Many of us are aware that the government is cavalier with other people’s money (that means, our money!)
So from an accounting point of view, could the metro please explain to us the breakdown of the R2.6m for the late Chris Hani’s house in Dawn Park?
Let me reiterate my opening line – the metro used rate-payers’ money to purchase a fixed asset. No problem with that. What is a problem, is did we receive value for our money? R2.6m is serious money for a house in Dawn Park (unless the latter happens to be renamed Bedfordview ext 35).
We have a couple of choices here: first, the house was worth current market value say, R1m and the remaining amount is ‘considered’ to be goodwill.
The second option is: let’s give a government cadre a fat golden handshake, in the guise of purchasing a house with “struggle credential value.”
The latter is the usual method of enriching loyal, connected government supporters (similar to dishing out tenders, for example for stationery, when R1 pencils are supplied costing R30 each).
The next stage in this saga, is the spending to develop the area around the house. Hopefully in the glare of the ‘new dawn’ of transparent tender processes, we’ll get value for (our) money.
We certainly don’t want to experience the usual ‘foul up’ and be fed lame excuses, when an incompetent (but loyal) cadre gets the tender, charges us add-ons and we get an over-capitalised ‘white elephant’ similar to Nkandla!
The audit report two years later, mentions the millions lost via ‘wasteful expenditure’ and fraud (when everyone has forgotten)!
Besides trying to fathom the mess-up in book-keeping records, the delay in reporting is to ensure everyone has forgotten what happened two or more years ago!
