R2.9bn on 22 companies: Madlanga commission sheds light on Tshwane security tenders

2026-03-24 - 12:30

In a classic case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire, Revo Spies left the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) amid corruption allegations to join the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD), which is itself facing claims of tender rigging. Currently, the Deputy Chief of Police: Asset Protection and Security Services at the TMPD, Spies joined the department in March 2025 and is now marking a year in his new role while testifying at the Madlanga commission on Tuesday about alleged tender rigging. According to Spies, the TMPD issued a security tender in March 2022, expected to expire in February 2025. However, it has since been extended. The commission heard that 22 companies were granted this tender, and about R2.9 billion has been paid out to date. Of the 22 companies, the commission will shed light on three which are alleged to be linked to tender manipulation involving Sergeant Fannie Nkosi. WhatsApp messages from Nkosi’s phone suggested potential tender manipulation at the TMPD, where extensions are granted on current security contracts to ensure continued payments from the department. ALSO READ: Sergeant Fannie Nkosi explains visit to KT Molefe’s mansion captured on CCTV Although the contracts themselves showed no irregularities, Spies highlighted ad hoc services that could be manipulated. Between July 2024 and June 2025, one company, Gubis85 Solutions, was paid R60 million for ad hoc services. This was in addition to its standard monthly security services payment of R3.5 million. Tender extensions Commission chair Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga questioned the possibility of manipulation to ensure tender contracts are extended. “If indeed what those chats show us may have led to or informed this extension, so what appears properly and on which there’s a recommendation and approval may well have been simulated and not something real, so to speak,” said Madlanga. “So the short point I want to make is that unbeknownst to a city manager, the accounting officer, the possibility cannot be discounted that they may actually be signing off on something that is simulated. Would you accept that?” Spies responded: “Commissioner, I would agree with you. Even I didn’t know anything about it, and it’s like there’s a trust relationship that your subordinates will do the correct thing, and I obviously didn’t know anything about the understream or undercurrent discussions and things that are happening, but it is possible that officials can contrive to create this at the bottom end.” Purchase orders This is where purchase orders come in for ad hoc services. “Normally, within the department, there will first be a requisition created by the department for services to be rendered, and then a purchase order will be generated based on the requisition from the department, and that purchase order will then be given to the supplier. “He will then deliver the work as per the purchase order, and at the end of the period, he will submit an invoice, which will be processed, linked to the purchase order and the requisition, and the payment will then be effected. “So, for Watchman Services, there is a purchase order created at the beginning of the financial year because it’s a fixed deployment of how many guards will be deployed, and that is then one purchase order for that service for the year. ALSO READ: Madlanga commission: Nkosi affidavit links Cat Matlala to Paul Mashatile “But the ad hoc services purchase orders are created as and when it’s needed, and that is then, as soon as the purchase order is created, it is then paid per invoice as it’s delivered. There is also a monitoring team from the Asset Protection Security Services that, if there is a purchase order, will actually go and inspect and see that there are guards deployed, there is work being done, and then the invoice process is signed off.” However, inspections did not always happen, resulting in some companies being paid for work not done. Why delay? Commissioner Sandile Khumalo asked about the difficulties around appointing new service providers before the current contracts expire. “Why is it that you continuously see this thing where a tender is advertised, you know that the previous contract is a three-year contract and it’s going to expire at the end of February, but you don’t complete the evaluation process and the new appointment before the end of February? “And then you have to favour the companies that were appointed under the previous tender, because you continuously extend their contracts and they get paid out of the municipality, when in truth, their term has expired because it was a three-year term. You are effectively giving them three and a half years now. Why is it that this is always happening?” Spies pointed to the strict deadlines and guidelines governing the appointment of new service providers. This happens in an environment that may involve more than 1 000 bidders. The bidding committee must assess all bid documents from these companies and then physically visit each of their sites to ensure they meet all requirements. The committee members will then have to assess the companies’ compliance with the South African Revenue Service (Sars) and Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA). “That administrative bureaucracy process is when there is a large number of tenders, like 1 200 companies, which creates a massive delay because of the large amount that is there, especially with tenders like these,” said Spies. He said that although he is not ruling out the possibility of manipulation, municipalities sometimes begin the process of appointing new service providers early and still end up extending current contracts due to unforeseen delays. READ NEXT: ‘Trying to help the needy’: Sergeant Nkosi denies ‘pulling strings’ in Tshwane tenders, hiring processes