Overstrand Municipality is pushing ahead with a new competitive tender for a long-term lease at Fisherhaven’s Yacht Club on Erf 775 – but the process is unfolding against a backdrop of years of procurement controversies that have repeatedly cast a shadow over the municipality’s reputation.
The municipality confirmed yesterday that tender specifications are being finalised following a public participation process held in April 2026. “The new tender follows the lapse of a 25-year lease concluded with Point Caravan Resorts Pty Ltd after a 2022 competitive bidding process. The agreement collapsed when the company failed to meet suspensive conditions set out in the contract,” Edward Jantjies, Overstrand Acting Municipal Manager said. “Council subsequently approved a 15-month short-term lease from 1 April 2026 to allow time for a new procurement process.”
A troubled tender track record
The municipality’s assurances of a clean process will be scrutinised carefully given its history. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Appeal found that Overstrand had unlawfully awarded a water-and-sanitation tender – the successful bidder had failed to meet required skills thresholds and was improperly allowed to alter its bid after submission.
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In 2021, a Presidential proclamation referred alleged maladministration in the municipality’s Housing Department to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). The SIU submitted its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa in January 2024, but its substantive findings have not been made public.
That same year, a Section 106 investigation was launched into the award of a baboon-management contract to Human Wildlife Solutions (HWS). While the investigation found no prima facie evidence of fraud or corruption, controversy reignited in 2023 when the EMS Foundation called for a separate independent investigation into a R30 997 913,50 contract deviation and extension granted to HWS.
Hawks probe, no prosecution
Most recently, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) investigated allegations of criminal conduct related to tenders for both the De Mond Caravan Park and the Fisherhaven Lagoon site, the very area now subject to the new tender. Councillor Clinton Lerm and former mayor Annelie Rabie were among those implicated. In June 2026, the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence and no reasonable prospects of a successful conviction. The municipality maintained throughout that its processes were lawful.
What the new tender must achieve
Against this backdrop, the municipality says the new tender’s primary aim is to ensure continued public access to the Fisherhaven premises. “The successful bidder will be required to appoint a professional team to develop a Site Development Plan (SDP), which will address land use, environmental and heritage approvals where necessary. Subdivision and rezoning of the relevant portion of the property will also be required. All processes will be subject to public participation,” Esau said.
