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IN THE KWAZULU-NATAL HIGH COURT DURBAN
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
CASE NO: …….………………./2013
In the matter between:
MZIKAYIFANI MICHAEL BIYELA
AND 300 OTHERS
PLAINTIFF
AND
ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN
FIRST DEFENDANT
ETHEKWINI TRANSPORT AUTHORITY DURBAN
KZN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT
SECOND DEFENDANT
THIRD DEFENDANT
JAY SINGH
FOURTH DEFENDANT
REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY) LTD
FIFTH DEFENDANT
MICHAEL SUTCLIFFE
SIXTH DEFENDANT
PLAINTIFF’S PARTICULARS OF CLAIM
1.
The PLAINTIFF is MZIKAYIFANI MICHAEL BIYELA, AND 300 OTHERS, who were
victims in the Privatization of the Municipality Bus Service, a complete list of Names
and Full details are available, their addresses within the jurisdiction of the above
Honourable Court .
(hereinafter called the Plaintiff)
2.
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The FIRST DEFENDANT is the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN, C/o City
Manager, Mr. SIBUSISO SITHOLE, C/o Legal Department,
12th Floor, SHELL HOUSE, 221 SMITH STREET, Durban, a local authority duly
established in terms of Section 11 of Local Government Municipality Structures Act,
117 of 1998, who was involved in the Privatization of the Municipality Bus Service, its
address within the jurisdiction of the above Honourable Court .
(hereinafter called the First Defendant)
3.
The SECOND DEFENDANT is ETHEKWINI TRANSPORT AUTHORITY DURBAN,
C/o City Manager, Mr. SIBUSISO SITHOLE, C/o Legal Department, 12 th Floor,
SHELL HOUSE, 221 SMITH STREET, Durban, a department of the local authority
Ethekwini Municipality, who was involved in the Privatization of the Municipality Bus
Service, whose full and further particulars are to Plaintiff unknown, its address within
the jurisdiction of the above Honourable Court.
(hereinafter called the Second Defendant)
4.
The THIRD DEFENDANT is KZN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT, C/o 53 Berger
Street, Pietermaritzburg, a department of the South African Government, who was
involved in the Privatization of the Municipality Bus Service, who’s full and further
particulars are to Plaintiff unknown, its address within the jurisdiction of the above
Honourable Court.
(hereinafter called the Third Defendant)
5.
The FOURTH DEFENDANT is JAY SINGH, C/o 33 Cyclops Street,
Starwood, Phoenix, Kwa- Zulu Natal, a major male who was involved in the
Privatization of the Municipality Bus Service, whose full and further particulars are to
Plaintiff unknown, its address within the jurisdiction of the above Honourable Court.
(hereinafter called the Fourth Defendant)
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6.
The FIFTH DEFENDANT is REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY) LTD, C/o
JAY SINGH, 33 Cyclops Street, Starwood, Phoenix, Kwa- Zulu Natal, a Company
registered in terms of the Companies Act of South Africa, who was involved in the
Privatization of the Municipality Bus Service, whose full and further particulars are to
Plaintiff unknown, its address within the jurisdiction of the above Honourable Court.
(hereinafter called the Fifth Defendant)
7.
The SIXTH DEFENDANT is MICHAEL SUTCLIFFE, C/o Flat 71, 7th Floor, Groote
Schuur Flats, 2 Erskine Terrace, South Beach, Durban, the previous City Manager of
the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY Durban, who was involved in the Privatization of the
Municipality Bus Service, whose full and further particulars are to Plaintiff unknown,
its address within the jurisdiction of the above Honourable Court .
(hereinafter called the Sixth Defendant)
8.
The Plaints are +- 300 Bus Drivers and other staff, Durban Transport Workers and
Remant Alton Workers who have suffered damages.
A complete list of Applicant names will be supplied upon request.
Each of the +- 300 Applicants have signed an affidavit stating that they are
Applicants and support this application.
9.
Most of the Plaintiffs were and are:
Were originally Employed by the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN.
Are RATE Payers directly and or indirectly.
Are Electricity payers directly and or indirectly.
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10.
Plaintiff Mzikayifani Michael BIYELA has been elected, authorized and given
permission to represent all the Plaintiffs.
11.
This matter has been dragging on for many years with absolutely no response from
the Defendants.
12.
The Defendants have chosen to totally ignore the Plaintiffs.
The Defendants have failed and or refused to reply to all Correspondence and
requests for information.
13.
The Plaintiffs have spent more than R240 000.00 on Attorney and or Advocate fees.
The Plaintiffs hand delivered dozens of letters and Demands.
The Sheriff has delivered dozens of letters and Demands.
The Plaintiffs / Applicants made two Applications to High Court Durban.
Other parties have also made Applications to the High Court Pietermaritzburg and
Labour Court Johannesburg.
The Defendants/Respondents have opposed every Application, used every stalling
tactic in the book totally ignoring the Plaintiffs / Applicants.
14.
The ANC, Government, African National Congress Political Party is mainly
responsible for this fiasco of a Failed Bus Privatisation Project.
15.
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The ANC Ethekwini Municipality Durban bailed out all the Millionaire bus owners to
the sum of hundreds of millions of Rands.
16.
The ANC Ethekwini Municipality Durban bailed out all the Millionaire bus owners who
live in multimillion Rand homes and drive many multimillion Rand very expensive
luxury Sports Cars.
17.
What did the ANC Ethekwini Municipality Durban do for the Workers? Nothing, totally
ignored them while they all were unemployed, lost their homes, had no money for
food, could not sent their children to school or university.
18.
The Plaintiffs were always assured that the Bus Privatisation Project was a GOOD
proposal and all the workers, Plaintiffs will be protected.
This turned out to be a Blatant LIE.
19.
As the ANC Ethekwini Municipality Durban has totally ignored the Plaintiffs, we in
desperation as a last resort have made this SUMMONS to the Above Honourable
Court requesting Justice and fair compensation.
20.
The Plaintiffs / Applicants did a High Court Application under case Number:
13323\2012 however at the Judge Presidents valued advice we have withdrawn that
Application and have filed this SUMMONS.
This SUMMONS is based on the following:
a) Failed Bus Privatization Pilot Project.
b) Negligence.
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c) Fraud.
d) Breach of contract.
e) Discrimination.
21.
Failed Bus Privatization Pilot Project.
PILOT PROJECT
Background
Over and above the state subsidised routes, Durban Transport also had an interim
contract with the Department of Transport to operate Clemont routes and this
contract was originally due to expire on 31 March 1998.
The Department of Transport decided not to extend the contract with Durban
Transport, but put it out to tender on 27 November 1997.
The new tender specifications were based on the proposed Transport Bill.
22.
