Musina Municipality has warned service providers to be wary of scams involving tenders that are currently doing the rounds on social media.
The latest scam is apparently advertised as tender number 02-2020/22 for the construction of the Lesley Manyathela Stadium. The scammer/s pretend to be a Mr TM Mthombeni from Musina Municipality with the following message: "Kindly contact me regarding the above-mentioned bid in the subject description contractor of the construction of Lesley Manyathela Stadium on the following number 063 546 5512".
Musina's municipal manager, Mr Nathi Tshiwanammbi, urged service providers to familiarise themselves with how government institutions procure goods and services. He said that these tender scams had the potential to rob innocent people of their money. "The municipality keeps on getting telephone calls from service providers who want to verify the legitimacy of these tenders. When we investigate, we find that they are nothing but scams, meant to rob people of their hard-earned cash," he said.
Tshiwanammbi advised people to be very careful, as it sometimes happens that fraudsters use what appears to be government stationery with fictitious logos and contact details for services. "As government, we work hard at preventing and fighting fraud, but criminal activity is always a risk. We warn service providers that, when they receive tender requests and are unsure about their legitimacy, it is always wise to give the municipality a call or come personally to our offices to verify. The tender process is managed through the supply-chain management (SCM) system of the municipality and not by an individual who goes around calling people," he said.