The DA has accused the Gauteng transport department of blowing more than R705 million on legal fees.
Party chief whip in the legislature Mike Moriarty said on Monday the department had spent the money to oppose claims of R2 million.
Moriarty said MEC Ismail Vadi had confirmed that over three years, his department had successfully defended itself in 78 cases at a cost of R705 million.
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“The department is notorious for incurring excessive legal costs. Claims against the department in the 2015/2016 financial year amounted to R1,3 billion,” said Moriarty.
The department’s spokesperson Melitah Madiba said Vadi had withdrawn his response to the question by the DA, which was: “From which programme and budget are claims paid out?”
“A corrected reply will be tabled by 6 December,” said Madiba.
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Moriarty said Vadi informed him there was an error on the reply and he would provide a response but did not provide a specific date.
“As the DA, we think the department is spending more money on lawyers and less on fixing the road infrastructure,” he said.
Moriarty said it was important for the public to know what those legal fees were for as that money could have been used to better the roads in the province.
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“As a result of the department’s wrongful expenditure, people are suffering on the roads due to injury, damage and sometimes loss of life. The department should be held accountable.”
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