Due to concerns expressed by the local taxi associations the tender enquiry was
withdrawn and the Department of Transport subsequently negotiated an extension of
the Interim Contract with Durban Transport pending the re-issue of the Clemont
tender.
On 28 August 1998 the Provincial Department of Transport re-advertised Clemont
and Inanda routes.
23.
1st FAILED Pilot Project
Clemont was the first pilot project that the Kzn Department of Transport initiated for
the purpose of testing the new Transport bill.
The National Land Transport Transitional Act was only passed in parliament on
December 2000.
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This service was not put out on public tender. The Kzn Department of Transport
entered into a negotiated contract with Alton Coach Africa, owned by (Jay Singh).
24.
Alton Coach could not successfully run this operation and eventually this service was
very poor with un-roadworthy buses that were breaking down, resulting in trips lost,
passengers stranded and unhappy staff, etc.
This was a very small bus operation with only 13 buses and Alton Coach destroyed a
good bus service that was well run by Durban Transport on a fixed term contract.
25.
Jay Singh sold Clemont operation to Ebhodwe Transport in 2008 and there was an
internal agreement between the Kzn Department of Transport, Alton Coach and
Ebhodwe Transport, that Ebhodwe Transport will take over or continue to operate
Clemont service and receive state subsidy.
Alton Coach failed to operate this contract and the Department of Transport should
have put this contract out to tender and not enter into another agreement with
Ebhodwe Transport, this was totally irregular.
26.
Ebhodwe transport failed to operate this service because of the poor condition of the
buses and disgruntled staff. Ebhodwe then sold this business back to Alton Coach.
How did the Kzn Department of Transport allow this sort of arrangements to take
place? When Alton Coach failed, this contract should have been put to public tender
and not another negotiated contract.
Alton Coach still failed to operate this service successfully.
27.
Then in 2010 this contract was given to Ethekwini Transport, owned by Mandla
Qcaba, Zuma’s nephew, who took over Clemont service from Alton Coach.
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The Department of Transport entered into another negotiated contract with Thekwini
Transport, instead of this contract going out to public tender.
Mandla Qcaba was also a shareholder in Remant Alton and he sold his shares to Jay
Singh after the Municipality bought back the buses.
This was first failed pilot project. Moreover these contracts were illegal because they
did not go out to public tender and this took place three times.
28.
2nd FAILED Pilot Project
In 1997 the Municipality appointed a group of consultants who then formed a
consortium called Marriott Merchant Bank Consortium and their task was to
investigate the Transport Bill and come up with a suitable option for Durban
Transport.
Out of their investigation they came up with the option of corporatisation and in this
option Durban Transport would become a separate legal entity and staff would be
transferred on a section 197 labour relations act.
29.
In a summit held at the Royal Hotel in 1998, in the Minister’s (Mac Maharaj) address
to the summit, he congratulated the MEC for Transport, the Mayor of Durban and
Durban Bus Service for the progress that has been made regarding the
corporatisation of Durban Transport.
It is clear from this summit that all parties including the National Minister were quite
happy with the corporatisation route.
According to the Ministers letter Durban was the testing ground for the new
legislation, so this was the second pilot project.
30.
However, on 18 October 2000, the MEC for Transport, Minister Ndebele sent a letter
to National Minister of Transport, Dullah Omar who had taken over from Minister Mac
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Maharaj and in his letter he was requesting authorisation to enter into a negotiated
contract with a suitable interested party to take over Durban Transport.
This is a quote from the Minister’s letter, “it is not proposed that the negotiation be
done with Durban Transport since the Metro Council no longer wish to own the bus
company. Instead a suitable interested party/parties would be identified through a
process of calling for Expression of Interest in Durban Transport in a transparent and
open process” end of quote.
31.
After spending millions of rate payer’s money on consultants who came up with
corporatisation, the Municipality decided to shelve this option and privatised the bus
service that served the ratepayers for over 100 years.
32.
The Kzn Department of Transport and Municipality entered into a negotiated contract
with Alton Coach Africa (Jay Singh) and Remant Holdings (Dr. Deliza Mji).
The same Alton Coach that destroyed the Clemont bus service.
33.
ANC comrade Deliza Mji who was a medical doctor and never ran public transport.
Why did the Department of Transport and Municipality enter into another negotiated
contract with the same bus operator Alton Coach Africa that could not run a small 13
bus service efficiently?
34.
So where was the transparent and open process according to the MEC’s letter to the
National Minister for Transport?
So from the beginning it was not about the deficit, state subsidy or legislation. The
bottom line is that the Municipality was running away from their
obligation/responsibility to run/operate bus transport.
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35.
The Municipality also went ahead and privatised the unsubsidised routes, i.e. Mynah,
Old Borough and People Mover services, these service’s were not affected by the
new Transport Policy (NLTTA) and did not receive state subsidy; the Municipality
subsidised this service. Once again the Municipality failed in their
obligation/responsibility to run/operate bus transport.
36.
Johannesburg Municipality was also affected by the new Transport Policy,
however they were more responsible in that they took the corporatisation
route, instead of full blown privatisation and bus transport is still under the
municipality.
The Ethekwini Municipality spend millions of rate payer’s money on consultants, who
came up with corporatisation as the best option and thereafter the Municipality
decided to go for full privatisation.
37.
During Remant Alton’s term of contract, there were three major bus inspections
carried out by Shanela (Road Traffic Inspectorate) and this department falls directly
under the Kzn Department of Transport. RTI condemned buses that were unroadworthy, the licence and permits were taken off the buses and kept by RTI, until
the buses passed the certificate of fitness test. Proof of COF test results had to be
produced and then only the RTI released the permits and licence discs.
In fact the last RTI inspection took place at the bus depots and almost 50% of buses
were pulled off the road because of poor brakes and major defects. Those buses had
to be repaired and go to testing stations that RTI approved, because they suspected
that buses were not going through a fair test.
38.
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In terms of the contract that Remant Alton signed with the Department of Transport
and Municipality, this was non compliance and non performance. This is a breach of
contract and therefore Remant Alton’s contract should have been terminated. But
instead of terminating their contract both the Department of Transport and
Municipality continuously bailed out Remant Alton from their financial crises.
39.
In my opinion, this was well planned by the late ANC chairman, John Mchunu
Sutcliffe and others officials. These same City officials were implicated in the
INGUBANE and MANASE investigations. Therefore the Municipality and the MEC for
Corporate Governance have failed/refused to give us these reports and other
documents we requested.
40.
In a Durban Transport consultative forum meeting held in December 2008, where all
stakeholders were present, i.e. Department of Transport, Municipality, Remant Alton,
workers working group and unions, the late ANC Chairman, John Mchunu stated that
privatisation has failed and the bus service must come back to the Municipality. He
also stated that Remant Alton failed to provide a good service. No one disagreed with
these statements, including Remant Alton representatives, which means they all
excepted that privatisation in Durban failed and also Remant Alton failed to provide a
good and efficient service.
