The City of Cape Town has cancelled the Request for Proposals for the development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct.
And you thought petitions in South Africa don’t work… this is what happens when communities come together to say no!
The City of Cape Town’s City Manager has, upon receiving legal advice, taken the decision to cancel the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct.
The six bidders were notified of the decision in writing on Friday, 13 July 2018.
The Stage 1 bid evaluation process was concluded in February 2018 but was met with several appeals and objections which were lodged that contested the application of the evaluation criteria as set out in the RFP documentation.
Social media users also had their say.
“Building’s and roads are inanimate and don’t add to the quality of lives of the million’s of impoverished people’s, this money could be better invested into human capital to secure a more prosperous society. My million dollar question… who will benefit from this deal the most, our people, or the big construction companies and the corporations that profits from most of the City’s roll out initiatives.” – Faizel Kahn
“I agree, a huge wall of high rise buildings is an awful prospect and hardly re-connects the city with the sea, quite the contrary. The high rise that has been added in the last 25 years is already bad enough, Much of the attraction has always been the city nestled between the sea and the mountain. At least option A seems to address the congestion, I’d say, sort out the traffic, keep it low rise, primarily living space, asthetically as beautiful as the city and really create the link to the sea rather than blocking it. Hopefully it will also be about the people and not prestige big money short term profit. It should make CT more attractive, long term, for the citizens and visitors.” – Rob Reeve
Having received legal advice, the City concluded that a lack of sufficient clarity in the RFP documentation rendered the evaluation criteria vague.
“Procurement processes must be compliant with the rule of law, in particular with Section 217 of the Constitution which governs public procurement. There must be no doubt about the integrity of these processes and, as such, I have decided to cancel the RFP.
Furthermore, the economic outlook for the country has become significantly weaker since the issuing of the RFP two years ago. This change, together with the additional burdens that the City, its ratepayers, and residents are facing at the moment, cannot be ignored. The City is, therefore, reconsidering the future of this project, and we will communicate further once a decision has been made.
In the meantime, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of the bidders who submitted proposals and representations,” said Mr Lungelo Mbandazayo, the City Manager.
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