DA ISSUES URGENT CALL TO PUBLIC PROTECTOR/SIU TO FURTHER PROBE VALIDITIY OF VULINDLELA TENDER PROCESS
THE Democratic Alliance in KwaZulu-Natal has issued an urgent call to both the Public Protector and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to further probe the validity of a R2.1 billion tender awarded to Dezzo Construction, the contractor appointed to build the controversial Pietermaritzburg housing project, .
DA KZN Co-operative Governance spokesperson, George Mari, has again expressed concern over the lack of proper tender process, claiming that the tender cannot be considered legitimate due to certain aspects of the constitution having been flouted. "The validity of the tender process needs full and proper investigation.
The DA understands that while other parties were invited to tender for the project, this invitation was later cancelled by the Department of Human Settlement. Something stinks and it is the SIU's responsibility to establish once and for all whether the tender process was in fact fair and also reveal any corruption on the part of the department or other stakeholders, including Dezzo construction, the sole contractor for the project."
Mari has also expressed concern over the allocation of R2.1billion of the province's R2.6 billion housing budget on a single development. "This is set to have a dramatic effect on the entire provincial housing rectification programme. While Vulindlela may be envisaged as the blueprint for future housing developments across the country, its existence should not be at the expense of other community housing projects, nor should it compromise the entire provincial housing programme.
There remain other projects in KZN that, despite work having been started, are now lying abandoned and derelict. The department has an obligation to community members in these areas to ensure that the projects are completed."
Mari also raised the issue of home ownership at Vulindlela. "With subsidies from the provincial human settlement department having been withdrawn, beneficiaries will no longer receive title deeds. This places them at a serious disadvantage and the question is - who will own and maintain these houses? We also need to know how long lease periods will be as well as whether beneficiaries will be made to pay rent at a later stage. These are all glaring questions that remain unanswered by the department."
Statement issued by George Mari, MPP, DA KZN Spokesperson for Co-operative Governance, July 18 2011
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