On 28 November, the High Court in Polokwane (Limpopo Division) suspended the warrant of execution issued by the Sheriff of the Court for the seizure of three vehicles belonging to the Makhado Municipality on 19 November. The High Court further ordered the immediate return of the three vehicles, pending the outcome of the municipality's leave-to-appeal process against the initial granting of the warrant of execution.
This latest development follows a judgment by the same court on 8 October this year in favour of the controversial security company, Landmark Security and Supply Services (Pty) Ltd. The company had submitted a bid for Tender 45 of 2016 to provide security services to the municipality for a period of three years (24 May 2017 to 23 May 2020). The bid was for an amount of just over R55 million, or R1,532,900 per month. (It is understood that the Makhado Municipality still owes the company money, which led to litigation.)
At this stage, it should be noted that Landmark Security was not (or so it seems) the sole beneficiary of the tender. According to municipal documents, the successful tenderers for Tender 45 of 2016 (bid number 6/2017) were Landmark Security, as well as (with their original tender amounts in brackets) Ditirotsaka Trading and Projects (R1,717,174.25 per month), Jackcliffy Trading CC (R1,431,232.80 per month), Tshakhwilo Trading Enterprise (R54,364,662.72), and Tshedza Protective Services (R65,580,732.64). Exactly how this tender and payment were split between the companies remains unclear. Similarly, the final approved payment amount is also unclear.
Landmark Security was registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) on 4 June 2015, with Mr Thilivhali Mahada as its director. On 22 March 2016, local businessman Mr Harold Mphatheleni Muswobi was appointed as a second company director but had to resign less than a month later, on 11 April 2016, as he did not have the necessary certification to act as a director of a security company.
Regarding Landmark Security's controversial status, the company's name was mentioned in Parliament in September this year. A member of the EFF in the National Assembly, Sinawo Tambo, asked the Minister of Finance for a list of private security companies that had failed to pay workers' pension fund contributions. Landmark Security's name appears on the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA)'s list of defaulters. The company also went through a process of deregistration in 2017, 2019, and 2022 as a result of non-compliance with the submission of annual returns. However, the company was reinstated on each occasion after filing.
Returning to the 8 October High Court judgment in favour of Landmark Security, the court was not asked to rule on the company's reputation. It ordered the Makhado Municipality to pay Landmark Security R2,458,499.76 in outstanding payments for services rendered. This amount includes interest. Following this High Court order, the Sheriff was granted a warrant of execution on 1 November this year to seize several of the municipality's movable assets. The attached properties included a TLB, a Toyota Dyna half-ton truck, and a Toyota Hilux bakkie. The warrant was executed on 19 November. A day later, on 20 November, the Makhado Municipality filed an application for leave to appeal at the High Court in Polokwane against the 8 October judgment. On 28 November, the court suspended the 8 October judgment, giving the respondents until 18 March 2025 to present arguments as to why this second judgment in favour of the Makhado Municipality should not be made permanent. On Wednesday evening, municipal spokesperson Mr Mpho Rathando confirmed that the three vehicles had been returned on 29 November.
Since the Limpopo Mirror (and Zoutpansberger) first reported on this case in its 22 November editions, it has become apparent that not everyone welcomes the media attention this tender (and those involved) is receiving. Shortly after the first article appeared, the Makhado Municipal Speaker, Ms Gumani Mukwevho, took to Facebook to criticise the journalist who wrote the article. "Taking a Mirror article written by Kaizer Nengovhela seriously is like expecting rain in a desert area or expecting an Indian police [officer] in Vhembe…" she wrote, among other defamatory remarks.
In its 29 November editions, the Limpopo Mirror and Zoutpansberger published a follow-up article asking the question whether the Makhado Municipality had made any payments to Landmark Security. This article was also met with pushback from those involved, with the threats becoming more direct and intense. On Tuesday, 3 December, Nengovhela received a message from a friend warning him to be cautious as a contract had apparently been taken out on his life. The newspaper industry takes any threats against journalists seriously, and the matter has since been escalated, including the filing of an official case of intimidation with the South African Police Service.
Landmark Security's director, Mr Thilivhali Mahada, has declined to comment on the issue and has previously threatened legal action, should the newspaper continue to report on this case.
The case has raised numerous questions, including who is "funding" this legal action against the Makhado Municipality and why some municipal officials seem to support this action against the very institution they work for. It is also nearly impossible to find additional information about Tender 45 of 2016. The tender does not appear on the Makhado Municipality's list of documents on their website, nor do specific Internet searches yield any results.