Border Fence Project: No engineering a way out of this one

One of the most bizarre cost lines in any government contract in recent times must be the one in the accounts for the R40 million Border Fence Project, intended to be a deterrent to those wishing to illegally cross into South Africa from Zimbabwe.

This line refers to “engineering” costs … something difficult to imagine, given it is a shoddily erected razor wire fence. So shoddy, that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) recorded “at least 115 breaches of the fence” when it did a site inspection in May.

SIU head Andy Mothibi told parliament’s standing committee on public accounts: “These factors undermined the effectiveness of the fence to mitigate border threats. The significant elements of the Border Fence Project were not implemented at all.”

The SIU head said the project cost R17 million more than it should have. Mothibi continued to say that poor construction compromised the effectiveness of the fence as a deterrent for crossing the border with Zimbabwe. The SIU report on the matter recommended disciplinary charges against 14 senior officials in the department.

However, it says it has made no finding against Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille, at whose desk the buck should stop. She has tried to say she had nothing to do with the contract and there is clearly bad blood between her and officials in her department.

However, given her previous supposedly principled stand against corruption (when she was an opponent of the ANC), it seems just slightly hypocritical for her to play the “it wasn’t me” card. Whoever is ultimately responsible, minister, this happened on your watch. This means you weren’t paying enough attention.

So you failed in your job. Do the right thing – resign.

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