Victor

Deputy Chief Dhlamini confirmed the presence of two lists discussed with Sergeant Nkosi and the CFO, one from Nico's mandate and another list of seven different companies requested by Sergeant Nkosi for compliance checking.

“You had forwarded to Sergeant Nkosi the list of companies that Nico had said was the mandate he had given to Victor. ... And an hour later you had forwarded him the list of seven companies that you said was our list in order of priority. ... And the second list was a list of seven different companies that Sergeant Nkosi asked for because he asked you to check for a list of seven different companies for compliance because he did not like the list that Nico had given you.”

Sergeant Nkosi captured messages related to a mandate given to Victor by Nico, listing seven companies.

“you sending a message to Sergeant Nkosi with a list of seven companies and the covering message that says: “Captain, mandate to Victor a phi we yona. Captain, this is the mandate that was given to Victor by Nico”

Sergeant Nkosi received a message instructing to find another seven companies for compliance checks after he was informed Victor had a mandate from Nico for seven companies.

“Sergeant Nkosi got the message saying that Victor had received a mandate from Nico for seven companies, he contacted you and said I want you to find another seven companies for us to check for compliance”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini states that Nico gave him a list of preferred bidders which he then passed on as the mandated list given to Victor, allegedly involved in procurement.

“Nico sent me the list of bidders and say this is what was given to Victor ... this is the mandate that was given to Victor.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini relayed to Sergeant Nkosi that the preferred bidders list given by Nico to Victor was the mandate he was told Victor must work with, implying Victor must give preference to these companies in procurement.

“this list of companies is the mandate that was given to Victor ... Viktor must work on those companies ... Viktor must give preference to those companies in the procurement process.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini admitted that Nico was communicating with Victor, believed to be the Chair of the BEC, providing him with a list of companies to be given preferred bidder status for the TMPD01 tender.

“Nico had been communicating with Victor and had told Victor that these seven companies ... are the companies that should get the tender ... Nico had given Victor a mandate to appoint seven companies for this bid.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini gave the list from Nico to Sergeant Nkosi and said Sergeant Nkosi should stop looking for other bidders because Victor already has the preferred bidders list.

“I gave it to Sergeant Nkosi to say ... already Victor has given a list of preferred bidders.”

Adv Chaskalson SC suggests Nico admitting an attempt to corrupt the procurement process by giving a preferred bidders list to Victor.

“Nico is essentially admitting to an attempt to corrupt this procurement process.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini forwarded to Sergeant Nkosi a list of preferred bidders which he had received from Victor through Nico, and he must have assumed the information was true.

“Because you cannot forward something that you know to be false to Sergeant Nkosi... you must have believed that it is true because you said earlier, he gave you a list of preferred bidders... you must have believed that you are being told the truth because you used this very list to respond to what he had asked you earlier.”

Nico gave Deputy Chief Dhlamini a list which was forwarded to Victor as a mandate, and Deputy Chief Dhlamini assumed Sergeant Nkosi must be aware of these things.

“I asked me to check with Nico, Nico gave me that and said this is what I...”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini admits he did not conduct any investigation into whether Victor had been compromised related to the bid.

“No, I did not do so.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini claims he forwarded to Sergeant Nkosi a list provided by Nico as a mandate given to Victor, despite not being asked by Sergeant Nkosi to confirm what mandate Victor had.

“I was giving him information to say he is requesting names, but names have already been given... I forwarded the name list and also indicated to say Nico indicated to say gave this to Victor as a mandate... No, Commissioner.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini forwarded a statement naming Victor to Sergeant Nkosi, understanding that additional names were demanded.

“I forwarded it to Sergeant Nkosi with an understanding that he is demanding, I mean, additional names from me”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini took the claim naming Victor as purported mandate bearer as name dropping and did not see a need to investigate further.

“I took it that he might be name dropping, the name of Victor ... I do not think I saw a need, Commissioner, to investigate it”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini states he was not sure if the companies that Nico mandated Victor to include had also assisted in the bids, and that Sergeant Nkosi instructed Nico to provide seven different companies than those on Victor's mandate list.

“I am not sure if he has also assisted these ones that he claimed to have given to Victor or not. It is because Sergeant Nkosi said he must give him the different names from this one. There are additional five companies different from this.”

Deputy Chief Dhlamini confirms the first time Sergeant Nkosi knew that Nico had mandated Victor regarding seven companies was at 8:02 PM.

“The first time that Sergeant Nkosi knows that Nico has mandated the seven companies that he gave to Victor is at 08:02 PM”

The communication involving Deputy Chief Dhlamini sending a list of seven bidders mandated by Nico to the Chair of the Bid Evaluation Committee to rig the tender in their favor is alleged to be related to procurement and possibly improper conduct, which Deputy Chief Dhlamini denies as procurement matter and describes as merely naming bidders possibly found on their website.

“It is not a procurement matter, SC ... I will describe it as an allegation that one is indicating the names of bidders ... He might have found them, I mean, on their website and so forth and indicated that ... That ... list of seven bidders specifically identified by Nico as the seven bidders she has mandated Victor to rig the tender in favour of.”

Mr Mnisi insisted on probity occurring without fail to strengthen the tender award process despite not escalating reports about mandates given to Victor to rig the tender.

“No, I did see to take it further. And me taking it further was insisting on probity to occur without fail.”

Probity would not have detected external attempts to influence the tender process, such as approaches to Mr Modise or Sergeant Nkosi to influence compliance and the tender.

“Probity would not have picked up attempts, external attempts to interfere in the process. For example ... that Mr Modise has been approached to do something ... Sergeant Nkosi asked you to confirm compliance, and later on you suspect ... wanted you to influence the tender. Probity would not have picked up this mandate to Victor.”

Sergeant Nkosi sent Mr Mnisi a screenshot of a message at 08:31 pm with tender number TMPD1 and a list of seven companies, indicating a mandate assigned by 'Nico' to Victor, who is responsible for these companies related to the tender.

“the last text on the page is a screenshot that Sergeant Nkosi sends you at 08:31 pm. And it is a screenshot that on its face comes from a message that the General sent to him at 08:02... And it is a table that has tender number TMPD1 and then it is got a list of seven companies on it. And at the bottom it says: “Captain, nayim and ate u Victor aphiweyo na”. And helpfully underneath it, the Sergeant Nkosi has said: “Companies given to Victor by Nico”.”

Sergeant Nkosi sent Mr Mnisi names early in the day (Ngaphesheya and Elshadai) and later sent seven strange names, claiming these were mandated by someone named Nico, who Mr Mnisi does not know.

“Sergeant Nkosi has sent you two names, Ngaphesheya and Elshadai, early in the day. ... He sends you seven names saying this is the mandate given to Victor by Nico. You do not know who Nico is. No, I do not know who Nico is.”

The companies listed are the preferred vehicle providers for the tender and the list was compiled by Nico, an outsider referred by General Dlamini in Tshwane.

“a list of bidders who Victor has a mandate to award this tender to ... This list, it was the list that was compiled by Nico ... Nico who was referred by General Dlamini who is an outsider to Tshwane ... I sent to General Dlamini ...”