During an oversight visit of the Mpumalanga Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works, Roads and Transport to the Nkomazi region, it came to light that the tender for rehabilitating the D2950 road between Mtata and Mananga was awarded to a contractor who had been paid more than R21 million, but who only completed work worth R1 million.
This raises serious questions for the FF Plus seeing as the government may not make payments for work that has not yet been done, unless the project engineers provide written permission stating that the work that has been completed is of good quality and that the amount of work done for the project justifies the payment.
The party also sent an official letter to the MEC of the Department, Gillion Mashego, asking what measures have been implemented to recover the money from the contractor seeing as the project was put out for tenders again and a new contractor will be appointed in May 2021.
The Department’s project management team will be queried as well because it is supposed to act in the best interest of the government but it motivated the payment in question.
A complaint will also be lodged with the South African Engineering Council against the advisory engineering firm for the irregular payment that was made to the contractor.
Based on the answers provided, the FF Plus will ask The Hawks to launch a thorough investigation and to take the appropriate steps against the guilty parties.
The FF Plus will do everything in its power to eradicate corruption and to call the guilty parties to book.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Werner Weber on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
