The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
EIGHT years and 10 months after the Bulawayo City Council awarded the Egodini rehabilitation tender to South African-based developer Terracotta Trading Private Limited, work on the superstructure is still yet to start.
Last Tuesday, the developer and BCC officials seemed to be singing opposing tunes regarding the possible investment value by the developer, with one of the directors, Mr Thulani Moyo claiming that the US$60 million value of the project was a creation of the media. He said the company had instead indicated in their tender documents that the project will be valued at US$25 million.
In responding to questions on the investment value Mr Moyo claimed that no tendering company had submitted a bid of more than US$30 million, claiming their US$25 million was the most lucrative.
“I cannot comment on what the council minutes said because I was not there, we were not part of the process, what I do know is that we were there the day that the bids were actually opened. If I recall correctly on bid submission day, when they opened the bids they read them out, I recall three bids, I remember one of the bidders said they were prepared to invest US$1 million, the second said they were prepared to invest US$5 million,” said Mr Moyo.
However, this was refuted by the local authority’s chamber secretary, Mrs Sikhangele Zhou who insisted that the developer had indicated that they would make an investment of US$60 million in the entire project.
“The tender that was there was for an expression of interest, and we were looking at the possible developments that would be done at Egodini, the amounts that were on possible investments — that were not hard and fast- and indeed the Terracotta bid documents did indicate that their estimated investment at that time was US$60 million,” she said.
In a bid to unravel the truth regarding the tender, Sunday News revisited BCC reports relating to the tender, starting with the October 2012 minutes when the matter was first tabled to councillors. The initial tender for the re-development of the terminus was advertised and closed on 25 June 2012, the compulsory tender briefing was held on 5 July with 14 companies attending. The pre-adjudication inter-departmental meeting was held on 11 September to consider the submissions, where Terracotta was awarded the tender.
11 October 2012: The tender is awarded
After going through all the necessary processes, councillors were made aware of the bidding process, where it was revealed that out of the 14 companies that attended the compulsory tender briefing only three managed to submit their bids; Pearl Properties, Roadport Private Limited and Terracotta.
“Pearl properties submitted an estimated project cost of US$30 million and detailed some experience in the development of shopping complexes and cluster houses in Zimbabwe. Terracotta submitted an estimated project cost of US$60 million and detailed in the experiences in the development of shopping malls in South Africa and they have also developed a similar development to the one that they are proposing to do at Egodini.
“Their submission also demonstrated that they did put a lot of work in the proposal and the designs are impressive. The company is made up of Zimbabweans and South Africans. Roadport Private Limited submitted an estimate project cost of US$3 million. The company has developed a road port in Harare and is a Zimbabwean based company,” reads the council report.
According to the report, council concluded that Terracotta was viewed to have the most relevant experience and capacity than the other two companies and their estimated project cost was in line with the cost and magnitude of the works involved.
1 December 2013: BCC proposes new termini
With the project talks now at an “advanced stage” with the developer, the local authority identified new sites where vendors and transport operators were going to operate. The then BCC deputy director of engineering services, Mr Job Jika Ndebele was quoted as saying the city had proposed new operating sites for the displaced informal traders and transport operators from Egodini.
“We are hopeful that between February and March we are going to see the kombis and vendors moving out of Egodini,” he said.
He said the relocation was going to begin early next year (2014) to pave way for the project.
3 January 2014: Vendors, transport operators yet to be relocated
BCC gave vendors and transport operators a further reprieve, saying they could continue operating at Egodini until further notice. The council had initially given them until 31 December 2013 to relocate to identified new sites.
11 May 2014: Council officials call for tender to be cancelled
The much-hyped tender for the renovation of Basch Street (Egodini) bus terminus into a regional public transport hub was hanging in the balance, amid reports that some council officials were pushing for the tender to be reversed.
The then city’s Deputy Mayor, Mr Gift Banda, confirmed that the project had hit some hitches along the way but said everything was now on course, with council lawyers set to meet lawyers representing Terracotta with the hope of completing the contractual negotiations.
14 September 2014: Terracotta disappears
BCC officials claimed that contractual negotiations with Terracotta have hit a brick wall, after the company allegedly disappeared. The then Mayor, Alderman Martin Moyo confirmed the above, revealing that the SA-based company had since become elusive.
“This project should have begun in January but for some reason the company that won the tender has been dilly-dallying. Yes, they might be saying that they are committed to the whole project but I believe in any business transaction there should be a time lime limit for waiting,” said Ald Moyo.
17 October 2015: Contract is finally signed
Exactly three years after BCC first mooted plans to rehabilitate Basch Street Terminus, the local authority and Terracotta finally put pen to paper.
According to a council report the signature copy of the contract had been forwarded to the company so that they sign their part and forward back to the local authority for final signature, of which communication had been received to the effect that they have sent back the signed copies to council.
