A black business entity has filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging it was used to bag a lucrative government contract
Mlondobozi claims to have been awarded a contract to distribute medical aid claim messages to Gems members on behalf of Metropolitan via SMS and MMS, and other related information. In responding papers, Metropolitan claimed that Mlondobozi had no right to have been awarded a subcontract for the provision of the SMS service, saying: “[Ntsumi Telecommunications] does not allege that [Metropolitan] infringed any of its rights or legally recognised interests.”
Ntsumi Telecommunications provided Metropolitan Health with prices and quotations in respect of its services, and these figures were used as part of Metropolitan Health’s tender bid, the court papers claim. Metropolitan should “not have included [his company’s] prices and quotations for SMS and MMS services in its Gems tender without intending to award such subcontracts to [Ntsumi Telecommunications]”, argued Mlondobozi.
The financial services company acted dishonestly to both Gems and Ntsumi, and it was therefore “guilty of fronting”, claims Mlondobozi in court papers. “Gems contracted separately and directly with another BBBEE company to provide these services. Metropolitan Health was not involved in the process of appointing this new service provider,” he said.