The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality will start negotiations for an out-of-court settlement to resolve a R92m legal dispute over security cameras that has dragged on for years.
On Tuesday, the council directed city manager Noxolo Nqwazi to start negotiations with Afrisec Strategic Solutions.
The aim is to resolve a seven-year legal dispute with the company that has left the city with a R6m legal bill.
However, the decision was not supported by several opposition parties, with the DA requesting a legal opinion first.
The municipality cut ties with Afrisec in 2016 and started legal action against the firm for R92m, which it believed the metro was owed.
Afrisec, on the other hand, said it was owed more than R21m by the city and filed a counterclaim.
Afrisec managing director Gary Johnson did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The metro bought 250 CCTV cameras from Afrisec which are not functional, according to a council report.
The CCTV cameras are worth R36.5m.
During Tuesday’s meeting, DA councillor John Best said before any negotiations started, due diligence needed to be done.
He said the cameras, which had been sitting in storage for years, needed to be audited and determine if they would work with the metro’s security system.
Maintenance of CCTV cameras across the Bay has not been carried out for years and their use in the city remains limited despite a surge in vandalism.
“We must remember these [Afrisec] cameras were bought in 2010, which means they are 13 years old,” Best said.
“We propose a legal opinion [be] obtained to ensure that the city can go into a settlement agreement with the service provider.”
DA councillor Morne Steyn said because no specific settlement figure had been brought to the council, such a decision would be like signing a blank cheque.
Nqwazi, however, said a legal opinion had already been obtained and the city’s attorneys consulted.
According to the report, Afrisec went back to court in February 2022 and introduced a special plea that the procurement decision to award the contract to the firm remained valid until the courts decided otherwise.
The application was successful but the municipality appealed,
“We are at the Supreme Court of Appeal [for this matter]. Do we want to end up at the Constitutional Court?” Nqwazi said.
AIC councillor Thsonono Buyeye, who agreed with Best, said that in 2020 the National Treasury had rebuked the council for interfering with cases before court.
“There are many people implicated in this matter, some former [employees], and others current.”
ACDP councillor Lance Grootboom said there had been instances where the courts intervened and invalidated settlement outcomes.
EFF councillor Khanya Ngqisha said it was important that council concluded the matter.
“We must try to rid ourselves of the culture of being comfortable if municipal cases stay in courts forever.
“If through the administration of this municipality, they are unable to resolve cases, we must take a decision and not be afraid even if it is a wrong one.
“At least we would have taken a decision.”
He said before a settlement was signed, Nqwazi should bring the proposed amount back to the council for approval.
Nqwazi said vandalism had spiralled out of control while the city did not have a security contract in place.
“We can keep cases in court or the priority can be the security of residents and our staff.
“At this point in time none of our properties are secure.
“Every two weeks I have to sign a deviation because there has been vandalism reported at the Noninzi Luzipho building, yet there are cameras inside.
“I report to Treasury on a quarterly basis on all matters in court and in this case, I have requested that we take it out of court,” she said.
The council resolved that the settlement offer be brought back for final approval.
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