Picture: The Manyane Lodge
By OBAKENG MAJE
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West calls for a probe on two contracts allegedly awarded for the same project at Manyane Lodge, Mahikeng. The DA caucus leader in the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL), Freddy Sonakile said it is absurd that, the National Department of Tourism, allegedly awarded yet another contract for the refurbishment of the lodge.
Sonakile said, regrettably, not a word has been said about the initial R47 million contract for the same project that was never completed. He further said, that last year, they conducted an oversight inspection at the lodge and found it in a dilapidated and neglected state.
“There was no evidence of refurbishment work done by Re A Aga Consulting, despite receiving a R47 million contract in 2016 to refurbish the lodge. To date, there has been no accountability for this wasteful expenditure and not a single official could account for the lodge’s assets, yet an additional R24 million contract has been awarded to ALF ZIM and Associates CC to complete a project that should have been completed in 2016.
“A blame game between the national and provincial departments persists. We have approached the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate the R47 million awarded to Re A Aga Consulting, the missing assets, and to recover all funds lost,” said Sonakile.
He added that they will also monitor the implementation of the R24 million contract closely to prevent any corruption or fraud and to ensure that the residents of Mahikeng benefit from this project.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille will visit the project on Monday. De Lille’s spokesperson, Zara Nicholson said: “De Lille’s visit is part of oversight duties and to help speed up delivery of critical tourism infrastructure projects. The project started several years ago but remains incomplete. The delay in this infrastructure project has a negative impact on the surrounding communities, especially the tourism sector in the region.
“However, de Lille is working with stakeholders to unblock a number of delayed tourism infrastructure projects to get projects back on track and delivered across the country for the benefit of the tourism sector.”
Nicholson said the quality and diverse tourism infrastructure projects are essential to the department’s objective to grow tourism numbers, which will in turn grow the country’s economy and job creation.
The Guardian 