Frustrated by what it calls a lack of urgency from the Tshwane coalition government, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken an extraordinary step in its pursuit of businessman Edwin Sodi. The party has instructed its legal team to appoint a professional private tracing agent to locate Sodi, a central figure in the multi-million rand Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant scandal.
The move aims to break a logjam in the process to blacklist Sodi and his company, Blackhead Consulting, from doing business with the state. Sodi’s joint venture was paid R291.4 million but completed only 60% of the first phase of upgrades to the plant, a failure linked to the devastating cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal.
“The Coalition Has Failed to Act”
DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink accused the ANC-led coalition in Tshwane of running out of excuses for not submitting a completed blacklisting application to National Treasury. “Despite repeated assurances and ample opportunity, the coalition has failed to act,” Brink stated. He emphasized that blacklisting is a critical step to “protect communities such as Hammanskraal from further harm.”
Mayor Moya Pushes Back
Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya denied any delay, stating the city has made multiple lawful attempts to serve notice on Sodi and the involved companies. “There was no lack of urgency in this matter,” Moya said, citing efforts to verify details on the central supplier database and use other prescribed channels.
The standoff highlights the intensely political and procedural battle surrounding accountability for the failed project. By funding a private investigator, the DA is attempting to force the issue, arguing that if the city cannot locate Sodi to serve official notices, then an independent tracer must. The party is framing it as a necessary intervention to bypass bureaucratic inertia and deliver a long-overdue consequence for a deal that cost the city hundreds of millions and put public health at grave risk.
