Magalies Water dismisses ‘malicious’ claims of awarding tender to Sodi

Tenders awarded to Sodi included the R255m asbestos tender in the Free State in 2014. Sodi was charged with corruption together with former Free State premier Ace Magashule, former Mangaung mayor Olly Mlamleli and former human settlements head of department Nthimotse Mokhesi, in relation to a government contract for the audit and assessment of asbestos housing units in the Free State.

In 2019, his company Blackhead Consulting was given a R292m tender to upgrade the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant for the cholera-hit Hammanskraal. His consortium did half the job but was paid the full amount of the contract.

He was allegedly linked to NJR Projects which, according to parliamentary documents, received more than R173m to construct temporary shelters during the Covid-19 lockdown in Duncan Village in the Eastern Cape in 2020. Only 279 of the expected 1,800 shelters were built. Individual shelters, described as wooden shacks, came to R166,000 each.

Magalies Water clarified that the procurement processes would be fair and transparent.

“Given the magnitude of such a high-impact bulk water project, necessary checks-and-balances are done to ensure that any award of the tender is free of bias and/or any undue influence on the extent that the supply chain management process can withstand any form of scrutiny,” it said.

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