Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is reviewing the way it cleans its beaches – including those with Blue Flag status – because of the potential environmental impact of using mechanical raking equipment.
As a result it has cancelled a three-year beach-cleaning contract.
But the city has denied that this had anything to do with its ongoing dispute with Beach Clean SA, the company that used to do the work, or an upcoming court application by the company to be reinstated as the service provider.
Beach Clean SA has lodged two court applications to get the city to review its bid so that it can resume the mechanical beach cleaning it has been doing for 14 years.
The court ruled in Beach Clean SA’s favour with the first application, and ordered the city to review its bid. But the city has since cancelled the beach-cleaning tender and Beach Clean SA’s owner, Rogerio Viana, has lodged a second application to have his contract reinstated.
The city said in its court papers that the environmental impact of beach cleaning was a “valid concern” and although this “did not form a reason for rejecting the applicant’s bid”, it did not intend readvertising the tender.
Peter Horn, head of operations of the city’s cleansing branch, said in his supporting affidavit: “The city is currently faced with the predicament that the whole issue of mechanical beach cleaning through the use of machines such as those which (Beach Clean SA) proposes using, including deep raking of beaches, has become controversial.”
He added: “If the city were to now re-advertise the bid, the city would be committing itself to a further three years of mechanical beach cleaning. It cannot do so, given the environmental investigations under way.”
Viana said the environmental concern was a “red herring” as the city confirmed it had been using its own deep cleaning machine for the past 18 months.
Horn said in his affidavit that the national coastal project manager, Ted Knott, and the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa had advised that beaches – including those with Blue Flag status – should not be mechanically cleaned.
The city had, however, been doing its own beach cleaning service for the past 18 months with “no deterioration of service”.
The city’s environmental and solid waste departments are concerned that by raking the beach to a certain depth, organisms beneath the surface are loosened and the risk of soil and other erosion is increased.
Beach Clean SA lost the three-year contract, worth R5 million, in 2012 when a Port Elizabeth-based company, Khazimla Cleaning and Gardening Services, was awarded the bid. The city said then that as Beach Clean SA had omitted pricing information, its bid was nonresponsive.
But Viana appealed against the decision.
He also called for a forensic investigation of the bid adjudication process when it became clear that the other companies were privy to his confidential price information.
The city’s forensic services said there was no evidence of corruption and therefore no need for an investigation.
The matter was picked up by city councillors from various political parties. Last January, JC Krynauw of Cope appealed to mayor Patricia de Lille to investigate the tender process as there was “some evidence of irregularities” which could compromise the city.
He was also concerned about a waste of taxpayers’ money as the city engaged in costly litigation in a matter that could have been resolved internally.
Krynauw submitted questions to the city’s Speaker, Dirk Smit, about the council’s beach cleaning capability and the conduct of officials who may have withheld information about whether the city’s machine was working.
He has since referred his concerns to the city’s municipal accounts oversight committee for further investigation.
Freedom Front Plus councillor Andre Fourie also questioned officials about beach cleaning in a utility services portfolio committee meeting last year.
Viana challenged the matter in court and in July last year, Judge Andre Blignault said the city had erred in its “formalistic” handling of the tender adjudication process and that its decision was unlawful.
He ordered the city to give Beach Clean SA an opportunity to provide more information and to then evaluate its application.
Beach Clean SA complied with the court order and provided the information, but the city opted to rescind its contract with Khazimla and cancel the beach cleaning tender altogether.
Viana said in his second court application that this was done “in bad faith” and with “an ulterior purpose or motive”.
The city had also dragged its heels by taking two months to make a decision.
As beach cleaning was his sole source of income, and the City of Cape Town his only client, Viana added that he was losing money while the matter remained unresolved.
Ernest Sonnenberg, mayoral committee member for utility services, said the city’s position on the matter was reflected in the heads of argument and affidavits filed at court: “Any further comment will only be possible after the case has been finalised.”
He reiterated that the city’s beach cleaning service had not been interrupted.
Beach-cleaning fight heats up
The dispute between the City of Cape Town and Beach Clean SA comes to a head as Cape Town beaches are filled for summer.
In his court application, Beach Clean SA’s owner Rogerio Viana claimed his company had cleaned the beaches as often as twice a month. However, when his contract expired in 2012, the city did not employ an interim service provider to do the work, he said.
The city also did not have a licensed or operational machine for much of this period.
This meant that the 16 beaches where Beach Clean SA used to work were not being mechanically cleaned. “That is, the litter and debris contained in the beach sand (to a) depth of 300mm is not being extracted.” He warned that this compromised safety and cleanliness.
But Peter Horn, of the city’s cleansing department, said while Beach Clean SA’s machine was “slightly newer” than the city’s, it was “no more capable”. He said the city had tested the two machines on Camps Bay beach nine years ago, and found then that they were “equally” able to do the job and the city has been using its own machine for 18 months.
What is mechanical beach cleaning?
Rogerio Viana, who has more than a decade of experience in this field, said it involved the removal of waste and foreign objects by driving a mechanical raking and screening machine along the beach. His Beach Tech 3 000 machine was a world-leader in cleaning as it could perform two functions simultaneously: rake debris above the sand and remove smaller particles and debris below the surface, he said.
According to Blue Flag criteria, beaches may be cleaned mechanically or manually. In high-use areas, mechanical sieving and deep cleaning should be done to remove small particles such as cigarette butts. - Cape Argus