Tens of millions spent on Emfuleni ‘building site’ – DA

The costs for a recreation centre in Emfuleni municipality in Gauteng has apparently tripled to a whopping R126.1 million from the initial budget of R44.1 million, while there is still little to show for the money.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) yesterday said the ballooning costs for the completion of the Palm Springs multi-purpose centre was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) Lebogang Maile in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng provincial legislature.

According to Kingsol Chabalala, the party’s member of Gauteng legislature and spokesperson on sports, arts, culture and recreation, Maile has replied that phase one of the project has been completed.

He said this included construction of different layers of earth materials and the installation of storm water drainage systems, with phase one of this project costing more than R24.1 million, more than half of the total cost of the project.

Chabalala said there was nothing to show for the millions spent on the construction other than bare ground.

“The building site is just an empty piece of ground, yet millions has been spent on this project,” he said.

Initially, according to Chabalala, the project was expected to be completed on 15 June 2018. However, there is no timeline as to when the construction of the project will commence and when it will be completed.

He said the Emfuleni local municipality was facing a serious funding shortfall and the project would be funded through a municipal infrastructure grant and only after Cogta had approved the funding.

“Unnecessary delays in the completion of this project have resulted in sky-rocketing costs that taxpayers are expected to cover. The amount of R82,039,449.5o that has accumulated could have been used to build two multi-purpose centres for townships in Emfuleni such as Evaton and Bophelong that do not have sporting facilities,” Chabalala said.

Maile’s spokesperson, Castro Ngobese, responded: “The DA is becoming mischievous and desperate. Cogta is not responsible for the project, but the affected municipality.”

Emfuleni has come under the spotlight as one of the country’s corruption bedrocks, with allegations of fraud and corruption in connection with R872 million which went missing currently being probed by the Hawks.

The graft was for the period starting July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 as well as other expenditure prior to the 2017-18 financial year.

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