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Fresh information reveals the award of a R108 million contact to clear unexploded ammunition took place during an official SANDF moratorium on the awarding of contracts. The moratorium was in place between April and August, and, ironically, was imposed while the Auditor-General investigated the irregular award of contracts. I have formally requested the chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee on defence, Mnyami Booi, that he convene a probe of the award of an overpriced contract to a company with no track record. The fresh information is included in the motivation submitted to the portfolio committee chair Mnyami Booi. The letter also points out that among the flaws in the bidding process were that at least some of the bidders had to submit their tenders without actually being able to view the two former military training sites that had to be cleared of unexploded ordinance. This adds to the suspicion that the tender process was a sham and the contract had always been intended to go to the winning bidder, Origin Exchange. Together with questions about Origin's lack of experience, its demands for money upfront and the exclusion of the experienced Mechem, a subsidiary of state-owned Denel, as well as the link between Origin and a senior Defence Department official, makes up a toxic cocktail of evidence that there has been wrongdoing. The recent violent action by protesting soldiers show how tight defence budgets are. South Africa cannot afford to let the award of this contract go without investigation.
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