SOME black tenderpreneurs feel they are being sabotaged, undermined and humiliated by service providers who allegedly belittle them after accepting their money.

Take the case of Sello Marite of Witpoortjie. He won a government tender to fence the yard at FH Odendaal High School in Pretoria.

However, he claimed the supplier, Millennium Pipe and Steel, did not deliver the material after pocketing his money.

Marite says this threatened his credibility as it had already been suggested that he was not fit to proceed with the erection of the palisade around the school.

This meant the job would be taken away from him, re-advertised and given to somebody else who could proceed with it.

But he has proof of payment to show the government that he was being unreasonably delayed by the service provider, he said.

Marite paid R652310 into the corporate account of Millennium Pipe and Steel in two instalments.

He paid half a million rand on August 12, and the balance two days later, he says.

The service provider cleared the two cheques then refused to deliver the goods, claiming the cheque was fraudulent.

Despite confirmation from the bank that the cheques had been cleared, Millennium Pipe and Steel still refused to deliver the material and labelled Marite a fraudster for depositing a cheque that was not bank guaranteed, Marite says.

Grant Scrutton, the owner of Millennium Pipe and Steel, criticised Marite's mode of payment.

Scrutton says he needed to take precautions as Marite was a first-time customer for them.

He says to avoid fraud they had to follow generally accepted standard business practices.

"Firstly, who in this day and age pays with a cheque? Electronic fund transfer has been an acceptable practice for more that 10 years," Scrutton says.

He says Marite refused to give them the cheque and insisted on depositing it into an ATM.

"Insisting on depositing the cheque into the ATM where no one can see what was deposited is a red flag to most stupid people," Scrutton says.

He also cast doubts on First National Bank's verification systems.

"It took FNB two weeks to find this cheque in their ATM system. You should ask them why it took so long," he said.

But Scrutton was made to eat humble pie after FNB ordered him to pay Marite back his money.

FNB spokeswoman Lekha Gosai said the bank raised suspicions as it is not normal to deposit such large sums at an ATM.

There were also discrepancies with regards to information on the cheques. As a result the cheques had to be verified and authenticated to guarantee that they were legitimate, she said.

"With that said, FNB has investigated the complaint and have requested that Millennium Pipe and Steel refund the value of the two cheques to Marite," she said.

The resolution of this matter lies between the complainant, Marite of Spinks Trading CC, and Millennium Pipe and Steel, Gosai said.

Marite has given Millennium Pipe and Steel a second chance to proceed and manufacture his palisade after they apologised for the inconvenience they had caused him, he says.

Scrutton said they would deliver his material tomorrow.

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