20 December 2015: Egodini contract still to be signed?
Despite indications that the contract was signed in October, the local authority now reported that officials from Terracotta were set to jet into the country in January 2016 to sign the contract which will see the commencement of the long-awaited rehabilitation of Basch Street Bus Terminus. Ald Moyo was quoted as saying council had initially pushed that the ceremony be held before the end of the year (2015) but this was now impossible.
30 January 2016: Another false start
One of the Terracotta directors, Mr Ottis Tshabalala, said the construction of the regional transport hub and shopping complex would start soon after a ceremony to handover the site to them from BCC on 3 February.
01 March 2016: Terracotta sets another project starting date
The project was officially launched, with the developer saying construction work will begin in May 2016. One of the directors, Mr John McCormick said the $60 million project would be undertaken in three phases and create more than 1 000 jobs during the construction period.
25 March 2016: Vendors, transport operators leave Egodini
BCC ordered commuter omnibus operators and vendors to vacate Basch Street Terminus by 30 April to pave way for the construction of the multi-million dollar Egodini Shopping Mall.
17 April 2016: Government raises red flag regarding Egodini tender
The Government threatened to cancel the Egodini terminus upgrade project and order a re-tender after allegations that some senior council officials were linked to the South African company which won the tender.
11 May 2016: BCC mum on Egodini mall delays
BCC now appeared to have lost control of the multi-million dollar Egodini Mall project, with officials clueless about why the contractor did not start at the beginning of May 2016, as previously announced.
28 May 2016: Another starting date is set
Terracotta wanted the project to be granted national project status amid plans for construction works to start in four months’ time.
25 September 2016: Government investigating team unravels a number of irregularities
A Government investigating team recommended that the deal be cancelled after a number of irregularities and corrupt dealings were exposed. The whole deal was mired in a number of irregularities which include the fact that the local authority did not bother getting an environment impact assessment or feasibility study before appending the signature. Further, there were two varying lease agreements with the South Africa based company, with contrasting provisions on the lease period, jurisdiction and start and end of the project.
03 December 2016: Councillors table motion to cancel tender
The then ward 16 Councillor, Nephat Sibanda moved a motion to the chamber secretary, Mrs Sikhangele Zhou, imploring the local authority to cancel the tender due to failure by the contractor to implement the project on time.
24 December 2017: Terracotta given new timeline
Councillors vowed to continue with their tender cancellation procedures if the contractor, Terracotta Private Limited, failed to start the rehabilitation by the end of February after a handover of the site by Bulawayo City Council that is scheduled for 31 January 2018.
11 February 2018: Terracotta blames Zesa for continued delay in project
Terracotta representative, Mr Thulani Moyo revealed that two years after designs were sent to the power utility, Zesa was still to approve them which had led them to seek other alternative energy to power the project upon completion in the event the power utility continues to delay.
19 August 2018: Terracotta claims project within timelines
The developer said the much-awaited Egodini project was still within its timelines with the first phase expected to be completed in October next year (2019).
23 October 2018: Developer says the US$60 million investment figure no longer feasible
The developer said they were working on revaluating the cost of the project upwards, noting that the initial $60 million projection was no longer feasible. In an interview, one of the Terracotta directors, Mr Thulani Moyo said with the current economic developments in the country, they will be fooling themselves if they continued to project that the project will cost $60 million.
16 February 2020: BCC considers cancelling tender
“The first phase of the Egodini Project was meant to have been completed by November 2019 of which we all know that the contractor missed that deadline. They then requested that the deadline be extended until the end of the first quarter of 2020 and with what is on the ground, I do not see them meeting that deadline.
“As it stands we have a lot of pressure from our stakeholders regarding that very project, we are also under pressure from a town planning perspective in terms of our vendors and commuter omnibuses, therefore we will be forced to exercise our powers of terminating the contract if need be, of which we will be guided by the terms and conditions of the contract,” Bulawayo Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube is quoted as saying.
22 March 2020: Terracotta demands council assurance
Work on the project is reportedly stopped as the developer demanded that the city council issue a letter of assurance that the initial contract will not be terminated.
17 May 2020: Council yet to approve Egodini building plans
It is revealed that BCC is yet to approve detailed building plans of the Egodini Bus Terminus with councillors ordering management to engage the contractors, Terracotta to ensure the project gets back on track.
08 November 2020: Terracotta finally gets development permit for Egodini
Terracotta director, Mr Thulani Moyo, revealed that while it would seem that they had not done anything since December 2019, the buck was with the local authority which had to get the development permit for works to commence.
13 July 2021: Terracotta says investment figure could change
The developer after saying the US$60 million was a creation of the media later released a statement saying that this indicative cost estimate could change due to, inter-alia, construction cost savings, and construction cost escalations and exchange rate fluctuations.
“The various phases of the Project will be implemented responsibly in line with market driven tenant demand. At the moment the Developer is actively working on site to complete Phase 1A of the Project by the end of November 2021, thereafter the Developer will commence with Phase 1B. Phase 1A and Phase 1B of the Project are estimated to cost US$25 million,” reads the statement.
