Venue rental for Zondo commission has cost us R14.8m so far, reveals De Lille

Responding to a parliamentary question from EFF MP Mgcini Tshwaku, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Patricia de Lille revealed that the rental of the venue for the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture has cost R14.8 million so far, money that will come from the public purse.

Tiso Blackstar and Redefine Properties have received R1.2 million a month for office rental costs as well as the auditorium used for the commission, De Lille said in a written response to Tshwaku.

The total cost is just over R14.8 million so far, De Lille confirmed, adding that the lease agreement between government and the media company and property group was signed last year, in between May and July.

According to De Lille, the auditorium, housed at Tiso Blackstar’s Hill on Empire venue, costs R796,950 a month, while rental for offices owned by Tiso Blackstar has cost R72,846.52 a month, creating a total of R870,000. Add to this R374,900.61 Redefine Properties is earning for the rental of addition offices.

“The lease agreements with Tiso Blackstar were signed for 12 months and have been extended for a further period of seven months. The lease agreement with Redefine was signed for three years,” said De Lille.

A report in Business Day back in March revealed that tax payers are paying for the commission, but in addition to that also the legal fees for implicated officials and witnesses included former president Jacob Zuma.

READ MORE: Zondo commission: Taxpayers’ money wasted on trip to India

The commission will cost us roughly half a billion rand in total, the report suggested.

“In almost all of these cases, there is no guarantee that the office-bearers will be required to pay back the money if they are found by the state capture inquiry to have acted outside the scope of their official duties,” the report indicated.

On 702, the report’s author Karyn Maughan explained at the time that only in the case of Zuma has the public been assured that this money will be paid back if the former president is found to have acted improperly.

The commission is “also paying the fees of Lakela Kaunda, his former PA, but it is only really in Zuma’s case that we see an assurance that should he be found to have acted outside the course and scope of his duties, he will be expected to pay back that money,” she said.

“But in all the other cases, which include individuals like Shaun Abrahams, Lynne Brown, and Mildred Oliphant, there is no written guarantee according to the state attorney that they will pay back the money if similar findings are made against them.

“This is a profound indication of a certain degree of policy incoherence from the state in terms of who qualifies for that kind of money and what kind of action will be taken if they indeed found to have acted outside of their duties,” Maughan said at the time.

The commission was appointed last year as part of remedial action called for by former public protector Thuli Madonsela.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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