A disgruntled vendor is taking on cellular giant MTN in the Eastern Cape, after losing out on a tender.
Motse Mfuleni, CEO of Imbicon IT and Mobile Telecoms, says MTN was wrongfully awarded a R30 million tender to provide voice and data services to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan.
Mfuleni alleges the tender should have been awarded to Vodacom, because his company is Vodacom's empowerment partner in the bid.
He says any contract awarded by the municipality, worth more than R5 million, needs to have both a local partner and a historically-disadvantaged individual component.
But, despite having achieved none of these requirements, MTN won the bid, Mfuleni alleges. “If we were beaten fair and square, then we couldn't contest it.”
Mfuleni, also general secretary of the Black IT Forum, says this sort of practice by large municipalities disadvantages smaller black companies. “It's my task to make sure that things like this don't happen to our members.”
The matter is currently in mediation, but Mfuleni is also not happy with this process, as he alleges the municipality is “telling the adjudicator different reasons why they appointed MTN”.
The tender was issued in October, and awarded to MTN three weeks ago. Vodacom has reportedly sent a letter to the municipality asking it to re-examine the award, but is staying mum on its next course of action.
“We are considering our options and cannot make additional comment at this stage,” the company says.
Neither MTN nor the municipality responded to requests for comment. However, MTN's local business channel manager, Nkululeko Magadla, told the Financial Mail: “There was no criteria that we did not fulfil. We were happy with the process.”
The municipality's communications director Roland Williams is quoted by the magazine as saying the tender process was above board.
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