bidder has taken the Western Cape government to court to challenge the decision to award a tender to controversial businessman Roy Moodley.
- Moodley has been linked to several state capture scandals.
- Premier Alan Winde says the danger is if no urgent intervention takes place, state capture and the tentacles of organised crime will reach deeper into government.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has confirmed a Cape security company, which ended up being the losing bidder for a security tender, is seeking to legally challenge the province’s decision to award a R282-million tender to controversial Durban businessman Roy Moodley.
Moodley has been linked to several state capture scandals.
In a statement, Winde said the matter was of great concern to him and his government.
“We cannot be in a position where government tenders are being used to launder dirty money, but simultaneously we are a government that respects and promotes the rule of law, and that means that we all have the right to be treated as innocent until proven guilty,” he added.
Winde said the criminal justice system had failed by not prosecuting glaring cases of alleged corruption, mainly emanating from the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
“Further to this, I have been informed that one of the losing bidders in a recent tender issued by the provincial government’s Department of Infrastructure will be challenging the decision in court.
“I welcome this process and the scrutiny of our supply chain management processes.”
READ | ‘I am outraged’: Winde fumes over state capture bigwig scoring R282m contract in Western Cape
Winde said if any material irregularity or procedural error was confirmed or discovered in the process of preparing for the court proceedings, or the court process itself, they would ensure the rule of law was enforced and the procurement process regularised, “as is our constitutional obligation”.
Earlier this month, the Daily Maverick reported the province awarded the contract to Moodley’s security firm.
The contract was awarded to Royal Security for security services for a period of two years at properties owned by the provincial government, the publication’s Scorpio investigative unit reported.
Moodley founded Royal Security in the late 1980s.
He resigned as a member of the closed corporation in 2015.
How safe is your neighbourhood? Find out by using News24’s CrimeCheck
Moodley’s son, Magesh, has been listed as the entity’s sole member.
Moodley, along with other entities linked to him, Royal Security being among them, has been implicated in some of the state capture cases during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure.
Winde said he had met with members of his administration to finalise engagement and correspondence with the National Prosecuting Authority, Department of Justice, National Treasury and police.
Our purpose, in writing and engaging particularly criminal and judicial entities, is to highlight the significant risk that governments [national, provincial, and local] and state-owned enterprises across South Africa face due to the paralysis in the criminal justice system.
“We are asking that they dramatically accelerate and capacitate the successful prosecution of criminal cases, particularly in matters that have arisen from and been flagged in the state capture commission report. “
“The danger we face not only here in the Western Cape but across South Africa is that if we do not urgently intervene, state capture and the tentacles of organised crime will reach deeper into government and, by extension, continue to rob our country of meaningful economic growth and job creation,” he added.
.
