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The Minister of Defence needs to justify the award of an overpriced tender to a company with no track record. The contract worth R108 million is to clear unexploded ammunition from military property that has been reallocated by land claims. The contract was apparently awarded to a company called Origin Exchange instead of to a competing consortium including Mechem, a company owned by the cash strapped state owned enterprise Denel. The Star newspaper says the Origin bid was R30 million higher than the next highest bid. The paper also says rules governing the tender have been flouted. These included that the company awarded the contract must have at least five years experience in the business and that no money would be paid before work began. Unless the Minister can convincingly explain why this contract was awarded, this contract should be suspended and the people responsible for awarding it should be investigated.