LOUIS TRICHARDT – "Here we are dealing with a mentally handicapped person." This was the description given by a visibly upset Municipal Manager, Mr Reuben Rambado of the man who is accusing him of corruption regarding the awarding of a tender for the construction of a road in Vleifontein.

Mr Rambado on Thursday (13th) called a special meeting to address the allegations, stating that as they are required to be transparent, these allegations must be brought into the open. It was also stated that the meeting was called to renew the community's trust in Council. To this effect, members of the media were invited, as well as all the parties implicated in the allegations. Thursday's meeting was pre-empted by the meeting the previous day, following a letter by the complainant, Mr M S Ndou from Mabidi & Sons Construction CC to the mayor. Mr Ndou, who attended Wednesday's meeting, also attended Thursday's meeting.

In the letter Mr Rambado is said to have, amongst others, favoured certain people regarding the awarding of tenders, that he has shared interests in the companies that were awarded the tenders and that he has interfered with the steering committee and the engineers during the construction of the road in Vleifontein. It was also said that he was on the payroll of the companies who were awarded the tenders.

Before Thursday's meeting started, a tape recording was played of what transpired during Wednesday's meeting. Immediately following the playing of the tape, in which Mr Ndou outlined his allegations, each of the implicated parties were given a chance to clear the air regarding the allegations. Much was said to clear Mr Rambado's name.

Concerning the allegations that Mr Rambado favoured certain people regarding the awarding of tenders, Mr Ndou later admitted that although his allegation was at first directed to Mr Rambado, it did not relate to him. It was explained that tenders come to a selections committee, who in turn make recommendations to the Tender Committee. The Tender Committee would then take their recommendations to Exco and at no stage does Mr Rambado have any say in these committees, as he does not serve on any of them.

The issue regarding Mr Rambado's alleged shared interests had to do with him allegedly being on the payroll of several of the contractors. All implicated parties, however, confirmed that at no stage was money paid to Mr Rambado in his personal capacity.

As for the allegations that he interfered in the construction process, Mr Rambado said that in instances where he interfered, he did so in his capacity as chief accounting officer of the municipality. This, he said, is his job for which he gets paid.

Following the explanations above, Mr Ndou was asked to respond. He, however, refused to do so, stating that he was instructed not to say anything, until he was furnished with a written copy of the minutes of the previous meeting. It was at this stage that it became clear that the meeting would bring people no closer to the truth as Mr Ndou refused to respond. He did, however, admit that the accusations were mere allegations.

In the meantime, Mr Rambado maintains that he is completely innocent.

"I want Ndou to publicly apologise or to substantiate his allegations to Council," Mr Rambado said.

Mr Ndou on the other hand looks set to stick to his allegations. It did, however, transpire during last Thursday's meeting that Council, whether or not the allegations can be substantiated, would investigate the matter. Serious questions were, however, asked about Mr Ndou's motives for voicing these allegations.