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Vice President of the Supreme Court Raymond Zondo
- The state’s capture investigation has shifted its focus to a R1 billion housing project in the Free State.
- Nthimotse Mokhesi, head of the human settlements department in the Free State, testified before the commission on Monday.
- The commission heard that the department did not follow legal procurement processes.
The State Capture Inquiry has heard how a R1 billion housing project in the Free State province was “completely irregular.”
The province spent millions of rand on housing between 2010 and 2011 with little or no value.
On Monday, the head of human settlements of the Free State, Nthimotse Mokhesi, gave testimony before the commission.
Mokhesi came on the scene later and filed a request on behalf of the department for a review of its decision regarding a provider advance payment plan.
In 2013, the Free State human settlements department filed an application with the Bloemfontein High Court to review and annul 106 construction contracts.
In court documents, Mokhesi had previously said that his department made payments to contractors and suppliers without any written agreement or proof that the houses had been built or partially built.
On Monday, Mokhesi told the state capture investigation that he believed his department’s prepaid plan was fraudulent.
But he also added that: “Maybe I should also be very careful because not everything that looks like fraud is fraud.”
He said the sole purpose of his affidavit, which he submitted to the court, was to try to persuade the court to give them a favorable judgment in order to get the money back.
READ | Free State spent R631m on houses that were never built
Mokhesi said his department had made an advance payment of more than R500 million before anything was done.
And the ultimate loss for the department was estimated in the region of more than 400 million rand.
The commission also heard that the contracts were illegal because the department did not follow any legal procurement process.
The total allocation for the housing project in the Free State for 2010 – 2011 was R1.42 billion and the plan was to build more than 21,000 low-cost housing units, but that was not achieved.
Advocate for evidence leader Paul Pretorius said: “The entire housing arrangement in the province … From the very beginning, from the appointment of contractors, to the prepayment of providers at the end of the financial year, it was completely irregular. As a result, the housing plan in the department was to put it at the lowest level until total failure. “
Earlier, attorney Pretorius laid the foundation for this week’s evidence in the case.
In his opening remarks, Pretorius told the commission’s chairman, Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo, that there had been a number of reports and investigations into the housing issue, adding that the commission’s legal team did not he wanted to repeat the entire investigation.
“What we would like to do is focus on the issue of accountability and why certain people weren’t held accountable,” Pretorius said.
Pretorius also said there would be evidence of a plan that was devised that turned out to be fraudulent.
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“What is clear from the outset is that neither the contractors nor the suppliers of materials to the contractors were subject to any competitive bidding process which, as we have discussed on the asbestos issue, is clearly illegal and inexcusable,” Pretorius said.
After Pretorius’s opening statement, Mokhesi took the stand and told the commission that he did not know who selected the contracts for the housing project.
But Pretorius told Zondo that a disqualified contractor was “effectively appointed” and, according to one report, the contractor “performed miserably.”
Pretorius also told the commission that every contract and arrangement must be investigated.
He said there were some allegations of links between contractors and illegitimately appointed officials.
“And of course, while all of that was going on, several relatively young employees are being disciplined and fired and the ones who should be held accountable are not,” Pretorius said.
He provided the commission with some background on the issue, saying that during the 2010 and 2011 financial year, a new bidding process was started.
He also said that the evidence will show that by the time the tender award committee came to consider the offers, the validity period of the offer had expired. And instead of extending the validity of the bidding period, it was abandoned.
Pretorius also said that those who qualified in terms of the bids and those who were disqualified, including those who were declared incompetent to build, were included in the database and certain officials, including then-MEC Mosebenzi Zwane, simply selected who they wanted. do the work. .
The hearing will continue on Tuesday.
