North West Public Works on lucrative government contracts scam

15 March 2009

Public Works North West, warns business entities, of approximately six
separate scams, using the same modus operandi methods in some parts of the
province.
These, swindle unsuspecting victims of substantial amounts of money, paid
upfront, to help secure “lucrative government contracts” which do not and never
existed. The scams, according to our information, impress and purport to use
their acumen and skill, to help “clinch contracts”, allegedly with the
Department of Public Works.

Unsuspecting victims are conned into paying between R6 000 and R100 000 in
administration fees to members of the scam to facilitate the ‘deal’ on their
behalf. One such victim was allegedly promised a contract to the value of R61
million for a non-existent school project in Coligny outside Lichtenburg.
The latest victim-a motor vehicle service centre was made to believe to have
been awarded a whopping R36 million “contract” by the department.
The manufactured contract had to do with the “service and repair” of government
vehicles in the Klerksdorp/Potchefstroom areas. “Tenders for such contracts
never ever existed. In fact the servicing of government fleet vehicles does not
even form part of our mandate,” said a spokesman, Matshube Mfoloe.

“The most worrying factor is the culprits also masquerade as employees of
the department. They use fake or falsified letter heads bearing our
departmental logo including the code of arms plus a rubber stamp in the
correspondence to their victims,” he said. It has also been brought to our
attention that, one of the culprits in the latest incident, has a title of
Chief Director, Projects. This position does not exist in our department.

Our official letter heads as well as the text of the rubber stamps we use
differed significantly from what the scams are using. “All contracts in
government, big or small, must adhere and subscribe to certain requirements as
stipulated by law. Government contracts for amounts of R500 000 and more are
advertised in the mainstream media,” Mfoloe said.

He said the process to award the contract is transparent and no one is
expected to influence the awarding process to favour a particular person or
company.
Mfoloe said victims who have fallen prey to the scams were urged to report the
incidents to the police.

Enquiries:
Matshube Mfoloe
Tel: 018 387 2447
Cell: 082 305 4594
E-mail: mmfoloe@nwpg.gov.za

Issued by: Department of Public Works, North West Provincial
Government
15 March 2009
Source: Department of Public Works, North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwpg.gov.za/index.asp)