By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Antonio Muchave.
Tshwane mayor Randall Williams denies wrongdoing in R26bn power project and accuses the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and ActionSA of destabilising the coalition administration.
This after a leaked audio clip from a meeting chaired by Williams, which included officials from the City Manager’s Office, Mayor’s Office, Electricity Department, and Chief Operations Cluster.
The officials were brainstorming about an electricity investment project that had been received by the City to re-purpose the City’s coal power plants which have not been used since 2014, and convert them to use gas to help the city avoid load shedding.
It involved an unsolicited R26 billion project with an Australian energy company Kratos Energy to refurbish, maintain and operate the Pretoria West and Rooiwal power substations to self-generate 800 Megawatts of electricity for the city.
Williams said the intention of the meeting was to brainstorm an investment proposal.
He said the recording of an internal Tshwane meeting that he chaired, clearly de-contextualised with the aim of discrediting and smearing him as executive mayor.
“This dishonest act was disturbing as it came from one of the coalition partners in the City, Action SA, who are attempting to frame the recording as some indictment against me.”
“For an hour and half, myself and officials discussed how to approach this matter within the confines of local government legislation and the law, so that we follow due process. No unlawful instructions were given. By the end of this, we agreed on the way forward, a process which has taken us a year but resulted in us bringing a public participation report on this matter to Council today,” Williams said.
Political parties, which included the EFF and ActionSA, interpreted Williams’ instruction as an intimidation of officials and a form of political interference in administration.
Both parties threatened to open criminal cases against Williams for interfering in the supply chain procurement process. They also called for the mayor to be put under forensic investigation for alleged undue influence on officials.
The report by Williams was subsequently withdrawn in what ActionSA described as victory for the people of Tshwane and vindication of the party’s position that the position on unsolicited bid would be illegal.