41.
In March/April of 2009 Remant Alton informed the Department of Transport and
Municipality that the company is liquidating. How is it possible for a company that
was bailed out for R405 million just a few months ago and who were financially
sound then get liquidated.
Two weeks after Remant Alton closed, Tansnat Africa was appointed as the interim
operator, to run Durban Transport service. This was another negotiated contract. The
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owners of this company were Mohamed Paruk and Mandla Qcaba, the same Mandla
who was also a shareholder in Remant Alton.
42.
How is it that the Department of Transport and Municipality are negotiating contracts
with the same people over and over again? This is fraud
In July 2009, private bus operators took the Department of Transport and
Municipality to the Pietermaritzburg High Court because Durban Transport contract
did not go out to public tender, but was negotiated with Tansnat Africa.
According to a high court ruling on Friday, 21 December 2009, Judge Adrian Rall
ruled in the Pietermaritzburg high court that the appointment of Tansnat Africa to
operate the Durban Transport service was illegal because the Department of
Transport did not comply with the correct statutory procedures. Judge Rall said the
contract should have gone out to tender because it was state subsidised.
43.
However the Department of Transport and the Municipality ignored the High Court
ruling and Tansnat continued to operate.
Eventually Tansnat main partner, Mohamed Paruk pulled out of this deal and the
Department of Transport and Municipality then gave this contract to Thekwini
Transport, Mandla Qcaba.
44.
Failures of 1st Project
a) The Kzn Department of Transport entered into a negotiated contract with Alton
Coach to operate Clemont Routes and they failed.
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b) The Kzn DOT entered into another negotiated contract with Ebhodwe
Transport and they failed.
c) Ebhodwe sold the business back to Alton Coach and the KznDOT allowed this
contract to stay with Alton Coach, instead of terminating this contract.
d) Alton Coach failed again and the KznDOT entered into a contract with
Ethekwini transport owned by Mandla Qcaba who was a shareholder in
Remant Alton.
45.
Failures of 2nd Project
a) The KznDOT and Municipality entered into another contract with Remant Alton
(Alton Coach Africa and Remant Holdings) to operate the state subsidised
routes of Durban Transport and they failed.
b) The Municipality and KznDOT entered into a negotiated contract with Remant
Alton to operate the non subsidised routes and they failed.
c) When Remant Alton closed down, the KznDOT and Municipality then entered
into another negotiated contract with Tansnat Africa.
d) The High Court judge ruled that the contract entered into by KznDOT and
Tansnat was illegal, this contract should have gone out on public tender
because it was state subsidised.
e) Tansnat Africa failed and both Departments entered into a negotiated contract
with Ethekwini Transport.
46.
Both pilot projects failed.
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Instead of the putting these contracts out on public tender, both Departments decided
to enter into negotiated contracts with the same people.
These negotiated contracts are with the same companies/people in both pilot
projects.
Instead of the KznDOT and Municipality terminating these contracts because of non
performance and breach of contract, they continuously bailed Remant Alton out.
47.
The same Alton Coach entity that destroyed the Clemont operation/service, was
given Durban Transport contract, without said service, going out to public tender, the
irregular and mal-administered award, resulted in the entire Durban transport
contract changing hands, and in-turn effectively destroyed the long standing and very
efficient Municipal bus service, that had successfully operated in Durban and
surrounding areas, for well over 100 years.
48.
The applicants are victims of this corrupt, irregular and mal-administered
privatisation, our employment jobs were lost, resulting in the members losing houses,
cars, divorces, suicides, as well as some are very sick, others are in poverty, and
many have died.
Over 300 staff members are unemployed and the KznDOT and Municipality did not
bail us out.
49.
Negligence
The Kzn Department of Transport entered into a negotiated contract with Alton
Coach for Clemont routes and they failed to provide a good and efficient service for
this small (13) bus service but the Department still continued with this operator.
50.
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The Kzn Department of Transport then entered into another negotiated contract with
the same Alton Coach for the rest of Durban Transport subsidised routes (township
routes) and they failed once again destroying a well established bus service that
operated for over 100 years.
51.
The Municipality also privatised the unsubsidised routes and entered into a
negotiated contract with Remant Alton to operate the Mynah, Old Borough and
People Mover service. This service was not affected by the NLTTA because it was
not state subsidised. So why did the Municipality privatise these services, this is
negligence and the Municipality were running away from their obligation and
responsibility to operate bus transport.
Remant Alton destroyed a very popular Mynah service that was recognised by local
and international tourist.
52.
The Municipality spent millions of rate payer’s money on consultants to investigate
the new transport bill and come up with the best option for the city.
And after two comprehensive reports from the consultants, which clearly identified
corporatisation as the best option for the city, the Municipality and KznDot still went
ahead and privatised Durban Transport. This was very irresponsible.
Even after the National Minister, Mac Maharaj in a summit meeting held at Royal
Hotel in 1998 congratulated the MEC for transport, the Mayor of Durban and Durban
Transport for the progress that has been made regarding the corporatisation of
Durban Transport.
53.
However, when Minister Mac Maharaj resigned and Mr Dullar Omar was appointed
National Minister of Transport, the MEC for Transport, Mr. Ndebele wrote to him
requesting authorisation to enter into a negotiated contract with a suitable interested
party to take over Durban Transport.
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Why was this not done when Minister Maharaj was in office and we know from the
Ministers summit address that he was in favour of corporatisation because it took
care of labours concern regarding job security.
This was also a golden opportunity for the Municipality (Sutcliffe, Mayor, and ANC
Chairman) and MEC for Transport to go ahead and sell Durban Transport assets for
next to nothing (70million) to their friends/comrades because a new Minister was
appointed.
54.
The Municipality and Department of Transport failed to terminate Remant Alton
contract right from the beginning because of poor, inefficient service, with non
compliant buses. The Road Traffic Inspectorate on three different occasions
condemned buses that were un-roadworthy and most of those buses failed the brake
test and had major defects. Those buses had to be repaired and go to test stations
that RTI selected, because the RTI suspected that the buses were not going through
a fair test. Most of these buses went for test and failed more than three times which
clearly indicates how serious the problem was.
This was most certainly non performance, non compliant, and a breach of contract.
However the Municipality and Department of Transport did absolutely nothing to
terminate Remant’s contract, but they continuously bailed Remant Alton out of
financial crises.
The biggest bail out was when the Municipality bought back buses for R405million.
55.
Moreover in Durban Transport consultative forum meeting’s held in
December/January 2008, where all stakeholders were present, i.e. Department of
Transport, Municipality, Remant Alton, workers committee and unions, the late ANC
Chairman, John Mchunu made the following statements, privatisation has failed and
the bus service must come back to the Municipality.
