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DA: Alan Fuchs on Kopanong project: another waste of the people’s money

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DA: Alan Fuchs on Kopanong project: another waste of the people’s money

DA: Alan Fuchs on Kopanong project: another waste of the people’s money

19th June 2018

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/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The Kopanong Precinct Project, after 15 years, has once again stalled due to affordability concerns.

The project, formerly known as the Gauteng Provincial Government Precinct (GPGP), was launched by former Premier Mbhazima Shilowa in 2003. Its objective was to accommodate all government officials in 21 buildings in downtown Johannesburg that had been purchased by government for this purpose.

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In 2005, the then MEC for finance, Paul Mashatile, announced that the project would cost R2.5 billion.

The project quickly ran into trouble because of a spat with heritage experts.

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Work continued on and off but eventually in 2013, former Premier Nomvula Mokonyane announced that the project had been shelved due to “re-prioritisation”.

In the meantime, these buildings were left to crumble and added to the decay of the inner city.

In 2015, the Gauteng Government announced that the project was to be resurrected at an estimated cost of R5 billion. A project manager and transaction advisors were appointed and a feasibility study commenced.

A report has emerged from the process which evaluates various scenarios in which the private sector finances and constructs the precinct through a public private partnership.

It is proposed that following the completion of the first phase of construction in 2022, the Gauteng Government will start to pay an annual “unitary payment” for a period of 22 years to cover the cost of construction as well as the ongoing operational costs of the precinct.

The cost of construction alone has escalated from R2.5 billion to R7.5 billion.

Added operational costs will increase the annual payment by the Gauteng government to between R800 million and R1.1 billion depending on the finance option chosen.

This equates to a total spend of between R36 billion and R50 billion over the 22-year period.

If there is any project that highlights the lack of expertise in the public sector and that demonstrates the reckless attitude of government to public money, then the Kopanong Precinct is the perfect case study.

Somebody must be held accountable for the gross and obscene waste of public resources.

 

Issued by DA

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