A land purchase by the City of Ekurhuleni is under scrutiny.
This is after Mike Waters, MP and head of DA’s Kempvale Constituency, highlighted his concerns related to the purchase.
Waters issued a statement to the media claiming the Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, informed him during the 2019/20 regularity audit process that the audit team will look into the complaint.
Waters said Makwetu undertook that the team will:
• Follow up on the outcome of the investigation by the City of Ekurhuleni’s internal audit into alleged theft, cost and security of the structures.
• Perform an independent assessment to determine if there is any merit to the allegation in respect of the inflated pricing on the land purchase.
Waters added: “It has been two years since I wrote to the Auditor-General, requesting the investigation into the purchase of Farm 87, Portion 230, Driefontein, by the CoE.
“The farm was originally bought for R112 074 and directly sold to the City of Ekurhuleni on the same day for R12.1-million, a staggering 10 000 per cent price increase,” alleged Waters.
He said the land was meant to accommodate the residents of Angelo, who were facing evictions at the time.
“Apart from the land being unfit for human habitat, the City spent millions on purchasing it and the erection of structures that would house residents. Residents of the adjacent suburb of Marlands in Germiston were never consulted and legal action ensued.
“Despite the cost to the ratepayers of Ekurhuleni, not a single person was relocated to the site. Within a few weeks, all the structures were stripped bare, leaving only concrete slabs,” said Waters.
“I welcome the Auditor-General’s commitment to investigate this matter and look forward to the report.”
The City of Ekurhuleni was requested to comment by October 2 at 10am.
The GCN again requested comment on October 9 by 3pm.
No comment was received at the time of going to print.
