Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has succeeded in its bid to have a lease agreement between a property company and the Department of Public Works reviewed and set aside.
The SIU had sought to review and set aside a procurement decision made more than 17 years ago. The decision spawned five lease agreements.
The agreement was between the department and Plebian Properties.
“The decision of the first respondent (the department) to conclude with the second respondent’s (Plebian Properties) lease agreements and addendum … is declared invalid and set aside as prescribed [in] Section 172[1] [a] of the Constitution
Special Tribunal Judge Lebogang Modiba said:
Modiba added she was concerned the police were still continuing to occupy the leased premises pursuant to an irregular and unlawful procurement process.
“I have also not been advised whether Plebian Properties continues to collect excessive rental on the leased premises as alleged,” she said.
“The SAPS’s continued occupation of the leased premises raises the question [of] whether the declaration of invalidity of the procurement process and the setting aside of the lease agreement ought to have a retrospective effect or not and whether the declaration ought to be suspended or not and if so, on what conditions, to allow Public Works to remedy the irregular and unlawful procurement process.”
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According to the judgment, the first lease agreement was concluded on 28 April 2004, and while Plebian Properties argued the SIU delayed bringing the review application, Mobiba said the delay should be condoned in the interest of justice.
The SIU alleged when Plebian Properties submitted its bid for the tender, it made misrepresentations to the department that it complied with the bid requirements.
This resulted in the alleged levying of the excessive rental by it.
The SIU also alleged department officials maladministered the procurement process resulting in the conclusion of the lease agreement.
The judgment read:
In its bid, the SIU alleged, Plebian Properties misrepresented itself by saying it would provide 19 undercover parking bays as required by the department on behalf of the police.
“When the addendum was concluded, Plebian Properties further misrepresented that it would provide 30 undercover parking bays. Yet, the leased premises did not have sufficient space to accommodate the required number of parking bays.”
According to the judgment, a settlement agreement had since been signed, and Plebian Properties “accepts that it failed” to provide 19 and later 30 undercover parking bays as required and had overcharged the department R973 574.40 in rental for parking bays.
As of 27 August 2019, the company had repaid R474 029.25 to the department.
“By agreement between Public Works and Plebian Properties, from 1 August 2019 until the debt has been fully extinguished, Plebian Properties is defraying this liability through a monthly deduction of an amount R40 000 from the rental due on the leased premises. It says that it has fully discharged this liability.
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“Therefore, I find that in its bid proposal, Plebian Properties misrepresented that it could accommodate 19 and later 30 undercover parking bays when the leased premises could only accommodate six undercover parking bays,” Modiba said.
Modiba continued:
In the company’s version, to date, it did not have an occupancy certificate for the entire leased premises, she added.
On the police’s continued occupation of the building, Modiba said: “This Tribunal’s order in respect of just and equitable relief should not have the effect of disrupting the services the SAPS renders at the leased premises to the most vulnerable members of society.”
She, therefore, directed the Tribunal’s registrar to arrange a case management meeting with the parties to issue directives for the determination of just and equitable relief.
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