Municipality pays R5.9 million for a road that remains incomplete

6 June 2017

The Democratic Alliance will lodge an official complaint with the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, requesting that she probe an irregular R5.9 million tender awarded to Ntsu Trading 510, without complying with the stipulated requirements and the correct supply chain processes.

In 2014, the DA wrote to the Municipal Manager, Mr. Selepe, requesting that the documents proving that the tender was above board be made available. Instead, Selepe gave us a vague response failing to give evidence to back his claims on the legality of the tender.

In 2014/15 the Auditor-General confirmed that the tender was indeed fraudulent.

Ntsu Trading 510 failed to complete the job on time; the tender was supposed to be an 8-month-long project however, it has dragged on for more than two years and still remains incomplete to date. Now this cash-strapped municipality has roped in in-house service providers in a desperate bid to finish off the project, resulting in further wastage of taxpayers’ money.

On rainy days, this road becomes slippery and impossible to drive on and this is an unbearable inconvenience to many road users.

The DA demands accountability, the people responsible for irregularly awarding this tender should be held accountable and Ntsu Trading 510 should be penalised and removed from the supplier’s roll.

The DA views it as a serious matter that no actions were taken against implicated officials despite the wastage of public funds and the procedurally flawed awarding of tenders.

The culture of corruption runs deep in the ANC-governed Mantsopa municipality but the DA remains resolute in ensuring that those implicated in wasteful expenditure are held accountable.

Issued by Tania Halse, DA Ward Councillor, 6 June 2017