What glamorous, non-essential projects is De Lille hiding?
18 May 2020
On the 13th of May, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure appeared before a joint committee sitting to submit their annual performance plans and budget for the coming year. Although an array of officials appeared, Minister Patricia De Lille was conspicuous in her absence, citing duties at the constitutionally dubious National Command Council.
During the course of this engagement, I raised questions about the so called "Prestige Projects and State Functions" listed in the presentation.
Tucked neatly away towards the end of the presentation, two projects and eight state events were set down with allocations of R102 million for Prestige "policies" and R91 million for "Prestige Accommodation and State Functions" with no specific details as to their purpose.
Prestige Projects and State Functions concern maintenance on state-owned properties such as presidential and ministerial residences. The infamous "fire-pool" of Nkandla is just one such example.