Is this the end of the (washing) line for De Lille?

8 March 2022

Note to Editors: Please find an attached soundbite by Samantha Graham-Maré MP.

The DA welcomes the news that the Special Tribunal, convened to investigate the two contractors that benefited from the “washing line” erected at Beitbridge border in 2020, has ordered the repayment of the R21.8 million paid to them.

While this is certainly a move in the right direction, the fact that not one person has been held accountable or faced sanction is unacceptable. It cannot be that of the eleven people identified as having played a part in this R40 million debacle, not a single disciplinary hearing has been finalised.

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, cannot just sit back and hope this embarrassing debacle goes away. A Special Investigating Unit (SIU) report found her interference in the appointment of the contractors inappropriate. Now that the contractors have been made to pay back the money, it raises fresh questions about her conduct as a Minister. She must acknowledge her indiscretion and resign.

Officials in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) have been sitting at home earning massive salaries without working while others have been avoiding disciplinary action using sick notes and legal challenges.

This is why DA Federal Leader John Steenhuisen called for the entire cabinet to be fired. It is clear that these ministers are unable or unwilling to do their jobs. If President Cyril Ramaphosa will not do it, we will take that burden off his hands and do it for him through our motion of no confidence in his cabinet.

In the meantime, it is heartening to see that the SIU is making use of all avenues to ensure that those who profit through unlawful tenders and appointment processes are brought to book. We trust that the Department will finalise the disciplinary processes that have dragged on for almost two years and that those found guilty of being responsible for the construction of the most ineffective border fence in history, are appropriately punished.

Issued by Samantha Graham-Maré, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, 8 March 2022