Remant Alton has failed to provide a good service.
These statements were not challenged by Remant Alton or by those present at these
meetings, so why did the Municipality and Department of Transport not terminate
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Remant Altons contract. They allowed Remant Alton to continue to operate up until
they closed down and all staff lost their jobs, this is irresponsible and negligent.
56.
After the big bail out Remant Alton was then financially sound and this was as from
September 2008 and they were now operating a management contract, without any
responsibility for bus maintenance, licence, etc.
The City thereafter leased the buses to Remant Alton.
So the big question is how did Remant Alton get into a financial crises again in such
a short space of time, when they had no big capital expenditure. All the banks were
paid off for the new buses from the R405million, they did not owe SARS and other
creditors, their books were balancing, because they were financially sound after the
Municipality bought back buses.
In my opinion this was all well planned by the Municipality (Sutcliffe, Mayor, ANC
John Mchunu), the Kzn Department of Transport and Remant Alton directors.
57.
The Municipality and Department of Transport were aware in March/April 2009 that
Remant Alton was going to liquidate, because Remant Alton board wrote to the City
requesting the R20million sureties plus interest be used to partly liquidate the debt
owing to the Municipality. How did Remant Alton go from financially sound to
financially broke in just a few months. This is fraud. .
The Municipality and Kzn Department of Transport failed or refused to ensure a
smooth transition from one operator to the other and therefore commuters suffered
because there was no service for two weeks after Remant closed down. Therefore
the Municipal officials (Sutcliffe, Mayor and others) and Kzn Department of Transport
were very negligent.
58.
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Moreover, the new company Tansnat that took over after two weeks and they could
not provide a proper service because the city did not negotiate up front and secure
jobs, in terms of the Tripartite Heads of Agreement. Thus creating a further problem
for commuters because there were very few buses operating.
Also the Municipality and Kzn Department of Transport were very negligent in that
they did not negotiate with Tansnat to take over all the staff up to September 2010
because all staff had an employment contract with Remant Alton that would have
expired on 2010.
59.
The Municipality and Department of Transport were very negligent because they left
the responsibility to Tansnat to recruit drivers, thus creating a further problem
because most of the drivers that are currently working for Tansnat were not
employed by Remant Alton.
Furthermore, in the privatisation deal, ex Durban Transport staff had a 30% share in
Remant Alton.
Both Departments were very negligent and irresponsible in that they did not negotiate
with Tansnat and secure the 30% subcontracting agreement, which was part of the
privatisation deal. This is in breach of the Tripartite Heads of Agreement.
Remant Alton was the main operator who failed to successfully operate the 7 year
contract and not the subcontractors.
60.
Moreover Sutcliffe, late ANC Chairman and officials from Department of Transport
were very negligent and irresponsible in that they did not honour their promises made
at the Durban Transport Consultative forum, that no worker will loose their jobs going
to September 2010.
61.
Both the Municipality (Sutcliffe, Mayor) and Department of Transport were
irresponsible and negligent in this whole saga; they wanted staff members to suffer.
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So this privatisation was not to empower staff but it was to destroy them and their
families.
62.
The Municipality has paid Tansnat in excess of R300million since they took over, so
privatisation is not working and it is costing the rate payer more than when the
municipality ran the bus service.
63.
Fraud
The Clemont routes was not put out on public tender but negotiated with Alton
Coach, Jay Singh. This service was state subsidised and should have gone out to
public tender.
Craig Simmer and associates were engaged by the KznDOT to put together the
Clemont Contract. He was the consultant for the Municipality to redesign the Point
Water Front. He was also one of the shareholders in Remant Alton.
64.
The Municipality spent millions of Rate Payers money on consultants, who came up
with the best option for the City, which was corporatisation.
Why did the Municipality and KznDOT then decide to privatise Durban Transport and
not corporatize and why did they take this decision after Minister Mac Maharaj
resigned.
The answer is that Minister Maharaj was in favour of corporatisation because it
protected labour.
It was a clever strategy from both Departments to make these changes when the
new Minister took office because he was not fully aware or briefed on the
developments that transpired prior to him being appointed.
65.
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At a meeting in Royal Hotel, where all stakeholders were present, ANC chairman,
John Mchunu appointed Dr. D. Mji as chairman to form a consortium to bid for
Durban transport contract.
Most of these meetings took place at the ANC’s office and finally Remant Alton Land
Transport was formed.
Remant Holdings, i.e. Dr. Mji, Simmers, Mandla Qcaba, Linda Zama and Alton
Coach, i.e. Jay Singh, Dan Cloete, Hansraj, these two companies merged to form
Remant Alton Land Transport..
66.
Delotte and Touche was appointed by the Municipality as the transaction advisors for
the sale of Durban Transport.
Mr. F. Mosam and I. Amod were the project managers, who were employed by
Delotte and Touche.
After the sale of Durban Transport to Remant Alton, Mr. F. Mosam resigned from
Delotte and was appointed Finance Director of Remant Alton and also did all the
books for Alton Coach and Jay Singh’s other companies.
Mr. I. Amod resigned and opened his own consulting firm and was doing consulting
work for the City.
Mr. F. Mosam is currently doing all the books for Jay Singh’s multi million rand
businesses.
67.
The KznDOT and Municipality entered into another negotiated contract with Remant
Alton for Durban Transport routes and this same Alton Coach who failed to
successfully run/operate the Clemont Contract.
68.
In Sutcliffe’s press report on 30 November 2003, he stated that the R70 million due to
the municipality from Remant Alton was paid on 29 November 2003.
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The municipality has failed/refused to provide us with this information or proof of
payment even after several formal requests. So the big question is did Remant Alton
pay this 70million or did they get rate payers assets for free.
69.
The KznDOT failed to terminate Remant Alton’s contract for non performance and
non compliant buses but instead bailed them out several times because they were in
financial crises.
This is in breach of the contract agreement between both Department’s and Remant
Alton and their contract should have been terminated. Also the bail outs are in breach
of contract or NLTTA because companies must be financially ring fenced and not
receive funding from any other source except banks or financial institutes.
This is deemed as unfair advantage.
Soon after the Municipality bought back buses, the shareholders from Remant
Holdings (Dr. Mji, Simmers, Mandla) sold their shares to Alton Coach, Jay Singh.
Dr. Mji and the others currently own multi million rand businesses around the country.
So where did Jay Singh get the money to pay the shareholders of Remant Holdings,
it had to be from the 405million.
70.
Out of the R405 million, a retainer of R20 million was put aside in a trust fund and
would have been paid to Remant Alton/Alton Coach, Ebhodwe and Taxi company
when the contract expired in 2010.
