Suspended Tshwane Metro Police Department deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini denies allegations that the Bid Evaluation Committee's (BEC) draft document he shared with Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi was confidential.
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
Suspended Tshwane Metro Police Department deputy chief Umashi Dhlamini has defended himself against allegations that the Bid Evaluation Committee's (BEC) draft document he shared with Gauteng Organised Crime Unit officer Sergeant Fannie Nkosi was confidential, stating it was already public on the city's website.
The document concerned a security tender to safeguard critical municipal infrastructure, which is under scrutiny at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
The BEC document was also scrutinised during City of Tshwane CFO Gareth Mnisi's recent testimony, as the commission questioned the city’s tender document controls.
Mnisi, accused of conspiring with Nkosi and Dhlamini to rig a R2.9 billion security tender in favour of Nkosi's brother, testified that Nkosi received the BEC document from Dhlamini.
According to him, Dhlamini may have obtained the document from an official involved with the BEC, since it was not for public consumption.
Mnisi told the commission that the BEC document ending up with Nkosi contributed to the Bid Adjudication Committee's (BAC) recommendation to cancel the tender.
Testifying before the commission on Tuesday, Dhlamini said he shared the document containing the names of tender bidders and their pricing lists with Nkosi, who had requested it.
He said sharing the information caused no harm because it was already uploaded on Tshwane's website.
Dhlamini said he asked his office to download the document from the web. Unfortunately, the website was down at the time. They then requested a list of bidders from Supply Chain Management, which provided them.
"It is not a BEC report. It is a closed out report that they usually put on the website," he said.
Evidence leader Advocate Matthew Chaskalson SC said what was sent to Nkosi was not the bid register accessible online, but a draft of a closed-out report being prepared for the BEC.
Dhlamini stuck to his guns, saying: "As I indicated, that day the website was off and they requested the draft administration report. It is not a confidential document. It is not a BEC report."
When asked if the SCM would have furnished Nkosi with the document had he requested it, he replied: "I believe that if Nkosi had approached the SCM for the document they should have given it to him because it was already on the website."
Dhlamini said Nkosi was not receiving any favours from him contrary to a suggestion by Chaskalson.
On April 30 2025, after Nkosi received the draft document from Dhlamini he forwarded it to a Mr Mampane, allegedly a taxi boss. Mampane responded to Nkosi by thanking him for the information and stating that Nkosi must ensure the tender does not proceed.
"Buti (brother), please let him say no to the tender bid," said Mampane.
The tender was subsequently cancelled.
Dhlamini said:"I know that TMPD 3 (tender) was later on cancelled. There is an extension that was granted for the current service providers."
The commission asked Dhlamini about the unpaid invoices that lacked purchase orders after Mnisi requested intervention from him.
Dhlamini said Mnisi asked for his intervention because the service providers were contemplating going to court to have the city's account attached for non-payment.
"I had to intervene because services were rendered and there is no dispute that services were rendered and companies needed to be paid to avoid the city’s account being attached," he said.
The commission asked Dhlamini why Nkosi was involved in the city's payment process and why he was not directly dealing with Mnisi.
Dhlamini said: "CFO saw it fit that he must use Sergeant Nkosi to communicate with me. He made Sergeant Nkosi his extension and I was responding to the CFO through Sergeant Nkosi. That's what transpired in this case."
Mnisi recently testified that Nkosi inserted himself into the payment impasse between the city and Gubis after overhearing a conversation between Mnisi and Gubis 85 Solutions director, Calvin Mahlangu, regarding outstanding payments.
He, however, said in hindsight, he should have asked for direct contact with Dhlamini and liaised directly with him.
Nkosi recently testified that he volunteered to call Dhlamini about payments for services rendered to the TMPD. He said Mahlangu was demanding settlement of outstanding invoices and threatening legal action against the city, prompting him to intervene.
Co-commissioner Advocate Sesi Baloyi SC suggested that Dhlamini should have known that it was inappropriate to allow the CFO to insert Nkosi as an intermediary "because you are improperly dealing with the city's affairs through Sergeant Nkosi"
Dhlamini concurred that he might have obtained Mnisi's contacts, but Mnisi had made Nkosi an extension of communication to him.
He said it should not have happened that Nkosi was involved in solving the city's payment disputes with service providers.
"I wouldn't use improper. I would say it was incorrect," Dhlamini said.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za