Moses Kgomu scores R44 million in inflated Govan Mbeki tender

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Moses Kgomu scores R44 million in inflated Govan Mbeki tender
FAVOURED: Secunda Security mogul Moses Kgomu whose company is liked so much by Govan Mbeki officials that it is allocated work totalling millions of rands without even a contract. PICTURE BY Facebook

He is the most paid and frequently hired tenderpreneur in Secunda.


An investigation report shows how eMbalenhle security boss Moses Kgomu scored big while being favoured by the Govan Mbeki local municipality, charging a whopping R44.4 million for security services rendered for just over a year and a half.

The R44.4 million was paid by the Govan Mbeki local municipality in payments occurring over a 19-month period to Kgomu’s El Gondor security company despite it not having a contract with the municipality.

In 2017 El Gondor was paid R6.7 million for 3 months worth of work. The following year 11 payments occurring over 11 months amounting to R21.3 million were paid to Kgomu’s El Gondor. Last year El Gondor received R16.3 million for work spanning just over 5 months.

Kgomu made news in October 2017 when his security guards reported him to the Private  Security Sector Provident Fund after he had been deducting money from the workers since 2014 but never paid it over to the Fund.

In June 2018 his guards in Secunda again protested and told the media how Kgomu refused to pay them their bonuses as well as paying their salaries on time.

Kgomu at the time said that his company was still owed by the municipality and this was the reason he was not be able to pay workers on time or even bonuses.

When the workers merely protested for wages and when Kgomu claimed being broke, the municipality had in fact payed him R3.6 million – half of it in May and the other half in June 2018.

Investigators hired to look at complaints of bad governance, corruption and nepotism at the municipality said that they picked Govan Mbeki’s 16 frequently paid and preferred companies and found that El Gondor was the most paid despite not having a contract with the municipality.

The investigators say the “absence of a contract can indicate that there was no proper competitive bidding followed”.

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“Without a contract, the service provider cannot be held to specific obligations, their performance cannot be properly monitored and oftentimes the agreed contract prices are exceeded”.

Investigators said their investigation at Govan Mbeki was hard as they struggled to get complete information.

The investigation report was released by co-operative governance MEC Mandla Msibi few weeks ago and is yet to be presented to council.

Councillors aligned to ANC Gert Sibande leader Muzi Chirwa are expected to reject it when a council sits as it fingers some of his key allies in wrongdoing.

It found people aligned to mayor Thandi Ngxonono and ANC REC member Ethel Nkosi received work in ways that undermines the principles of fairness and transparency.

The reports recommends actions be taken against Ngxonono and Nkosi in terms of the Code of  Councillors Conduct for their “interference in the appointment of employees” some of whom got low interview scores and others employed without the required qualifications.

The report found the money paid to the companies by the municipality has “considerably increased” in two financial years and that most of the services offered to the municipality was a way of diverting funds.

“Officials who colluded with service providers must be charged accordingly”.

(edited by ZK)

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