Tshwane Executive Mayor Nasiphi Moya has assured residents that her administration will take decisive action to enforce a Gauteng High Court ruling requiring companies linked to businessman Edwin Sodi to repay profits from a nearly R300 million 2019 tender for the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant upgrade.

The contract awarded to the consortium, comprising Blackhead Consulting, NJR Projects, and CMS Water Engineering, linked to Edwin Sodi, was terminated in August 2022 due to significant issues and delays with the quality of work, resulting from persistent stalling of Phase 1 of the project.

The Rooiwal upgrade project aimed to enhance the wastewater treatment plant’s capacity to process the high volume of wastewater it receives.

For over a decade, the issue of contaminated water supplied to Hammanskraal residents has been linked to the Rooiwal plant’s insufficient capacity to properly purify wastewater, resulting in sludge being discharged into the Apies River.

The Apies River in turn supplied water to Temba water treatment plant, used for purifying water for the Hammanskraal residents.

The high court ordered the companies to repay the City profits made from the contract. 

According to the court ruling, the High Court will determine the exact amount of profit to be repaid to the City after the consortium submits its expenses within 60 days.

Moya said if the companies fail to submit their expenses as ordered by the court, the City will appoint an independent contractor to determine the expenses and calculate the profits made from the tender.

“The court’s decision affirms what we have long maintained that contracts awarded through unethical and irregular processes undermine service delivery, compromise governance, and erode public trust. We assure the residents of Tshwane that this administration will act decisively to give full force and effect to the order,” she said.

Moya said work to complete the upgrades to the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant have progressed successfully with Phase 1B underway after work on Phase 1A was completed ahead of schedule.

Last week, Tshwane’s Section 79 Utility Services committee expressed satisfaction with the Department of Utility Services’ progress in refurbishing the treatment plant, saying the project is currently in Phase 1B, which commenced in April 2025, focusing on civil works.

DA caucus leader Cilliers Brink welcomed the court ruling, saying it validates the DA-led coalition’s decision to initiate litigation and attempt to blacklist the Sodi consortium. 

He said the consortium lacked the necessary expertise for the project and abandoned the site prior to the investigation. 

He called on the City to make public the progress in completing the blacklisting process.

City Manager Johann Mettler previously announced that the metro had started the process of blacklisting the implicated companies from conducting business with the government by applying to the National Treasury.

Brink said:“The tender for the upgrade of the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Plant was awarded to the Sodi consortium in 2020. In 2022 a forensic investigation found that the consortium should have been disqualified from the even bidding.” 

rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za

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