eThekwini Municipality’s City Manager has confirmed that the R16.1 million sewer contract awarded to Moriel Infrastructure Group (Pty) Ltd is 95% complete, has run five months past its original schedule, and carries a total project authority of R19.3 million once escalation and contingency are counted.
The response, dated 21 September 2026 and addressed to ActionSA councillor Zwakele Mncwango, answers the first of six questions he submitted the same day in terms of Section 27(3) of the council’s Rules of Order.
The questions followed the arrest of Zimbabwean businessman Lawrence Chamurwa Mudzinganyama, who was removed as Moriel’s executive chairman and director after a video showing him threatening a group of women at a Sandton restaurant circulated on social media.
According to the City Manager’s office, Contract WS-7792 for the Construction of North Park Sewer Reticulation, Tie-In and Associated Works commenced on 12 May 2025 with an original contract value of R16,105,433.75 and an original duration of 65 weeks.
Practical completion was initially planned for 9 September 2026.
Additional scope of work made an extension of time necessary, and the Bid Adjudication Committee noted a revised practical completion date of 4 November 2026.
The City said that the extension carries no financial implication and that total project authority remains unchanged.
The breakdown supplied puts the tender sum at R14,004,725.00 excluding VAT, or R16,105,433.75 including VAT.
Escalation is listed at R1,400,472.50 excluding VAT, R1,610,543.38 including VAT with an identical amount set aside for contingency.
Together these bring total project authority to R16,805,670.00 excluding VAT or R19,326,520.50 including VAT.
Certified payments to date stand at R12,465,653.92 excluding VAT.
The City puts the outstanding amount at R3,639,780.00 excluding escalation and contingencies, and says there is no intention of any variation at this stage.
The outstanding figure appears to have been calculated against the VAT, inclusive tender sum while payments are stated excluding VAT, leaving the two figures measured on different bases.
Mncwango has since acknowledged the speed of the reply while sharpening his line of attack.
“Let me just say thank you that the City Manager answered my questions within 72 hours. When I talk about accountability in eThekwini, this is what I mean,” he said.
He described the reply as the first instalment only.
“These are the bare bones of the answers to the questions I asked about the tender given to this young man from Zimbabwe. This is only the answer to question one out of six questions I am still working through the responses,” Mncwango said.
He then turned to the escalation figure.
“He’s really living a soft life, he asked for an additional R1.6 million on top of what he already received. The tender was awarded on 11 December 2024, but only started work on 12 May 2025. Now he wants more money. That is why he says he is wealthy, he is referring to our money.”
The award date of 11 December 2024 does not appear in the City Manager’s reply and has not been independently confirmed.
If correct, it places the award in the 2024/25 financial year and leaves a gap of roughly five months between award and site commencement a period the City has not yet been asked to account for.
Mncwango’s characterisation of the escalation figure is not, on the face of the document what the City describes.
The breakdown presents escalation and contingency as standard provisions within the total project authority approved at the outset, each set at ten percent of the tender sum, rather than as additional money requested by the contractor after award.
The City’s reply stated expressly that the extension of time carries no financial implication and that project authority remains unchanged.
Whether any part of the escalation provision has in fact been drawn down, and on what basis, is not addressed in the answer to question one.
Five of Mncwango’s six questions remain outstanding, including those dealing with the identity of competing bidders and their evaluation scores, the due-diligence checks conducted on Moriel’s ownership and directors, the company’s CIDB registration and restricted-supplier status, and a full schedule of its contracts across the municipality.
Moriel Infrastructure Group remains the subject of separate investigations ordered by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy through the South African National Roads Agency, and by Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson through the Construction Industry Development Board, which is examining allegations that the company obtained multiple gradings on the same day.
No adverse finding has been made against the company in either process.
Mudzinganyama has apologised for his conduct at the restaurant. He has been charged with intimidation and is expected to appear in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court on 1 October.
