Bhisho demands answers on toilet contract

Ntshingeni Villagers in Cofimvaba are still waiting for toilets to be built in their communities.
Ntshingeni Villagers in Cofimvaba are still waiting for toilets to be built in their communities.
Image: MICHAEL PINYANA

Dispatch has retracted certain statements contained in this article. The full apology to Izwelethu Cemforce can be found here


Bhisho has red-flagged a R45m toilet contract between the Chris Hani district municipality (CHDM) and a Kimberley-based company and ANC MP Mandla Mandela has demanded the arrest and prosecution of those involved.

The strong reaction comes in the wake of a Daily Dispatch exposé on Wednesday which detailed how the company, Izwelethu Cemforce, had already been paid R45m to build 4,600 stand-alone toilets in Cofimvaba despite not even starting on the project.

Since the publication of the investigation, the Dispatch has also been leaked documents which show Izwelethu Cemforce was supposed to commence work  “within five days” of receiving the contract award letter or at a date agreed with the CHDM council.

The Dispatch investigation showed that CHDM awarded the contract on November 4, yet within a matter of days Izwelethu Cemforce was already invoicing the municipality. On December 6, R45m was paid into the company's account.

The Dispatch visited one of the sites in ward 2, Ntshingeni village. Not a single toilet had been built, nor were there any builders on site.

The department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) is demanding answers.

Cogta spokesperson Makaya Komisa said the department had already fired off a letter to the municipality, and also wanted law enforcement agencies to investigate.

“Cogta is shocked,” he said, adding that if the reports were true, the department would consider the deal  illegal.

“It's an assault and an attack on the dignity on those who need services from the municipality. We are also calling on the law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter,” Komisa said.

Mandela, whose grandmother Evelyn Mase Mandela (the first wife of former president Nelson Mandela) is from the Cofimvaba area, pulled no punches.  

“We call for the immediate arrest of all involved in the missing toilet saga in Cofimvaba. The National Prosecution Agency (sic) must investigate this matter and bring all the culprits to book,” he said. "We must name and shame those involved in this despicable act, and the company, its management and directors must be blacklisted and face the full might of the law.”

On his Instagram account, Mandela continued: “You cannot say to love black people and loot public funds. Corruption destroys mainly black lives. It is black children who drown in pit toilets. It is black women who die in public hospitals while giving birth. You have to hate blacks with passion to be able to be corrupt.”

Mandela said government infrastructure programmes were directed at improving the people’s quality of life, and the fact that such a project was awarded to a private company that had not delivered was unfathomable.

“This immoral act exposes the elderly, women and children of Cofimvaba to the indignity of living without toilet facilities,” he said.

The company's contract is to build 4,600 toilets in wards 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 in the Intsika Yethu local municipality.

Since the publication of the investigation, it has also  emerged that the initial invoice from the company was R47,491,898,24 but the municipality only managed to pay R45,327,825.

A Dispatch source said that two more invoices of R5m and R3m were  sent to the municipality's finance department last week by Izwelethu Cemforce for processing by CHDM.

The source said: “There's more to this. The municipality is sitting with two invoices worth R8m from the company. These claims are for the same toilet material for a different ward. The invoices are sitting at the chief financial officer's desk and are  not signed yet.”

Reacting to a Dispatch request for comment, Izwelethu Cemforce  site manager Etienne Degenaar blamed the situation on “sour people” without going into further detail. He said he would deal with the matter in the new year.

“Your story is not balanced. The sour people are feeding you with all the wrong information,” said Degenaar.

The source, who works within the municipality, said: “There's no work done, why invoicing? They (Izwelethu Cemforce) were to start after five days after getting the award; instead they invoiced and got paid. The person who signed to say the work has been done should be arrested.” 

Asked about the outstanding invoices from Izwelethu Cemforce, CHDM acting municipality manager Bhekisisa Bhengu said they were still engaging with the company. "It is possible that there could be outstanding invoices as we have had ongoing engagement with the company," he said.


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