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Testifying before the state capture commission on Friday, Mosebenzi Zwane said it was not his responsibility to make sure officials were aware of the Housing Law before spending R1.4 billion allocated for low-cost housing.
Screenshot of former cabinet minister and former Free State MEC of Housing Mosebenzi Zwane who appeared at the state capture investigation in Johannesburg on September 25, 2020. Image: SABC / YouTube
JOHANNESBURG – Former Free State Housing MEC Mosebenzi Zwane said he did not know the Housing Act existed and never read it.
But he said it was not their responsibility to make sure officials knew before spending the R1.4 billion allocated for low-cost housing.
He testified before the state apprehension commission on Friday.
DA member of the provincial legislature and opposition leader Roy Jankielsohn has rebuked Zwane, saying he was hell-bent on shirking responsibility.
Zwane said it was not true that he ordered officials to abandon an open bidding process for the 1 billion rand low-cost housing project, adding that he never influenced supplier selection.
He said he did not even know there was a Housing Law.
“Surely it was not too much to ask a MEC that comes into office to take responsibility and not leave it to anyone else to ensure that there is knowledge of all the laws that apply to this process to spend R1.4 billion,” said the defender of the leader of the evidence Paul Pretorius.
Zwane replied: “Under the Public Finance Management Act there are functions that were assigned to me. This was not one of them. This was a role assigned to the accountant. “
Jankielsohn said Zwane went to the commission prepared to dump officials under the bus.
Zwane is expected to testify next week about the controversial prepayment plan that officials allege he devised himself.
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