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The chairman of the state seizure commission of inquiry, Supreme Court Vice Chairman Raymond Zondo, has said it is very concerning that 10 years after the billion rand Free State housing project lost millions, he has not been charged nor arrested any person.
Zondo heard Tuesday that the Free State human settlements department paid R631 million on a housing project worth billions without receiving any value for money.
The president heard testimony from the head of the Free State’s human settlements department, Nthimotse Mokhesi, on Tuesday about the one billion rand project.
Mokhesi told Zondo that the department paid the money without receiving any value for it and that the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has recovered part of it.
Zondo heard that despite the money wasted for the project, hundreds of project beneficiaries were still homeless.
In his affidavit to the commission, Mokhetsi said the department had taken action against contractors and material suppliers to recover money lost from the project.
He added that “to the best of his knowledge and belief, action had been taken against all contractors and suppliers.”
However, the commission’s evidence leader, attorney Paul Pretorius, said that commission investigators indicated that action had not been taken against all contractors and suppliers and that further investigation was needed.
Pretorius asked Mokhetsi if the provincial department knew that many of the contractors and suppliers had gone into liquidation, while some had been kidnapped.
“Yes, there are cases like that,” Mokhetsi said.
Zondo asked Mokhetsi if he could give a percentage of contractors and suppliers that the department could recover money from.
He said that based on his observation, “we may not recover much,” adding that there had been a recent court request that would continue and that the department’s legal unit could provide a more recent update.
Zondo heard that some contractors who worked on the project had been disqualified, some had never built houses but were awarded contracts to build some 600 RDP houses, among other issues.
He asked Mokhetsi if any department officials or politicians who may have facilitated the failure of the project have been sued to get their money back, to which Mokhetsi replied no.
Zondo heard that in some cases the material was allegedly delivered without any evidence, while in other cases the material was dumped at the scene without anyone receiving it.
Several regulations, including treasury provisions and the provincial department’s supply chain management policy, were breached in the project’s implementation, Zondo heard.
Zondo said it was concerning that since the project’s implementation, which was in 2010 and 2011, although millions were lost, no one has been charged or arrested.
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