An investigation which revealed a litany of incompetence
and wrongdoing in the emergency construction of a fence between SA and Zimbabwe
has recommended disciplinary action against 14 government officials.
Public works and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille
said senior officials in her department had allegedly committed a range of acts
of misconduct during the procurement and construction of the 37km Beitbridge
border fence.
This was one of the findings of an investigation
commissioned by De Lille after media reports about the inadequacy of the fence.
De Lille released an executive summary of the report on
Saturday and said the full document would be sent to law enforcement agencies,
regulatory bodies and parliament.
She said the department would pursue “disciplinary,
criminal, civil and systemic consequence management” processes against those
suspected of wrongdoing.
In addition, the fence would be investigated “in terms of
the presidential proclamation mandating the Special Investigating Unit to
investigate Covid-19 related projects and bring the matter before the SIU
tribunal”.
De Lille said the investigation “has not found any evidence
of impropriety on my part and has also not found any evidence to suggest that I
benefited personally from this project in any way whatsoever”.
She pledged to ensure that “any official who has been found
guilty of any wrongdoing will be dealt in the appropriate manner and will be
held accountable.”
According to the executive summary of the investigation
report:
It uncovered
allegations of procurement irregularities and fraud committed by departmental
officials and service providers;
As a result of
the irregular application of the emergency procurement process the fence cost
R40.4m. “At all times, the cost of the project communicated to me was in the
region of R37.1m,” said De Lille. “It was only much later that officials
informed me of the additional cost of just over R3.2m for the principal agent
for professional services and project management;
Advance payments
of R21.8m to the contractor and R1.8m to the principal agent “within days of
their respective appointments” were irregular as no material had been delivered
and construction had not begun;
A professional
assessment of quantities, drawings and specifications showed they were “not
aligned”;
The cost of the
fence was ostensibly calculated based on 2016 prices but ended up costing
R14.3m more; and
Poor design and
construction “compromised the effectiveness of the fence as a deterrent for
crossing the South African border with Zimbabwe”. It was only 1.8m high instead
of the specified 2.2m, and barbed wire coils were stretched beyond their
effective limit.
De Lille said on Saturday: “I am mindful that many
questions have been raised and that the public has been waiting for the release
of the outcome of this investigation.
“Investigations of this nature have to be done thoroughly
and due process has to be followed, which can become time-consuming.
“The public has a right to be updated on the progress in
order to provide the necessary assurances that I am committed to clean
governance and getting to the bottom of this matter.”
De Lille said she requested an investigation by the
auditor-general on April 20, and five days later asked the public works
anti-corruption unit to investigate as well, assisted by SIU members seconded
to the department.
“Before the investigation formally commenced, I requested
the department’s chief financial officer and deputy director-general for
construction to place a moratorium on all further payments for this project,
until further notice, to mitigate any further financial risk to the
department,” she said.
She received the draft report of the internal investigation
in June and sent it to the auditor-general and the SIU. Amendments were made in
July as a result of the feedback received.
“The auditor-general noted the investigation report and
advised that his office will conduct further audit procedures relating to
matters arising from the report in the context of the annual regulatory audit
of the department and will also follow up on the implementation of the
recommendations of investigation,” said De Lille. Sowetan
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