Staff Reporter
A Free State transport and logistics company will not recover a single cent after it used its own money to fix a local road it says was in a bad state.
Goldfields Logistics (Pty) Ltd took the provincial Department of Police, Roads and Transport to court claiming a reimbursement amounting to R234 594.65 for repairs that it says it effected on the R59 road between Bothaville and Parys in the province.
In the claim instituted at the Free State High Court, the company said it had, among other things, spent R22 750.10 on paying casual labourers hired between 14 June 2015 and 24 April 2017 to fix the road.
Goldfields Logistics also claimed it had used R29 340.86 to purchase bitumen emulsion for use in the repairs, as well as R28 710 on travelling costs for a supervisor and labourers involved in the roadworks.
Two supervisors overseeing the road repairs had been paid an amount totalling R45 936 as salaries at R400 per day for 58 days, the plaintiff claimed.
However, in its plea, the roads department contended that “it had no knowledge of the plaintiff’s alleged maintenance of the R59 road between 2014 and 2017”.
It also denied having authorised the plaintiff’s alleged conduct tacitly or otherwise.
The department specifically pleaded that the plaintiff “had a duty to notify the defendant of its intended actions and take certain further steps”.
The defendant further pleaded that, in the event the repairs had to be carried out as a matter of urgency, the plaintiff was required to “obtain two independent invoices from civil contractors evidencing the reasonable costs of repairs”.
Goldfields Logistics should also have submitted evidence as to the condition of the road and a motivation to the department as to why the repair was required, the defendant argued.
“The plaintiff ought to have given the defendant an opportunity of one month to inspect the work and indicate whether it is satisfactory or not,” the department pleaded.
“Thereafter render an invoice to the defendant after the inspection had been completed to the satisfaction of the defendant, alternatively after the month for inspection had lapsed.”
After hearing the matter, Judge Sharon Chesiwe said it was difficult for the court to order the relief sought considering that the defendant was a state organ and that the necessary procurement in terms of all the relevant legislation and policies had not been followed.
“It may have been a good initiative from the plaintiff’s side, but the applicable procurement prescripts which are designed to ensure transparency (and) cost effectiveness must be followed,” she noted in her ruling delivered on March 3.
“The various statutes such as the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1991 (PFMA), Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA) . . . supply chain management policies are there for a purpose and to prevent a free-for-all management of the state’s affairs.
“Indeed, the state will be flooded with claims and litigation from parties who will claim that they managed the state’s affairs.
“Litigants would repair and fix state property without following the proper procurement process.”
The judge acknowledged that it was no secret that roads in and around the Free State province were riddled with potholes
“It is tempting for businesses to try and fix these roads, as it affects them,” she said.
Judge Cheshiwe said the roads department, as a state organ, was obliged to follow the prescripts of the PFMA, the MFMA and National Treasury, including supply chain management policies, to pay for services rendered.
“Equally frustrating as it may be for companies such as the plaintiff and having had to fix these potholes, the court cannot condone such action which may result in countless claims against the state, which claims will not be verified as the proper processes were not followed nor the procurement process,” she ruled.
The claim was dismissed with costs.
Goldfields Logistics, established in 1988, is based in Bothaville and runs a massive fleet of trucks that operate across the country.
