By: Staff Reporter
Limpopo province’s R15 million shack tender was obtained fraudulently, with the company having misrepresented itself.
This was revealed by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which found that the company responsible for the construction of 192 transitional residential areas, popularly known as Talana shacks, forged documents.
According to the SIU, “Aventine Group CC, made misrepresentations and forged documents of industry experts with no links to the company to influence the direction of the bid.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said in July 2020, Limpopo premier Stanley Mathabatha referred allegations to the organization concerning the construction of shacks for hostel dwellers during the national State of Disaster by the Limpopo Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA).
“Limpopo COGHSTA identified a number of densely populated informal settlements in Limpopo Province, making it difficult to observe social distancing as per Covid-19 regulations. Priority was given to two settlements, Talana Hostel in Tzaneen and Burgersfort Ext. 10, which required urgent attention in the form of a partial relocation,” he said.
COGHSTA appointed an implementing agent, the Housing Development Agency (“HDA”), to establish transitional residential areas. HDA then appointed a service provider, Aventino, to construct 192 units for R12.3 million.
“An extension of scope was approved to include the construction of 152 pit toilets and installation of three water tanks (10 000 liters), for an additional fee of R3 million, taking the contract value to R15.3 million. The service provider only managed to construct 40 shacks at Talana Hostel and submitted two invoices totalling over R2.5 million, which were paid between April and October 2020,” said Kganyago.
In Burgersfort Ext.10 site, no structure was completed as there were only half build ones. The SIU has referred evidence pointing to criminal action against the director of the Aventine, Constance Mohlala, to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action.
The Hawks arrested Mohlala in December 2020 and she is facing criminal charges for submitting fraudulent documents to influence the direction of a tender.
“Furthermore, the SIU made a referral to HDA recommending that the service provider be restricted from doing business with the government. HDA has escalated the matter to the National Treasury for consideration. In addition to the referrals, the SIU is in the process of instituting civil proceedings in the Special Tribunal to review and set aside the R15.3 million contract and recover financial losses suffered by the State,” he said.
Mathabatha has welcomed the report, saying he fully supported the decision by the SIU, resulting in the arrest of those who were involved in wrongdoing and referring their conduct to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action.
“We are scheduled to meet with the SIU to understand their report as further civil proceedings shall follow, especially the setting aside of the contract. What has happened is an injustice to the people who were supposed to receive the service”, said Mathabatha.
The unveiling of the shacks caused a stir on social media when Mathabatha went to cut the ribbon. Many had questioned how in a democratic dispensation would the government hand over shacks to people instead of proper houses.