Soon after the big bail out, in March/April 2009 Remant directors wrote to the city
requesting the R20 million sureties plus interest be used to partly liquidate the
company’s debt with the municipality. Krish Kumar made the recommendation for the
money to be released; he was one of those that were implicated in the Manase
investigation.
So the Municipality was aware from this letter that Remant was going to liquidate, but
they did nothing to secure jobs and the subcontract agreement.
This was well planned by Sutcliffe and others who knew that Remant would close
down in a few months.
71.
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On 1 June 2009, Remant Alton gave an official notice to the Municipality and
Department of Transport that they were unable to honour their contract obligations
and the company was liquidating.
a) This was well planned by Sutcliffe and others.
b) How is possible for a company that was financially sound in
December 2008 then become financially broke in March/April 2009.
c) There is no proof Remant liquidated, no investigation was
conducted by the KznDOT and Municipality.
d) Municipality failed/refused to provide us with this information.
e) Who audited Remant Alton books at the end of June 2009?
f) What happened to all the other assets of Remant Alton, the last
month’s subsidy, etc?
72.
Whilst Jay Singh was operating Durban Transport, he was given a contract to
demolish the old Kings mead Stadium, given a contract and land in Phoenix,
Newlands to build houses.
He has a contract to build houses in Conebia, Mount Edgecome, so he currently has
multi million rand business all over the country.
Alton Coach had/has other bus contracts in Umpangeni, QwaQwa, Port Shepstone
and North West Province.
73.
Whilst over 300 staff members Plaintiffs are unemployed, many are very sick and
others have died.
74.
The KznDOT and Municipality then negotiated a contract with Tansnat to operate
Durban Transport.
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23
Soon after Tansnat was appointed, some private bus operators then made a High
Court application against the Kzn Department of Transport and the Municipality
because this contract did not go out to public tender. According to the
Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling on 21 December 2009, Judge Adrian Rall ruled
that the appointment of Tansnat Africa to operate Durban transport contract is illegal,
because the Department of Transport did not comply with the statutory procedures.
The Municipality and Department have ignored this ruling. Why?
75.
Durban Transport contract is currently run by Thekwini Transport, Mandla Qcaba, ex
shareholder of Remant Holdings, he is also Zuma’s nephew, taxi boss. The same
company that was given Clemont contract and the bus service that runs from the old
airport to the new airport.
These contracts are rotating amongst the same people that failed in the first and
second pilot projects.
76.
The people responsible for maladministration, corruption, fraud are the same people
implicated in the Manase investigation.
This is why the city has refused or failed to provide us with all documents we
requested.
77.
Breach of contract
Staff employed with Remant Alton had a fixed term contract that expired on 31
August 2008 and their contracts were extended for another 2 years due to the
amendment made to the National Land Transport Transition Act.
Therefore all staff employment contracts were extended to 30 September 2010.
See letter from Ethekwini Transport Authority dated 03 October 2007.
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78.
The Municipality entered into a negotiated contract upfront with the Inner City Taxi
Association to take over the People Mover service when Remant Alton closed.
Two weeks after Remant Alton closed the Municipality negotiated with ex Remant
Alton staff and secured their employment contract with the Taxi Company to operate
the People Mover buses.
The Municipality failed/refused to do so with the rest of Remant Alton staff when they
appointed Tansnat as an interim operator.
This is discrimination.
79.
The Municipality and Department failed to honour the employment contract that staff
had with Remant Alton that would have expired on 30 September 2010. Therefore
this constitutes a breach of contract.
Sutcliffe and other officials from the Department failed to honour their
promise/commitments made to labour that no staff would loose their jobs going
forward to 2010. This is recorded in the minutes of the Durban Transport
Consultative forum dated 08 December2008, Sutcliffe was chairman.
This constitutes a breach of promise.
80.
The KznDOT and Municipality failed to negotiate staff retrenchments prior to Remant
Alton closing down, but they accepted that Remant Alton was liquidated.
Both Municipality and Department of Transport failed to honour the Tripartite Head of
Agreement entered into between National Department of Transport and Organised
Labour, this relates to job security, retrenchments and subcontracting within the bus
transport system.
This agreement was approved by MINCOM in 1997.
This constitutes breach of agreement.
81.
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A quote from the South African Bus Operators Association, in relation to negotiated
contracts, “Negotiated contracts have far less of an impact on labour than tendered
contracts, e.g. conditions of employment are negotiated upfront and not once a
contract is awarded, end of quote.
This and other issues relating to job security and staff empowerment/subcontracting
are entrenched in the Tripartite Heads of Agreement.
Labour is therefore a part of the negotiation towards the transformation of a company
and industry at large. This negotiation must take place before the new operator is
appointed. This did not take place.
2.
The Kzn Department of Transport and the Municipality failed/refused to protect and
secure the employment of staff in this process.
Ex Durban Transport staff also had a 30% share in Remant Alton and both
Municipality and the Department failed to secure this subcontract with the new
operator. In my opinion the Municipality (Sutcliffe, Mayor, Derick, John Mchunu) and
Department of Transport did this deliberately and are in breach of this agreement.
They were irresponsible and negligent because they did not secure jobs and the 30%
shareholding with Tansnat Africa.
83.
In a letter to the Minister of Transport dated 18 October 2000, the Kzn MEC for
Transport requested an exemption from the requirements of section 47(2) of the
NLTTA and allow the contract operated by Durban Transport be negotiated with a
suitable operator so that the empowerment deals will be adequately addressed.
So the Department of Transport and Municipality enter another negotiated contract
with Tansnat but they failed/refused to secure jobs and the staff 30% shareholding in
terms of the Tripartite Heads of Agreement.
84.
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It must be noted that the main operator Remant Alton failed to successfully operate
Durban Transport contract and not the subcontractors, i.e. Staff Trust and Taxi.
However it is important to note that taxi people were given the People Mover contract
and the Durban Transport contract.
This is clear discrimination.
This is in breach of the tripartite agreement and Governments Policy.
85.
On three separate instances the Road Traffic Inspectorate, who fall under the
Department of Transport pulled off Remant Alton buses because they were not road
worthy. The permits and licence of buses were kept with the RTI up until proof of
road worthy certificates were presented and then only were the documents released.
This is breach of contract on the part of Remant Alton and there contract should have
been terminated, however this did not happen. This is deemed unfair advantage.
86.
We Applicants are victims of this corrupt, irregular and mal-administered privatisation,
our employment jobs were lost, resulting in the members losing houses, cars, many
were divorced, some suicides in the family, many are very sick, others have died and
others are in abstract poverty.
87.
Discrimination
Bailed Bus Company
In 2004, Remant Alton’s books were not balancing, so they went to the Municipality,
who gave them R20million as a bail out.
There were other bail outs in 2005 and 2006 from both Departments.
88.
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Over three times during Remant Alton contract the Road Traffic Inspectorate pulled
off buses because they were un-roadworthy.
On the last inspection almost 50% of buses we pulled off because of brake failure,
etc. The permits and licence were pulled off the buses and kept with RTI up until
proof of road worthy certificates were presented and then only were the documents
released for licensing.
This was a breach of contract and Remant Alton’s contract should have been
terminated, however this did not happen.
This is deemed to be unfair because this operator was given preferential treatment.
89.
In 2008, Remant Alton said they were in financial difficulty and the banks want to
foreclose, the Municipality then bought back the buses and ticketing equipment for
R404.4 million.
So now Remant Alton basically had a management contract with the KznDOT and
Municipality.
Maintenance and licensing of buses was now the responsibility of the Municipality
and not Remant Alton anymore.
90.
Furthermore a surplus of R20 million was put aside by the Municipality as retention.
The reason for this was to ensure that Remant Alton continues to sustain itself
financially until the end of the contract in September 2010 and for its shareholders to
derive some dividend.
The balance of money was used to pay off banks and other creditors and also
Remant Alton was given R3million as working capital.
91.
In March/April 2009, Remant Alton was once again in financial difficulty and Remant
Alton Board informed Council in writing advising that the R20 million sureties plus
interest be used to partly liquidate the company’s debt with the Municipality.
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The Municipality gave this money to Remant Alton prior to them closing down.
92.
Bailed out Remant Alton directors
Soon after the sale of the buses, Remant Holdings, i.e. Dr. Mji, C. Simmer, Mandla,
Linda Zama and others sold their shares to Jay Singh (Alton Coach).
Why did this happen after the sale of buses to the Municipality. In my opinion this
was well planned by Sutcliffe and others to bail of Remant Alton directors.
Where did Jay Singh get this money to pay those shareholders, it had to be from the
R405million that the Municipality paid them for the purchase of buses.
93.
Bailed out Others
Taxi Industry had a 10% shareholding in Remant Alton.
However when Remant Alton closed, the Municipality entered into a negotiated
contract with the Inner City Taxi Association, to operate the People Mover bus
service.
Moreover the Provincial Department of Transport and Municipality entered into a
negotiated contract with Tansnat, and Mandla Gcaba, taxi boss, also Zuma’s nephew
is a partner in this business.
94.
Currently Ethekwini Transport owned by Mandla Qcaba was given Durban Transport
contract.
Both Departments took care of the Taxi Industry by negotiating contracts with them.
However they did absolutely nothing to secure the staff 30% subcontracting with the
staff trust.
95.
What type of empowerment deal is this?
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This clearly is discrimination.
96.
Staff
The first four months of Remant Alton had an interim contract; all staff had a short
term contract and was receiving the same salary as when employed with the
Municipality.
As from the 1st October 2003, Remant Alton entered into a 5 year contract with the
Department of Transport and Municipality and this is when driver’s salary dropped
from R6500.00 to R4000.00.
97.
When Remant Alton closed, the Municipality, Deputy City Manager, Derrick Naidoo
negotiated with certain of Remant Alton staff and secured their jobs with the Taxi
Company.
However the Municipality failed/refused to secure the rest of the staff jobs with the
Tansnat Africa.
The Municipality was supposed to negotiate with the new operator to take over all the
staff in terms of section 197 labour relations act, because the staff had an
employment contract that would have expired on 30 September 2010.
98.
The Municipality failed to keep their promise made at the Durban Transport
Consultative forum in 2008 that no worker will loose their job.
The Municipality failed/refused to keep their promise to write to the National Minister
explaining the situation and for the Municipality to take over the bus transport.
Sutcliffe, late John Mchunu and other officials failed/refused to keep their promises to
secure jobs but did everything possible to bail out Remant Alton and their directors
from their financial crisis.
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The Municipality and Department of Transport continuously bailed Remant Alton out
from financial difficulty, but how come they did nothing to secure workers jobs and
over 300 workers are still unemployed. What about their families.
City fleet also employed certain staff from Remant Alton.
99.
Ticket Sellers
Furthermore at a Governance and Human Resources Committee meeting held in
Pinetown on 08 May 2013 and Authority was granted by the new City Manager, S.
Sithole and other City officials to Head, City Fleet to engage ticket sellers who were
employed by Remant Alton and are currently employed with Tansnat Africa and
these affected individuals be allowed to continue receiving pension fund benefits as
agreed to in terms of their retrenchment agreement.
This is clear discrimination because the Municipality is picking and choosing what
and who they want, first they bought back the buses and now they employed ticket
sellers and other staffs, who were retrenched by the municipality and who were
employed by Remant Alton.
100.
The said applicants are victims of this corrupt, irregular and mal-administered
privatisation, our employment jobs were lost, resulting in the members losing houses,
cars, many were divorced, some suicides in the family, many are very sick, some
have died and others are in poverty.
101.
HISTORY
More than 3 years ago the then CITY MANAGER of ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY
Michael Sutcliffe and his ANC Comrade Councillors put forward a proposal to
“PRIVATISE” the complete ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN BUS service.
Before this event the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN BUS service had a
reputation of being one of the BEST in the World with a first class Workshop and
technical training rated the best in the world.
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102.
Before this event the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN had an excellent
reputation of being one of only three Municipalities in the World that had never been
Bankrupt. Financially the Municipality was rated one of the best in the World.
Before this event the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN was a Tourists Mecca,
had an excellent reputation throughout the World.
103.
All of the Plaintiffs were very Proud to work for one of the Best Municipalities in the
World.
This Bus Privatise Scheme proposal was put to the Plaintiffs in glowing terms as if
this was an incredible opportunity for the Plaintiffs to progress and uplift them into
middle class citizens.
104.
The then CITY MANAGER of ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY Michael Sutcliffe and his
ANC Comrade Councillors put forward the proposal to “PRIVATISE” the complete
ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN BUS service to the Plaintiffs in many
meetings.
Michael Sutcliffe and his ANC Comrade Councillors did their utmost to convince the
Plaintiffs that this PRIVATISATION Scheme was an excellent opportunity and all the
Plaintiffs should accept the proposal.
We were assured by Michael Sutcliffe and his ANC Comrade Councillors that this
was a great opportunity and was in the “BEST INTERESTS” of the Plaintiffs and all
parties will gain financially and will uplift our lifestyles.
105.
Many meeting were had and many agreements were signed to protect the Workers.
The Plaintiffs later very reluctantly were forced to accept the scheme otherwise they
would lose their jobs.
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106.
The complete ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN BUS service was then SOLD
to JAY SINGH.
A company was formed namely REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY) LTD.
107.
After a very short time the complete PRIVATISATION Scheme collapsed and the
company was declaring bankruptcy.
The Plaintiffs later found out that this complete PRIVATISATION Scheme was a total
FRAUDULENT SCAM.
108.
