Sodi’s firm still doing business with state
According to revelations in a City Press report, Edwin Sodi’s Blackhead Consulting is still doing big business with government. It says that on top of the controversial R255m Free State asbestos tender, Blackhead Consulting also allegedly received R517m worth of tenders from the Gauteng provincial government from 2014 to date.
A majority of these tenders were facilitated by the Department of Social Development, which, through the Department of Infrastructure Development, used Blackhead Consulting as an implementing agent.
The company also did work for the Departments of Health and Education.
In an e-mail dated 20 November, responding to questions by the DA’s Adriana Randall, Infrastructure Development MEC Tasneem Motara confirmed that Blackhead Consulting had been awarded various tenders in relation to projects that mostly ranged from the construction of schools and youth centres.
The amount allocated to the projects adds up to R517m, of which nearly R25m has been paid to Blackhead Consulting.
Randall said it was ‘extremely concerning to note that Blackhead Consulting has been awarded numerous contracts by the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development’, particularly given that ‘Blackhead Consulting is in the spotlight for the millions of rands made in profit from an asbestos audit project without having the certification needed to handle asbestos’.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
