Businessman Edwin Sodi in the Bloemfontein High Court on 5 May 2025 in connection with the R255-million Free State asbestos audit tender. (Photo: Gallo Images / Volksblad / Mlungisi Louw) 
The City of Tshwane has confirmed it will resubmit its blacklisting application against controversial businessman Edwin Sodi to National Treasury by 19 September 2025, hoping to conclude a process that has been ongoing for more than two years.
The move follows the City’s cancellation of a R295-million contract awarded to Sodi’s companies for upgrades to the Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant. The project was intended to improve water quality in Hammanskraal, where dozens of people died from cholera in 2023.
The City terminated the contract in May 2022, citing poor performance, procurement irregularities and findings from the Auditor-General and its own forensic investigation. Criminal charges were also laid against Sodi.
Responding to questions from Daily Maverick, the City, now under the leadership of mayor Nasiphi Moya, said that although the process had taken time, it was nearing completion and had followed due legal process.
“All issues previously flagged have now been comprehensively addressed, and an independent review committee is currently verifying compliance with all statutory prescripts. This additional safeguard ensures that the City’s submission is procedurally sound and beyond reproach. Once the committee has concluded its work, the application will be lodged without delay,” said City spokesperson Lindela Mashigo.
Read more: City of Tshwane seeks dismissal of officials charged in R295m Rooiwal tender scandal
The blacklisting matter was initially raised last week when the City’s delegation appeared before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Standing Committee on the Auditor-General.
Responding to MPs’ questions about the progress of the blacklisting application, city manager Johann Mettler confirmed that the application had yet to be submitted to Treasury.
Eighteen-month delay
An initial attempt to blacklist Sodi’s companies, NJR Projects and Blackhead Consulting, was submitted under former mayor Cilliers Brink. However, that application was rejected by Treasury for noncompliance with required procedures and missing important information.
Brink vowed to restart the process but was later removed from office in a motion of no confidence before he could do so.
He has since raised concerns about the slow pace of the blacklisting process after enquiring about it on several occasions. During his tenure he expressed the view that the Sodi blacklisting application would be quashed.
“But, a year and a half after Tshwane first commenced the blacklisting process, it simply doesn’t make sense that a blacklisting application hasn’t been lodged yet with National Treasury,” Brink said this week.
“We fear that the delay is prejudicing the application. It also doesn’t make sense why the process is being further delayed by having the City’s internal audit department vet the application.”
The City has justified the delay of more than 18 months, saying the process was complex and that it wanted a watertight application without any loopholes.
“The City of Tshwane acknowledges that the blacklisting process has taken longer than anticipated, but this timeline reflects the City’s deliberate effort to ensure that the process is watertight, defensible and beyond reproach,” Mashigo said.
“Blacklisting is not a simple administrative step; it is a highly regulated legal process that carries long-term implications for both the municipality and the affected service providers.”
Read more: SIU to probe Tshwane’s R295m Rooiwal Wastewater Treatment Plant tender
Regarding specific steps the City had taken since restarting the blacklisting process, as advised by Treasury, including the dates these actions were carried out, the City hoped to finalise the process next week:
“The City is hopeful that everything will proceed as planned and expects to finalise the submission by 19 September 2025, after the independent review committee completes its assessment. Dedicated resources have been allocated to ensure this timeline is met.”
Crisis continues
In the meantime, the City says it has put stringent supplier vetting measures in place to prevent nonperforming contractors from being considered for new tenders, and to avoid similar situations in future.
Following earlier submission issues, Mashigo said the City had engaged regularly with National Treasury to address concerns.
“The City has since rectified identified shortcomings, demonstrating a collaborative and corrective approach that strengthens accountability and positions the revised submission for success. The City also had to await the outcome of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe in respect of referrals.”
In September 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered the SIU to investigate the irregular tender, and signed a proclamation which enables SIU to investigate allegations of maladministration and corruption in regard to the tender and to recover any financial losses suffered by the state.
Before ordering the probe Ramaphosa visited the Rooiwal plant and Hammanskraal where residents have been subjected to undrinkable water while upgrades to the plant began but weren’t finished.
Ramaphosa appeared visibly shocked by the deteriorating condition of the plant and later apologised to the residents for the government’s failures which had led to the deaths in 2023.
Read more: ‘We have failed you, the people of Hammanskraal,’ says Ramaphosa
The water crisis in Hammanskraal remains ongoing and unresolved. Although some residents now receive clean water, many still depend on water tankers.
Last week, Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina met the South African Human Rights Commission to address some of the country’s systemic water challenges.
On the issues in Hammanskraal, Majodina told the commission that significant progress had been made since the joint partnership between the Department of Water and Sanitation and the City began in 2023, and as such, repairs at the Rooiwal wastewater works were advancing successfully, with the Development Bank of Southern Africa serving as the implementing agent. DM