Triotic Protection Services, a company with alleged ties to the City of Tshwane's Deputy Executive Mayor, Eugene Modise, is facing an investigation from the Public Protector Kholeka Gcaleka for securing a multimillion rand tender with the Metro, despite its questionable tax compliance status.
This comes after the DA in Tshwane on Tuesday filed a formal complaint against the company with the Public Protector's office.
The company drew attention last month when the DA raised concerns about its suitability for a security tender awarded by the Metro, given its history of unpaid taxes to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).
Jacqui Uys, the DA's Tshwane spokesperson on finance, said the company faced a judgment for failing to pay R59 million in taxes over a five-year period.
The company secured the security tender in the 2016/2017 financial year, long before Modise's entry into politics as a councillor in 2023.
Modise was subsequently elected as deputy mayor in October last year.
It has since emerged that the company is now run by Modise’s mother, Nelly Modise, and its human resource manager-turned-director is Neo Mafodi, who “is allegedly the mother of Modise's child”, according to Uys.
Uys said: “The DA has previously written to Tshwane Mayor, Nasiphi Moya, submitting clear guidelines for the terms of reference of an investigation to establish if Tshwane Deputy Mayor, the ANC’s Eugene Modise, who started Triotic, is still financially benefiting from this company who was appointed onto a panel that provides the city of watchman services worth R300 million.”
She said on Tuesday that the governing coalition has since increased the budget of this tender to R615m for the current financial year.
“We are still awaiting a response from the Mayor on both the commencement of, and the terms of reference of the probe into Modise,” she said.
She revealed that while having a judgment against them for owing SARS R59m, Triotic Protection Services “was not only appointed to the City of Tshwane's Watchman Services Panel but was also awarded a R49m tender with the Gauteng Health Department for security services”.
Uys said: “According to their website, Triotic also has other governmental contracts, leaving the question of how these were awarded without a tax clearance certificate, as this is a tender requirement in all spheres of government.”
The DA, she said, has repeatedly sought clarity on the company's appointment to the city's service panel despite allegedly lacking a tax clearance certificate.
“This has not yielded results, and the DA has now taken the step of approaching the public protector to probe these matters,” she said.
Contacted for comment, Modise, who is also Finance MMC, said: “The City has instituted forensic investigations and I am fully complying. The hopping and obsession is just political gimmicks to cover the rot that we are uncovering.”
He said the multi-party coalition government under Moya “will never be intimidated nor be defocused”.
“The City lost 800m due to their negligence and incompetence,” he said.
Moya recently announced that “the city will commission an independent investigation to address these allegations thoroughly”.
She said: “To ensure full compliance with governance and ethical standards, I have engaged the Deputy Executive Mayor regarding the allegations and he has informed me that upon becoming a councillor in 2023, he resigned as a director of the company and stepped away from any involvement in its operations. He further informed me that he no longer has any financial or managerial ties to the company and does not benefit from it in any way.”