Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille says her department will commence with consequence management, into possible corrupt activities, in the awarding of tenders for the repair of flood-damaged infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal.
An internal audit into the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s tenders, to rebuild state-own properties damaged by the April floods, has revealed widespread risks. They include tenders to companies owned by the same director, service providers owned by state employees and suppliers that did not exist on the government’s central supplier database.
De Lille says they have received the report from the Auditor-General’s office to study.
“We acted very swiftly to avoid the repeat of the personal protective equipment (PPE) corruption experienced in the country during COVID-19. Five service providers, for instance, five quotations exceeding R1 million were awarded to the same company [owned by the] the same directors.”
“We have started a full investigation and once we got the final report from the AG, we will certainly start [taking] action on consequence management for what happened in KZN,” adds De Lille.
Below is the full interview with the minister:
