Oh my goodness and in the meantime costs have gone up and the people are still without homes. Not only should these people face criminal charges, but they should also be liable for the difference in costs and interest etc.

The MEC should rightly, be axed - how can you hand over amounts of money of that magnitude without checking to see what is going on - that in my opinion is "Gross Negligence"!

MEC 'deserves axing' for R58m housing scandal
March 12 2007 at 12:38PM

The latest R58-million housing scandal was reason to fire Gauteng housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday. The Star reported on Monday that a consortium was awarded a R58-million tender in 2004 to build RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) houses in Evaton, Vereeniging, but to date not a single house had been built.

"That highlights a lack of control and lack of accountability in the department," said DA spokesperson Kate Lorimer. "One has to ask how it can be that there is no effective monitoring for three years of a project costing R58-million."

The newspaper reported that the Bahlodi Consortium was awarded the contract to revitalise Evaton.

RDP houses were to be built, with water sanitation, for the township's 200 000 residents, along with new roads and pavements, as part of the upgrading of infrastructure. However, there was little to show for the R58-million while the housing list had swollen to 14 000. Some residents were still using the bucket system and others had to make do with pit latrines.

A local councillor confirmed that no houses had been built, The Star reported. Mokonyane's spokesperson Victor Moreirane said the Bahlodi contract was terminated a few days ago because it failed to provide "value for their money" in houses, roads, clinics, parks and rejuvenated community centres and sewerage and drains. He told the newspaper that his department had only noticed that the money was not spent when Bahlodi applied for an additional R50-million.

He said the departments had drafted a new three-year plan that would cost R900-million. Lorimer said the department should take legal action against Bahlodi and fast-track the programmes that should have been carried out by the consortium." Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa must then appoint an independent body to conduct a transparent enquiry into who awarded the tender to Bahlodi and the grounds on which it was awarded," Lorimer said. - Sapa