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Mashudu Netsianda  Senior Court Reporter
MPILO Central Hospital has been caught up in yet another tender scandal after its chief executive officer, Dr Lawrence Mantiziba allegedly threatened to unilaterally cancel a contract for the provision of security services to a company owed $1million by the health institution.

Manifest Security (Pvt) Ltd has since filed an application at the High Court to bar Dr Mantiziba and the institution from cancelling the contract.

In his founding affidavit, Manifest Security (Pvt) Ltd managing director, Earnest Makandigona Shora said this is the second time Dr Mantiziba has threatened to cancel their contract and in the first attempt, he was blocked by an order issued by High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo in January last year.

Shora also made sensational claims that Dr Mantiziba first prejudiced his company when he allegedly covertly awarded the tender to Modern Security on the basis that it was the lowest bidder, but the Administrative Court reversed his decision.

According to court papers filed last week, Manifest Security (Pvt) Ltd is the applicant while Dr Mantiziba and Mpilo Central Hospital were cited as first and second respondents.

The respondents are yet to file court papers in relation to the matter.

Shora said the latest threats by Dr Mantiziba to prematurely terminate the contract were a violation of Justice Moyo’s order.

He said the security firm now feared a mass exodus of workers if the contract is unlawfully terminated. He said his company was owed more than $1 million by the hospital.

“The threats to terminate the agreement violate the provisional order under HC78/14. For the record, the applicant is owed more than $1 million in unpaid service provision and will have a human resources disaster if the contract is unlawfully terminated,” said Shora.

He said he had a verbal discussion with Dr Mantiziba during which he insisted on terminating the agreement, vowing to bar the company’s 150 security guards from entering Mpilo Central Hospital premises.

Manifest Security was in 2012 invited for a tender to provide security service to the Mpilo Central Hospital under Tender Number Mpilo-subcon/sec01/ 2012.

The tender had no fixed or stipulated contract period for the provision of the security services by the successful tenderer.

After the tenders closed, Dr Mantiziba carried out an evaluation of the tenderers and allegedly covertly awarded the tender to Modern Security allegedly on the basis that it was the lowest bidder.

Dissatisfied with Dr Mantiziba’s evaluation, Manifest Security appealed to the Administrative Court under Case Number P116/12. The Administrative Court upheld the appeal and awarded the tender to Manifest Security.

“Modern Security also took its appeal to the Supreme Court under Case Number SC302/12 and it was dismissed. Following the Supreme Court’s judgment, the applicant commenced its contractual obligations to Mpilo Central Hospital in February 2013 and competently performed its contractual obligations,” said Shora.

“However, the respondents are now trying to unlawfully terminate the contract for provision of security despite a provisional court order which has been served upon the respondents and the State Procurement Board.”

This is the latest in a string of scandals involving Mpilo Central Hospital. There have been many reports of people dying due to staff negligence at Mpilo.  In one such case, a child died after he was exposed to excessive heat in an incubator.

Last month, the hospital’s senior officials allegedly engineered the cancellation of a $3 million tender awarded to Bulawayo businessman, Ashton Mpofu’s company after he allegedly refused to pay a bribe. Mpofu claimed that the institution’s director of operations Duduza Regina Moyo told him that Dr Mantiziba wanted money from him to facilitate the smooth running of the contract.

The tender was for the refurbishing of the hospital’s radiotherapy centre and the supply of cancer treatment machines.