A 2018 Armscor dockyard contract to overhaul a Valour Class frigate engine, valued at R33 million plus, was by the end of 2025 not completed, a Parliamentary questioner was informed.
Chris Hattingh, Democratic Alliance (DA) member of both the Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) and the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans (PCDMV), sought clarity from Minister Angie Motshekga on the status of a contract to overhaul an MTU Type 1163 diesel engine. Among others he wanted to know when the contract was awarded, total value and whether the SA Navy (SAN) received a fully operational, overhauled engine.
Motshekga’s written response reads, in part, the works authorisation (WA) under Order KT498708 to the value of R 33 800 628 was contacted on 21 June 2018. “The Sub-WAs comprised of outwork inclusive of (procurement of maintenance spares, consumables, special tools, labour, logistics and subcontractor outwork services) and paid upon completion and delivery of each outwork activity. The only outstanding work pertains to testing of the engine which requires a dynamometer.”
The 29 December Motshekga reply has it unspecified penalties will be levied for late delivery with the contractor “placed on terms to remedy their failure to perform”. The contractor is currently installing a dyno in the Armscor Dockyard. The receipt of a revised quotation from the contractor to source dyno testing from a different supplier, according to the minister “clearly indicates that they [the contractor] are not in position to remedy the default”. Armscor will “explore” sourcing dyno testing with any difference being for the contractor’s account.
The issue at hand, Hattingh was informed, is non-performance by the contractor currently in default and placed on terms. “Armscor in turn, is exploring alternatives to bring the engine back to service to ensure availability when required.”
From the reply it is clear the frigate engine is at the contractor’s premises with no apparent effect on operational readiness. This is because it was drawn from the SAN naval stores depot Wingfield with the overhaul said to be ahead of it going back into storage as a spare engine. “It is critical that the engine is brought back to service to ensure availability when required,” Motshekga added.
While the contractor was not named in Motshekga’s reply, it is known to be Cape Town-based GRIMMS, which several years ago said it acquired a dynamometer (H3610M) to test the MTU 1163.
GRIMMS has an established relationship with the SA Navy, as it was in 2017 contracted to repair and maintain its propulsion units, including diesel engines, replacing previous contractor MTU, which supplied the diesel engines for the Meko frigates and Type 209 submarines. In addition to propulsion maintenance and repair services, GRIMMS was contracted to provide spares to the South African Navy and operate a fully functional workshop in the Naval Dockyard in Simons Town. A second term contract was awarded in 2021.
Answering another question from Hattingh, Motshekga said propulsion maintenance contracts awarded to the contractor have amounted to R286 465 682 since 2018.
Last year the Hawks revealed that they were investigating five cases of fraud, theft, and corruption within the South African Navy worth nearly half a billion rand. One case deals with fraud and corruption in a contract for maintenance and repairs to SA Navy surface and sub surface vessels for a period of three years. It is alleged that the service provider tampered with bid documents using tippex, and that amounts were altered and signatures forged on the bidding documents.
“It is alleged that the appointment of the service provider whose documents were tampered with was irregular. Total amount of the tender was R52 000 000”. The case was reported by the Military Police in 2018 and referred to the Hawks in July 2024. It is understood this contract was awarded to Marine and General Engineering (RA Govender CC) in 2016.
Fraud and theft are suspected in another SAN contract to supply the Navy with spares for surface and submarine vessels for a period of three years. The contract, awarded in 2017/18, is valued at R395 million. “Internal investigations reveal that the service provider supplied the SA Navy with a sub-standard spares, claiming that the spares were procured in Germany whilst they were procured locally,” the Hawks stated. The case was reported by the Military Police in 2018 and referred to the Hawks in mid-2024.
A third case involves fraud and theft in the awarding of a tender for service and repairs of the minesweeper SAS Umzimkhulu’s engine at Simon’s Town between 2016 and 2018. Internal investigation revealed that the service provider submitted a false Dyno Testing Certificate belonging to the SAS Umhloti. It is further evident that the services were never rendered at all by the service provider, the Hawks stated. The case was reported by the Military Police in 2020 and referred to the Hawks in July last year. GRIMMS was paid R30 million between 2016 and 2018, the Sunday Times reported in 2023, stating the allegedly false testing certificate led to the SAS Umzimkhulu being unserviceable.
Another case involves the SAS Umzimkhulu, covering invoices submitted for work done between November 2015 and February 2021. The service provider was paid R16 million without the Navy knowing that services were never rendered – something confirmed by an internal investigation. According to the Sunday Times, the R16 million contract was awarded to GRIMMS. GRIMMS founder Shafiek Hendricks has dismissed the allegations.
GRIMMS has also been fingered for fraud and theft involving engine repairs on the SAS Drakensberg in 2021 amounting to R3.8 million. “After receiving an invoice from the service provider, the officials processed the invoices while no work was done by the service provider. It was later discovered that there was no completion certificate,” the Hawks stated.
