housing project enquiry
1 September 2006
The Portfolio Committee on Developmental Local Government and Housing were
in Rustenburg and Klerksdorp to find out if there was any truth to the
allegations regarding the irregular awarding of housing projects to Toro ya
Africa.
In Rustenburg after meeting with the local municipality who confirmed that
there were no Toro ya Africa housing projects in their locality, the committee
decided to visit two housing projects. The decision to visit housing projects
which were not Toro ya Africa was based on a need by the committee to be able
to compare between contractors.
Representatives of the Rustenburg Local Municipality present could not,
however, unambiguously answer whether or not Toro ya Africa had been
subcontracted by any of the companies awarded the housing projects to
implement.
The projects visited were Boitekong 23 where the contractor was Homes 2 000.
About 1 073 out of 1 075 units had already been built and the project was ahead
of schedule although the committee noted the poor quality of both the building
materials and workmanship. Residents in these houses also complained of various
issues which prompted the committee to commit to schedule an oversight visit to
this and other housing projects with a specific focus on the quality of the
houses. The committee also visited Sunrise Park where the contractor is Foxway
and 635 out of 1 200 units had been built. This project is behind schedule.
In Klerksdorp the committee met with representatives from housing, civil
engineering, municipal manager�s office and the Speaker. At this meeting, the
Matlosana Municipality mentioned that there were suspected irregularities in
the appointment of Toro ya Africa on some projects. To this end the council
formed an ad hoc committee to investigate whether proper procurement procedures
had been followed in the appointment of Toro ya Africa on housing projects.
This ad hoc committee found that indeed there was some irregularity and
recommended the institution of a forensic investigation. The results of this
forensic investigation are expected to be available by mid-October.
The committee were further informed that due to the sensitive nature of the
forensic investigation, no documents were available to the committee for their
perusal. The document the committee was given access to is council resolution
8/2/2/1/1 which confirmed the appointment of Toro ya Africa along with Kosh
contractors and Let�s Trade to build 5 000 units in the informal settlements of
Jouberton, Kanana and Khuma. The Portfolio Committee on Developmental Local
Government and Housing were surprised at the seemingly disproportionate
allocation of this project. Toro ya Africa were allocated 1 753 units in
Jouberton ext 24 and 2 599 units in Kanana extension 14 to the value of R103,
348, 293 � 12, while the other contractors who had tendered were each awarded
332 and 316 units respectively. The combined value of these projects is just
over R15 million.
�As the committee, while we do not feel we covered everything, we are
satisfied that we got a sense of what is going on. We are pleased that the
Matlosana Local Municipality has instituted the forensic investigation as a
sign that they also want to see this matter resolved and put to rest as soon as
possible. We are aware that there are Toro ya Africa projects in other
municipalities and we may want to go there at a later date.�
�I must hasten to add that we do not necessarily think there was anything
irregular here but the disproportionately large size of the projects awarded to
Toro ya Africa in Matlosana caused us to raise our eyebrows. As the committee
we are very interested in seeing the results of the Matlosana Municipality
forensic report. We feel that due to the lack of some information and lack of
clarity in other areas, we cannot come to any concrete conclusions.� said
honourable Mahlakeng, leader of the delegation.
Contact:
Roberta Makhambeni
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: (018) 392 7158
Cell: 082 254 4506
Issued by: North West Provincial Legislature
1 September 2006
