"The Mpisane case is just the tip of the iceberg - a multitude of other KZN government contracts remain incomplete due to certain contractors being favoured, despite an inability to deliver."

This was the message from DA KZN Public Works spokesperson, Johann Krog, who has revealed that a staggering 192 contracts undertaken by the province's public works department have exceeded their completion times.  The information, which forms part of a written parliamentary reply to the DA in September 2009, also indicates that the majority of contracts were undertaken on behalf of KZN's education and health departments.  "A staggering 128 projects for the education department remain incomplete, while 53 projects for the health department have come to a standstill.  The issue of poor workmanship is cited as a major factor for slow progress on many sites, while 24 projects were cancelled by contractors themselves due to cash-flow problems."

Krog expressed concern at a lack of proactive management by the department and has called for ‘tighter controls' during the screening of contractors. "A lack of transparency within the tender and award process lies at the heart of the problem.  The DA has submitted parliamentary questions to KZN Public Works, MEC, Maggie Govender, calling for full disclosure of all contracts awarded by the department and the value of each of these contracts.  We have also requested full details around the contracts issued by the department, which relate to maintenance of its own buildings - we want names and we want to know how much money they are making."

Statement issued by Johann Krog, MPP, Democratic Alliance KZN spokesperson for public works, January 26 2010

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter