[ad_1]
By Desiree Erasmus 
10h ago
Durban – KZN Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala released the names, identity numbers and racial groups of the directors of the companies that benefited from the more than R2 billion of provincial Covid-19 spending.
Five companies received R833.8 million or 41.6% of the total amount.
Of the five companies, GVK-Siya Zama Building Contractors, whose director is listed as Nasser Mogamat Gamieldien, received a contract worth R311.6m, followed by RGZ Projects, owned by Gugulethu Reginald Zondo, which received R163.7m.
Logan Medical and Surgical, whose owner and director is listed as Vimla Naidoo, received R122m, while Leomat JJS JV, owned and managed by Arnaldo Corbella, obtained R121.9m, while Enza Construction, which has Mark Rowan Crowie as director, got R114.6m.
The latest report did not detail whether any of the companies or individuals were being investigated for allegations of corruption or price increases, allegations that have encompassed South Africa’s Covid-19 emergency spending and that of the province.
Zikalala said most of the spending went to “African-owned companies”, which won contracts worth R810.2 million, divided among 235 companies.
Indian-owned companies accounted for 29.52%. Communities of color and Asian received 0.51% and 0.46% respectively.
Rand 17.7 million, or 0.84% of Covid-19 spending, went to companies for which the government had no details, Zikalala admitted, adding that the matter was being investigated further.
Other figures mentioned include that 35%, or R687m, was spent in companies majority owned by women, while 15%, or R310m, was spent in companies majority owned by young people (35 years and younger).
“We want to reiterate, as we did with the first Covid-19 Acquisition Disclosure Report, this report is not intended to pass judgment on the process, on any person or company that was awarded a contract,” Zikalala said.
“We are releasing the information simply to be accountable and transparent with our people. If we discover, at a later stage, that there was some inconvenience in the award of any of the contracts, we will not hesitate to act ”.
Zikalala would not be drawn to answering why the public should believe in the latest campaign against corruption and accountability, as this was not the first time that allegations of corruption had been investigated and reports that were not taken into account were published. .
He said the government was unable to provide the same details contained in the last report for municipalities as they used different reporting systems. The National Treasury was in the process of simplifying reporting formats that would allow details of the director and owners to be extracted, he said.
“I must emphasize that we do this on our own. We have not been forced or pushed by anyone or under any circumstances. We are simply driven by the desire to honor the contract we have with the people of this province ”.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) is investigating 658 contracts across the country, worth just over R5bn. At KZN, the SIU has confirmed that it is investigating:
1. 57 contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) in the provincial Department of Education valued at R492.6m.
2. Four contracts for the acquisition of blankets by the Department of Social Development (DSD) for a value of R22.4m.
3. 18 contracts for the acquisition of PPE by the Department of Social Development for a value of R 21.2 million. The investigations are scheduled to be completed in three months.
Lifestyle audits
Zikalala also addressed the highly acclaimed lifestyle audits to be carried out in the province, as she did with the release of the first report.
The State Security Agency and Sars had been contacted, he said, to help with the task of auditing members of the executive council, senior government officials and all supply chain management officials.
The “process” was underway, Zikalala said, but did not provide dates.
Reaction
Opposition parties said they did not believe the new push towards accountability and transparency was “genuine.”
The IFP and DA said Zikalala was avoiding submitting any of the reports to the Office of the Premier Portfolio Committee in the provincial legislature, where they could be further questioned, but was willing to disclose them to the media.
Zikalala’s political opponents told The Mercury that too often there was insufficient follow-up to hold those accused of illegally profiting from public funds accountable, or to clarify those accused of wrongdoing.
As an example, the second largest beneficiary of the Covid-19 contracts, RGZ Projects, has contracts worth R163.7m with the provincial Health Department for the improvement and alteration of the wards at the GJ Crookes Hospital in Scottburgh.
In a 2010 forensic report by the eThekwini Municipality, known as the Ngubane Report, the company was accused of irregularities in housing contracts.
For clarity on the results of the allegations, which are now more than a decade old, The Mercury last week sent detailed questions to both the eThekwini metro and the KZN Department of Health (as the grantor of the contract, asking about due diligence).
They both did not reply.
However, RGZ Projects owner Reginald Zondo spoke to The Mercury.
He said that he had never been accused of wrongdoing or interviewed by anyone involved in the compilation of the Ngubane Report, nor did other researchers approach him after the report was released.
In another report, the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs monitored and then, in February 2012, released the Manase Report, which investigated widespread corruption in the eThekwini metro.
It involves companies, senior managers and sitting councilors.
The report, among its many findings, provided evidence that former eThekwini mayor Obed Mlaba was found to have illegally influenced an R3bn tender involving a waste-to-energy landfill at Clare’s Bisasar Road landfill. Hills.
It is understood that many of those publicly implicated were never publicly investigated or acquitted.
IFP President Velenkosini Hlabisa said Zikalala and his administration were trying to “create the impression” that they were dealing with corruption.
“They will soon deteriorate back to their old ways,” he said. “Nothing that the prime minister has revealed to the media in the last month has reached the portfolio committee.
“It is neglecting its accountability to the legislature.”
Hlabisa said the ANC could not be “truly decisive against corruption” if it could not remove the incumbent MPL and former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede from the legislature while facing criminal charges for their alleged participation in a R430m Durban Solid Waste tender. .
Zwakele Mncwango, who leads the DA in the province, said that Zikalala had to be “accountable to the portfolio committee” where “specific questions” could be asked.
“The prime minister is trying to mislead the public. In most cases when it comes to a comrade involved in corruption, the ANC will cover them, ”he said.
The Mercury
[ad_2]
