Opposition party lodges complaint against GTM
According to the party’s councillor, Mr Robert Mahubedu, treasury advertised a tender on behalf of the municipality on the department’s Tender Bulletin, No 18 of 2013/14, to tar the junction of the R36 and D4158 to Makopung Village at the cost of R19 million for a distance of three kilometres.
BURGERSFORT – The Democratic Alliance (DA) filed a complaint with the Public Protector to probe the Greater Tubatse Municipality (GTM) for paying a staggering R19 million to a contractor for a three-kilometre road project which was never completed.
According to the party’s councillor, Mr Robert Mahubedu, treasury advertised a tender on behalf of the municipality on the department’s Tender Bulletin, No 18 of 2013/14, to tar the junction of the R36 and D4158 to Makopung Village at the cost of R19 million for a distance of three kilometres.
“The contractor only managed to finish 2,5 kilometres and vanished with the money without completing the job,” Mahubedu revealed.
During an oversight visit to the area, the DA noted that there were no signs that the remaining portion would be finished any time soon. All equipment and construction vehicles have also been removed from the site.
“It is clear that finishing the remaining 500-metre stretch will be a pipe dream which will never come true due to the lack of monitoring from government officials before making the final payments,” the DA said.
The party also alleged that the contractor had received a whopping bonus of R3,1 million.
“This is a total abuse of power and a pure fruitless expenditure that deserves to be thoroughly investigated by the Public Protector. The taxpayers’ money could have been utilised to accelerate service delivery within the municipality instead of enriching an individual who did not even finish the job.”
The municipality’s spokesperson Mr Thabiso Mokoena said the road did not belong to GTM.
“We are not responsible for the contract, that is a national road,” he said.
GTM has a huge backlog of service delivery and recently the municipality has been bombarded with protests from villagers demanding services.
The DA believes that an investigation by the Public Protector will provide answers to the alleged fruitless expenditure and will ensure that officials implicated in this financial mismanagement are held accountable and recoup the taxpayers’ money.
