The King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality has come under fire for its “reckless” expenditure on two multimillion-rand projects that have become the biggest cost drivers of the munic irregular and wasteful expenditure.
It has emerged that the two companies, Stedone Development and Makhubu Consortium, were paid a combined R81-million in the 2013-14 financial year while there is nothing to show for the millions paid.
Stedone Development is a company hired for the “breaking new ground” initiative – a project meant to build houses around KSD, while Makhubu Consortium was meant to be managing the municipality’s vehicle fleet.
In some of the areas where houses were meant to be built, the communities still live in mud structures. But as Makhubu continues to be paid monthly, the municipality also pays thousands from its own coffers, every quarter, to hire vehicles from local dealerships.
“The contract is still ongoing and we are still handling the fleet. The fleet we have was not sufficient for their needs. Our vehicles are utilised 100%. We have more than 50 vehicles at KSD but the municipality is big,” Makhubu’s Unathi Mfaka said.
Not a single house has been built by Stedone to date, with the company continuously insisting that their role was to be “implementing agents” for KSD.
Opposition councillors want answers as the term of the current council nears its end.
DA councillor Raymond Knock said they had mentioned the two tenders when they met with the office of the public protector, which is investigating the Nelson Mandela Funeral scandal.
“We will continue being a thorn in the flesh of the municipality until they bring us answers. The Makhubu contract is very disturbing – the nature of the contract is such that the municipality cannot get out of it. The company has not done what it was supposed to do. It is just paying huge amounts of money while there is no value for money.
KSD under fire as R81m spent on projects that delivered zero
It has emerged that the two companies, Stedone Development and Makhubu Consortium, were paid a combined R81-million in the 2013-14 financial year while there is nothing to show for the millions paid.
Stedone Development is a company hired for the “breaking new ground” initiative – a project meant to build houses around KSD, while Makhubu Consortium was meant to be managing the municipality’s vehicle fleet.
In some of the areas where houses were meant to be built, the communities still live in mud structures. But as Makhubu continues to be paid monthly, the municipality also pays thousands from its own coffers, every quarter, to hire vehicles from local dealerships.
“The contract is still ongoing and we are still handling the fleet. The fleet we have was not sufficient for their needs. Our vehicles are utilised 100%. We have more than 50 vehicles at KSD but the municipality is big,” Makhubu’s Unathi Mfaka said.
Not a single house has been built by Stedone to date, with the company continuously insisting that their role was to be “implementing agents” for KSD.
Opposition councillors want answers as the term of the current council nears its end.
DA councillor Raymond Knock said they had mentioned the two tenders when they met with the office of the public protector, which is investigating the Nelson Mandela Funeral scandal.
“We will continue being a thorn in the flesh of the municipality until they bring us answers. The Makhubu contract is very disturbing – the nature of the contract is such that the municipality cannot get out of it. The company has not done what it was supposed to do. It is just paying huge amounts of money while there is no value for money.
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