THE Western Cape ANC has justifiably raised concerns about the provincial government's award of tenders worth about R600 million to the collapsing construction company, Filcon.
It is an embarrassing affair which once again suggests that "dodgy" is the sine qua non of the construction sector. Filcon, which filed for business rescue earlier this month, had been granted contracts that included the building and refurbishment of houses in Mannenberg and Atlantis. The future of these service delivery projects hang in the balance.
The ANC Western Cape chairman Marius Fransman has made the most of this opportunity and, accusing the DA-controlled provincial government of maladministration, told a press conference on Wednesday: "Next week we will be starting a process that will be the launching of a Promotion of Access to Information Act demand for information from the Premier's office, the start of a police investigation and requesting the President to proclaim that the Special Investigation Unit investigates."
That, by the way, is "next week" when we go to the polls. Perhaps the ANC has abandoned its campaign to win back the Western Cape and can now devote its full attention to such things. But, as if this "process" wasn't enough, Fransman has also warned that the party would consider approaching the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, to investigate the matter.
There is a degree of hypocrisy about all this. A whopping great chunk of it, actually.
For a start, Fransman appears to have ignored the fact that there are swathes of the country under shoddy, collapsing homes as a result of the cronyism and illegal construction deals awarded by corrupt ANC administrations.