Public Works and Infrastructure Minister, Patricia De Lille has spent the past two weeks professing innocence and ignorance in equal parts as to what transpired during the procurement and building of the Beitbridge Border fence. Unfortunately for the Minister, the case against her is growing stronger.

At a meeting of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure on Tuesday, I asked Minister De Lille about the role of her Ministerial Advisors in the procurement and implementation of the Beitbridge Border fence. I referred specifically to her denial of any knowledge of the appointment of the Principal Agent for the project until much later.

According to information that I have, Minister De Lille’s advisor, Mcendisi Mtshali met with both the Contractor and the Principal Agent on site on 17 March 2020.

The following day, Mtshali and the Minister’s other advisor, Melissa Whitehead, were part of a meeting with various role players to discuss the procurement process. And in early April, Adv Nadine Fourie, Legal Advisor to the Minister assessed the procurement process and signed off on it.

Three of the Minister’s staff members at various stages of the procurement process and not one person mentioned the Principal Agent at a cost of R3 259 071.48 to the Minister? This seems highly unlikely.

Minister De Lille’s argument was further diluted by the Department’s Acting Director-General who confirmed in the Committee meeting that a Principal Agent is appointed on every Public Works project to act as a Project Manager. One would expect the Minister of the Department to be aware of this standard operating practice.

I also asked the Minister about an instruction for a variation order for the appointment of the Contractor and who had identified the contractor.

My understanding was that a variation order was pursued to ensure that the specific contractor, Magwa Construction was appointed. While this process was later aborted, the contractor was still appointed via an accelerated procurement process.

I further requested that the Committee be furnished with a copy of the Ministerial Directive in relation to the border fence upgrade. I received no answer to my question or my request.

I am now in possession of the Ministerial Directive signed by the Minister on 16 March 2020. Of particular importance are the following instructions by the Minister to the Director-General of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure:

That the Project Team meet with the Contractor by no later than 18 March 2020 to finalise the arrangements for the project;

• The Contractor be appointed by no later than 20 March 2020;
• Costs be determined to facilitate the emergency variation order;
• A Project Manager be appointed; and
• Weekly progress reports be provided to the Minister.

The Minister also instructed the CFO of her Department to ensure that the Contractor could be paid on a weekly basis – another unprecedented breach of standard operations.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has no doubt that the Minister will rely on any number of legal provisions to lay the blame for all malfeasance at the feet of her Department’s officials.

However, the Directive provides absolutely clear evidence of the Minister’s role in the appointment of the Contractor and Project Manager, the lack of proper due diligence in assessing the costs of the project and the interference of her staff in matters beyond their functions.

Minister De Lille has been complaining to all and sundry that she is being accused of corruption by the MPs of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure. She has even offered to make her bank accounts available for investigation to prove her innocence.

Even if the Minister had been accused of financially benefiting in any way from this project, which to my knowledge is not the case, I doubt that she would have bank account entries reflecting “Washing Line Funds”.

That being said, corruption is not limited to financial benefits alone and can also include activities such as political corruption where the power of a government official is used to manipulate or impact tenders, appointments and other administrative actions.

I believe that to be the case here. The Minister cannot continue to plead innocence or ignorance around the border fence.

We have no interest in her bank accounts. Instead, we would like her to own up to her role in this entire debacle and take responsibility for the actions of her staff who acted on her instructions.

Issued by The DA