The African National Congress (ANC) in Greater Tshwane says it is in possession of a signed and stamped Council report, dated August 2018, relating to a visit by officials to Huawei headquarters in China during September 2018 to see "Smart City" sites.

This as the party disputes Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa’s denial of being involved in awarding tenders.

The Sunday Times reported that Mokgalapa had allegedly flouted the rules of the Democratic Alliance (DA) by not reporting a Huawei-sponsered trip to China, as the City issued an "R1-billion 'smart city' tender".

News24 reported earlier that the mayor, in a statement, said: "My responsibilities are many, but none of them extends to the City’s tender specification process," Mokgalapa said in a statement following the publication of the story."

"That remains the domain of Supply Chain Management and the bid adjudication committee." 

The ANC said the "smart cities" Huawei arrangement was well known in the City, and that Mokgalapa's claims that he didn't know about the tender, when it was advertised, was a "blue lie".

The September 2018 "Smart City" tour was authorised and signed by both the former Executive Mayor Solly Msimanga and his embattled appointee former City Manager Dr Moeketsi Mosola, and it was also an invitation and sponsored by Huawei," the ANC said in a statement.

The party said that, while the capital city was still reeling from the R12-billion GladAfrica scandal, Mokgalapa was "seemingly attempting a heist of his own through a pre-rigged tender whose specifications are alleged to have been designed to match Huawei's product offerings".

It said it was still of the view that Mokgalapa should step down, adding that the mayor was hatching an inept plan to block James Murphy from acting as the city manager.

"The Executive Mayor fears that James Murphy wouldn't allow the R1-billion deal to go through if it is as dodgy as it appears to be. The Mayor is also scared that James Murphy wouldn't allow Dr Moeketsi Mosola to "get away with money and murder" after the Glad Africa corruption scandal."

The ANC has also threatened to approach the courts if Mokgalapa fails to implement a council resolution and appoints Murphy to act as city manager.

The Sunday publication reported that Mokgalapa could be in hot water with his party for not getting the requested approvals from them for the trip.

DA Federal Executive leader James Selfe also told the publication he knew nothing about the issuing of the contract.