City continues to fight against stadium collusion
Last week it was reported that municipalities which have incurred a loss of approximately R112 billion with the building of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ stadiums will not get any compensation out of the settlement that government reached with the construction companies involved.
This resolution taken by the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission has basically allowed construction companies to get away with serious corruption, scot-free. But what can we expect from a national government which has basically accepted corruption as commonplace? This is not cooperation between government and the private sector. It is a complete lack of accountability which is being wholly endorsed by Minister Nkwinti as the chairperson of the Commission.
The only ‘punishment’ that these massive companies face is the creation of a R1,5 billion slush fund which they are now coerced to contribute towards and which is supposed to further transformation. The construction industry should be prioritising transformation in any case. It is simply ridiculous that ratepayer’s money (which construction companies stole) is being used to help them diversify. Essentially, residents are paying for the crimes and failures of construction companies.
The municipalities, who agreed to this arrangement, have failed themselves and their residents.
National Government should be ashamed that it misled the country into thinking that municipalities would be compensated for collusion by construction companies.