All the evidence of this FRAUDULENT SCAM has come to light in the two NGUBANE
REPORTS and the more recent MANASE REPORT.
Michael Sutcliffe and his ANC Comrade Councillors have hidden the NGUBANE
REPORT from the Plaintiffs and the Rate Payers.
109.
SIBUSISO SITHOLE, the New ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY CITY MANAGER,
DURBAN and his ANC Comrade Councillors have hidden the recent MANASE
REPORT from the Plaintiffs and the Rate Payers.
110.
According to the IFP Political Party the above reports and investigations involve the
unauthorised expenditure of R19.4 BILLION RANDS.
The expenditure is in violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
111.
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The Fraud, Theft and Corruptions involved 123 Municipality Officials and 10
Councillors.
Basically they “LOOTED” the DURBAN Municipality.
112.
The DURBAN Municipality is now BANKRUPT for the first time in history in DEBT to
more than R15 BILLION with bank overdraft of +- R12 BILLION.
Almost every event staged by the Durban Municipality was a total disaster run at a
total financial loss and the Rate Payers had to foot the bill.
113.
The Plaintiffs were at the time unaware of this FRAUDULENT SCAM furthermore
were NOT in any way involved in this FRAUDULENT SCAM.
114.
All of the Plaintiffs have suffered massive damages as a direct result of this
FRAUDULENT SCAM.
PARTIES WHO HAVE SUFFERED DAMAGES:
The Plaintiffs as a direct result of the above has suffered the following damages:
a)
They have lost their employment.
b)
UIF deductions were made but paid very late to UIF which is illegal;
consequently the Applicants could not claim UIF.
c)
P.A.Y.E. deductions were made but never paid the Receiver of Revenue
which is illegal.
d)
All the Applicants are required by LAW to pay the Receiver of Revenue
the outstanding P.A.Y.E. which in fact means they have paid twice.
e)
They have NO income.
f)
Most are unable to pay their accounts.
g)
Many have received Summonses for outstanding accounts.
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h)
Most are BLACKLISTED on the BLACKLISTING Credit Bureaus and now
unable to get credit for more than 5 years.
i)
Many have lost their houses.
j)
Many have lost their Motor Cars and furniture as they have been
repossessed by the Banks and shops.
k)
Banks do not remove this information off their records therefore most are
blacklisted for more than 10 years.
l)
Their shop accounts have been closed.
m)
Many of the Banking accounts have been closed.
n)
All have lost their pensions and insurance policies.
o)
All have lost their Medical Aids.
p)
Many do not have food to feed their families.
q)
Many have not have money to pay school, and or Varsity fees.
r)
The eThekwini Municipality have switch off unpaid electricity and water
accounts and require huge extra deposits.
s)
Most cannot pay their Municipality Rates and Taxes.
t)
Some have committed suicide.
u)
Through unemployment and stress many are now divorced.
v)
We could list 10 pages of the suffering injured by the Applicants however
that will be detailed in full in the High Court Summons.
w)
In short most of the Plaintiffs/Applicants have been left destitute as a
direct result of the illegal TENDER IRREGULARITIES, FRAUD, THEFT
AND CORRUPTION etc.
115.
Michael Sutcliffe, Sibusiso Sithole and their ANC Comrade Councillors have refused
to supply a copy of all the evidence of the above Fraudulent Scam which is detailed
in the NGUBANE REPORT and the more recent MANASE REPORT.
Michael Sutcliffe, Sibusiso Sithole and their ANC Comrade Councillors have done
everything in their power to HIDE CRITICAL CRIMINAL EVIDENCE.
116.
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The Plaintiffs did a separate High Court Application in terms of the PROMOTION OF
ACCESS OF INFORMATION ACT No: 2, 2000 under High Court Case No:
9621\2012.
The Municipality once again played games with minor technicalities instead of
resolving the matter.
Michael Sutcliffe, Sibusiso Sithole and their ANC Comrade Councillors opposed the
High Court Application and have done everything in their power to stall this matter
and deny the Plaintiffs / Applicants access to this information.
117.
The Plaintiffs are of the opinion that Michael Sutcliffe, Sibusiso Sithole and their ANC
Comrade Councillors have NO intention of supplying the HIDDEN CRITICAL
CRIMINAL EVIDENCE to the Plaintiffs / Applicants in the NGUBANE REPORT and
the more recent MANASE REPORT.
a) The Respondents Legal department Shell House informed the Applicants that
they will NOT supply the document under any circumstances and the
Applicant will have to do a High Court Application.
b) The Applicant did an application in terms of the PAIA act, DENIED Access.
c) Mike Bloxham did an application in terms of the PAIA act, DENIED Access.
d) AFRIFORUM did an application in terms of the PAIA act DENIED Access.
e) AFRIFORUM did an internal appeal application in terms of the PAIA act
DENIED Access.
f) AFRIFORUM has Served and Filed a High Court Application in the
Pietermaritzburg High Court under Case Number 8030\2012 DENIED Access,
Application OPPOSED.
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g) Helen Zilla and the DA did many marches to get access to documents,
DENIED Access.
h) The IFP Political Party has also done a High Court Application for an order to
compel the Respondents to supply the very same documents and information.
i) After reading the Respondents Answering Affidavit in High Court Case No:
9621\2012 it is blatantly obvious that the Respondents have absolutely NO
intention of supplying the documents and are stalling for time therefore it is
absolutely necessary for the Applicants to exercise their constitutional rights
and approach the High Court for an order to compel the Respondents to
supply the documents and information.
118.
All of the information and documents requested in terms of the PROMOTION OF
ACCESS OF INFORMATION ACT No: 2, 2000 are absolutely crucial to the Plaintiffs
/ Applicants to investigate the breach of contract which was entered into between the
Ethekwini Municipality and JAY SINGH, REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT
(PTY) LTD.
119.
In view of the above the Plaintiffs / Applicants are Rate Payers therefore are perfectly
entitled to the documents and information as requested under the the Notice in terms
of the PROMOTION OF ACCESS OF INFORMATION ACT No: 2, 2000.
A Notice in terms of the PROMOTION OF ACCESS OF INFORMATION ACT No: 2,
2000 was served by the Sheriff on the Respondents
120.
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The Plaintiffs / Applicants PAID the amount of R35.00 in terms of the request by the
Respondents.
The Respondents have Failed and or Refused to supply the information as
requested.
It is blatantly obvious that there has been massive TENDER IRREGULARITIES,
FRAUD, THEFT, TENDER KICK BACKS AND CORRUPTION ETC.
121
The City Manager, Mr. SIBUSISO SITHOLE, ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN
has been shown a copy of the MANASE REPORT.
From the conclusive overwhelming criminal evidence in the report it is very obvious
that there are many very serious criminal charges presently under investigation by
top members of the Police and the HAWKS.
