EPTC COPPER TENDER TURNS SOUR

 MBABANE – Relations have allegedly turned sour between a joint venture of partners who were awarded a multimillion Emalangeni scrap copper cable recycling tender by EPTC.

The Eswatini Post and Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC) awarded the tender to former Inhlonhla (Pty) Ltd employee Paul Zizwe Vilane and Uyanda Investments (Pty) Ltd. 

The tender was awarded for the taking of 80 tonnes of scrap cable from the EPTC site in Matsapha to SA Metals, which is a South Africa-based recycling company.

The directors of Uyanda Investments are Simangele and Mangaliso Mulima.
Vilane, who lost his E50 000 per month job at Inhlonhla after the tender had been awarded, alleged that he had not received payment in four months despite securing the EPTC tender and earning the partnership over E8 million.

He said he was motivated by their alleged agreement that they would equally share the proceeds of the tender.

ignores

Vilane alleged that Mangaliso threatens him, ignores communication with him, gets angry when he talks about money and told him that he would not get a cent from him.

According to Vilane, he has no control over the proceeds of the tender since the money is allegedly deposited into the bank account of Uyanda Investments which is operated by Mangaliso and his wife.

Vilane has since taken Uyanda Investments to the High Court to stop the company or Mangaliso and anyone acting under its authority, from taking and selling the copper wire at EPTC premises under Tender No. 06 of 2018/19.

Judge Mumcy Dlamini granted an interim order interdicting the sale of the copper wire. The representatives of Uyanda Investments are yet to argue why the order should not be made final.

Vilane also wants the court to order the appointment of a neutral accountant to receive monies from the sale of the copper cable, pay salaries, other expenses and the partners a half share of the proceeds.

In his court papers, Vilane alleged that he was approached by the Mulimas on July 16, 2018 with a request to work with them regarding the submission and operationalisation of bid to purchase 80 tonnes of scrap copper cable from EPTC.

He alleged that Mangaliso informed him that for years he had tried without success to secure the copper cable tender.
The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court. Vilane is represented by Sifiso Maseko of Henwood and Company.

Uyanda Investments is yet to file responding papers. Other respondents in the matter are Nedbank Swaziland and EPTC. Mangaliso is alleged to have agreed that they would share the proceeds of the deals that Vilane brought to the joint venture.

Vilane submitted that after the agreement, he developed the tender response to EPTC and Mangaliso assisted with the required information and drafting of documents which were to be signed by the purchaser of the scrap copper in South Africa.
He said EPTC wanted to deal with a South African company for credibility issues and technical expertise. Vilane stated that Uyanda Investments negotiated with SA Metals.

strategy

He informed the court that to operationalise the partnership with SA Metals, he drafted an operational strategy between the company and Uyanda Investments.
A power of attorney, according to Vilane, was allegedly signed by SA Metals, giving him and Mangaliso authority to engage on behalf of the partnership.
He alleged that the tender response was submitted on July 27, 2018 and EPTC issued an intention to award on October 27, 2018. Vilane submitted that a draft contract, which was viewed by SA metals and the partners, was sent to EPTC in November 2018 which eventually signed it.

The next item, as submitted by Vilane, was to secure funding. He said he allegedly presented a business proposal to his former employer’s subsidiary firm, Amandla Financial Services and a loan request for E1 250 000.
He alleged that Amandla made a lot of demands and he approached Nedbank for the loan. He submitted that the bank paid EPTC E1 140 000 for the scrap copper.

Vilane alleged that the first load, which weighed 18.8 tonnes, was delivered on February 19, 2019.
He submitted that SA Metals paid E 1 462 455 of which E456 029 was transferred to Uyanda Investments’ Nedbank account. The balance was paid towards the loan, he said.

Vilane informed the court that the copper wire insulation was removed at a farm they rented in Ermelo and it was transported by Bulldog Distributors. He said since the proceeds of the tender were allegedly paid into Uyanda Investments bank account, he proposed that they should register a new company and open another account for the EPTC tender which they would both be responsible for.

Vilane submitted that Nedbank required a trading licence in order to open the account but Mangaliso allegedly refused to pay the requisite E1 500.
“Ultimately, the company could not get a trading licence and funds continued to stay and be controlled by Mulima, even after repeated requests from the applicant (Vilane).

“The applicant was now out of a job and was spending all his time on the EPTC project but had not received any income from Uyanda in months,” Vilane alleged.

He pointed out that he last received payment in June 2019. Vilane said he lost his previous job because he was spending more time on the EPTC job and was now at risk of losing his house, car, plot and other assets. He argued that the EPTC job was his ‘blood, sweat and tears.’
The matter is pending in court.

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