The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be laying criminal charges against KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Arts and Culture HOD, Mr Ntokozo Chonco, following the receipt of damning information relating to tender fraud to the value of R5.1 million.
The charges, which will be laid on Thursday morning at Durban Central SAPS relate to the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for eight KZN modular libraries located in KwaNzimakwe, Nibela, Kwankosi Khumalo, Kwakhetha, Mpembeni, Ntunjambili, Denny Dalton and Mfekayo districts.
According to the documents (view here), tenders with inflated pricing were awarded to modular library contractors, not only for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but also for TLB’s and Roller and Tipper trucks. This, with funding specifically allocated for Covid-19.
This took place during the country’s hard lockdown which restricted work. As a result, the equipment paid for was left unused. The DoAC also paid the contractors for the hiring of Covid-19 compliance officers, who also did not perform their duties.
The issue here is that DoAC was aware of the lockdown yet continued to use taxpayers’ money to pay for equipment and personnel despite the reality that it would not be used.
Yet another issue is the procurement of machinery under Covid-19 expenditure. Levelling of the sites forms part of the building contract and does not relate to the pandemic in any way.
Then there is the fact that the DoAC had enough time at the start of the hard lockdown to return the machinery to be used at a later stage – thereby saving millions of Rands – but opted not to.
During the Department’s 2020/2021 budget meeting, it was proposed that R32 million be set aside for the construction of 10 modular libraries in various districts across KZN.
The DA has established that, at the time, an amount of R640 000 was allegedly given to each contractor for PPE. Some of the documents stipulate delivery of TLB’s for June 2020 – well after the hard lockdown began.
We want to know whether those contractors who were given funding for PPE were religiously on site? And if so, how did they manage to work while the country was on lockdown Level 5.
We also expect Mr Chonco to confirm whether these amounts were in fact spent on PPE for contractors, who these contractors are and how their appointments were made.
We also expect him to tell us who will be held accountable for the squandering of millions of Rands while KZN’s artists, who were so hard-hit during the pandemic, did not get any help from the Department.
Almost two years have passed since this budget was approved and still these modular libraries are not operational. Instead, they have become white elephants that are of no use to the surrounding communities.
The DoAC, it’s HOD and particularly its MEC, Hlengiwe Mavimbela, have a lot to answer for given the numerous claims of mismanagement of PPE funds that are beginning to surface.
The DA remains committed to ensuring that public funds are not stolen. Given that Premier Sihle Zikalala has failed to resolve any of the issues raised by the DA regarding this Department, we are left with no alternative but to lay criminal charges. Law enforcement agencies must now deal with the matter and bring those involved to book swiftly.
The DA again calls on Premier Zikalala to fire MEC Mavimbela. She has shown time and again that she is not competent to run this Department properly.