Criminal arrests are imminent.
122.
We are also fully aware of the NGUBANE REPORT which the previous Manager Dr.
Mike Sutcliffe of the ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY DURBAN has made secret.
All documents in the Ethekwini Municipality belong to the RATE PAYERS.
123.
The Rate Payers have never given permission to the Ethekwini Municipality to
classify any document secret.
We live in a Democracy and everything in the Ethekwini Municipality must be open
and above board.
No secret arrangements or dealings can be made.
124.
Manager Dr. Mike Sutcliffe ran the Ethekwini Municipality, acted like a Dictator and
the evidence of gross irregularities are coming to light.
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Manager Dr. Mike Sutcliffe did everything in his power to hinder the investigation by
Mike Bloxham.
Manager Mike Sutcliffe threatened every Ethekwini Municipality worker that they will
be fired if they even talk to Mike Bloxham.
125.
All of the information and documents requested in terms of the PROMOTION OF
ACCESS OF INFORMATION ACT No: 2, 2000 under High Court Case No:
9621\2012 are absolutely crucial to the Plaintiffs / Applicants to investigate the
breach of contract which was entered into between the Ethekwini Municipality and
JAY SINGH, REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY) LTD.
126.
There is lots of information which has already surfaced indicating many irregularities
and secret agreements.
Just to list one irregularity:
All or most of the negotiations between Dr. Mike Sutcliffe and JAY SINGH for the sale
of the busses were illegal as the Ethekwini Municipality is NOT allowed to award
tenders or enter agreements with people who have been convicted of FRAUD.
JAY SINGH has a criminal record having been convicted of FRAUD.
127.
For many years in all newspapers JAY SINGH claimed he was the buyer and new
owner of the Ethekwini Municipality buses.
When we look at the Directors names of REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT
(PTY) LTD, JAY SINGH is NOT a Director.
128.
We have been told that the busses were sold to JAY SINGH for R70 MILLION
however we later heard that the R70 MILLION was never paid.
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We have been told that municipal manager Mike Sutcliffe of the Ethekwini
Municipality authorised to buy back the busses for more R400 MILLION.
Basically what Mike Sutcliffe did was bail out the Criminals and the victims received
absolutely nothing.
129.
We have been told that the company REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY)
LTD was liquidated.
We later found out that the company REMANT ALTON LAND TRANSPORT (PTY)
LTD was NOT liquidated.
As can be seen from the few examples listed there is many irregularities which have
directly affected the lives of the Applicants.
130.
The Plaintiffs lives and savings have been totally destroyed by the sale of the
Ethekwini Municipality busses without the permission of the Rate Payers.
We also have a copy of the report from the Centre for Civil Society, University KwaZulu Natal which also confirms many irregularities.
131.
We further wish to place on record that Mike Bloxham’s LIFE HAS BEEN
THREATENED, we are taking this threat very seriously which has been reported and
is under investigation by a senior section of the Police.
Appropriate security measures have been put in place and all calls are monitored.
132.
I also want to place on record that the full Council of the Ethekwini Municipality voted
and adopted the Batho Pele Policy in 2005.
In terms of paragraph 5 headed Information states that “Citizens should be given full
accurate information about the public service they are entitled to receive.
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133.
The DURBAN Municipality was one of 3 Municipalities in the World that has never
been bankrupt.
We have been told that the Ethekwini Municipality is now bankrupt in debt to more
than R15 BILLION with bank overdraft of +- R12 BILLION.
134.
From the above it is blatantly obvious that there is something very wrong with the
Leadership of Mike Sutcliffe who has bankrupt Durban, furthermore I fail to
understand how the DA Democratic Party can go to all these Council Meeting and
has NO IDEA of what Michael Sutcliffe and his ANC Comrades are doing.
Mike Sutcliffe and his ANC COMRADES have turned Durban from a First World
solvent Tourists Mecca to a Third World Bankrupt Highly Polluted Squatter Slum.
Mike Sutcliffe and his ANC COMRADES are hiding all the Criminal Evidence.
Despite request the Ethekwini Municipality has failed and or refused to supply the
information. It’s time to make ARRESTS.
135.
It is blatantly clear that the Plaintiffs /Applicant has exhausted all avenues to resolve
this matter and has been forced to do this Court Application.
136.
Many Annexures have been attached in support of this SUMMONS.
I ask for the relief as prayed.
137.
I submit that I have shown good cause why this SUMMONS for damages should be
granted.
138.
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139.
The Plaintiffs have suffered massive damages and losses when taking into account
the above.
140.
In view of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Defendants Failed Bus
Privatization Pilot Project, Negligence, Fraud, Breach of contract, Discrimination also
the ILLEGAL an UNLAWFUL CRIMINAL actions of the Defendants, the Plaintiff have
suffered massive damages.
141.
In consequence of the aforesaid criminal, wrongful, Unlawful, actions the Plaintiff
suffered financial damages.
142.
As a result of the aforegoing, the Plaintiffs have suffered damages in the following
manner:
143.
DAMAGES CLAIM of R20 Million each Plaintiff.
144.
In the premises the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Defendants are liable
to compensate the Plaintiffs for his aforesaid damages.
WHEREFORE the Plaintiffs pray for judgment in their favour against the First,
Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Defendants jointly and severally the one
paying the other to be absolved for an order in the following terms:
(a)
Payment of the sum of R20.000.000 TWENTY MILLION RANDS per Plaintiff.
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(b)
Payment of interest on the aforesaid amount at the rate of 15.5% per annum
from the date of service of the summons to the date of final payment:
(c)
Further and/or alternative relief.
(d)
Costs and Disbursements of suit to be paid by the Defendants jointly and
severally the one paying the other to be absolved;
DATED AT DURBAN ON THIS 25th DAY of SEPTEMBER 2013.
…………………………………………
Signature PLAINTIFF
for and on behalf of
PLAINTIFF
MZIKAYIFANI MICHAEL BIYELA
AND 300 OTHERS.
RETURN OF SERVICE STREET ADDRESS.
Street Address
NO REGISTERED MAIL (PERSONAL SERVICE ONLY)
PLAINTIFF,
M. M. BIYELA AND 300 OTHERS,
C/o DOCUMENT SERVICES,
C/o Hampton College,
82, Twelfth Avenue,
Morningside,
Durban, Kwa - Zulu Natal.
Postal Address
NO REGISTERED MAIL
PLAINTIFF,
M. M. BIYELA AND 300 OTHERS,
C/o DOCUMENT SERVICES,
P. O. BOX 3022,
DURBAN,
4000.
CONTACT DETAILS:
M. M. Biyela, Cell: 072-100-2601
Snowy Smith,
Fair Civil Law, Cell: 082-964-8877
Alfred T. Dludla, Cell: 082-626-1732
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