R309m meant for GO!Durban returned by eThekwini municipality after project collapses

The Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) GO!Durban’s R309 million project collapsed after the eThekwini Municipality returned the allocated money to the National Treasury due to the funds not being used, Daily News reported.

A 2019 report presented by South Africa’s auditor-general revealed that the project would not be able to get the funds back.

The municipality said the project had aimed to provide “a flexible, safe, cost-effective, seamless transport experience for the people of eThekwini”.

The first of three phases of the project that was set to be completed in 2018, is still under construction, which began in 2013, meanwhile, the whole project was scheduled to be completed in 2027.

DA chief whip and member of the city’s executive committee Thabani Mthethwa said that the R309 million given to the Treasury meant the project had ended.

He was speaking after the DA conducted an inspection at the non-functioning Shepstone Road GO!Durban station in Pinetown yesterday.

He said the municipality was told by an official from the auditor-general’s office that the money sent to the National Treasury cannot be given back during a council meeting where the report was seen.

“We are going to have to re-prioritise money from other projects given our current situation,” said Mthethwa.

Mthethwa said during their inspection, they found the station was incomplete and had numerous issues such as drainage problems.

“I feel that lack of leadership let to the problems and the money could have been used to fix it,” he added.

Mdu Nkosi, IFP exco member, said the projects’ execution would be a problem even though it was good for the city.

“Proper consultation with stakeholders was something we had told the municipality to deal with. Now no road has been completed so far,” he said.

Nkosi felt that no one would be taken to task for having to surrender the money.

Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said it was wrong to say there was a lack of political leadership.

He said the mayor had already said he wanted catalytic projects like GO!Durban to be completed in time and irregular expenditure would not be tolerated.

Mntungwa said consequence management would have to be applied and denied that opposition parties were not being listened to.

“We have an open-door policy and listen to everyone,” he said.

Municipal spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said the reason for the project delays was that they had to deal with business forums and taxi associations which caused stoppages.

He said the stoppages took out about eight months from project work.

“It was a situation that was beyond our control,” he said.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.