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The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants parliament to summon the Northern Cape MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, to report back on the R500 million Sol Plaatje upgrade project which has failed to yield visible results in Kimberley.

The project, announced by the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, to much fanfare in April last year, has increasingly come under the spotlight, as the dilapidated state of Kimberley continues to worsen.

While DA provincial leader, Harold Mcgluwa, asked the Premier for a report on the project during the State of the Province debate at the beginning of March, nothing has been forthcoming. I further tabled a motion during a sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in mid-March for the Premier to be called before COGTA to come and account for the project with respective expenditure reports, only for it to be shot down by the former Speaker of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature and current Member of Parliament, Kenneth Mmoeimang.

It is concerning that this project has been mired in a lack of transparency and consultation from the very start, with even Sol Plaatje councillors being largely sidelined in respect of the details.

It is unacceptable that we have to make do with titbits of information to try and piece together the project puzzle, with more questions than answers arising, as details slowly come to light. This includes the Office of the Auditor-General (AG) calling the pronouncement of the Sol Plaatje project, which had not initially been budgeted for, a “significant subsequent event” in the 2020/2021 AG report of the Department of Roads and Public Works.

We have subsequently also learnt that of the R170 million contribution to the project availed by Roads and Public Works, which was managed by the department and not transferred to the municipality, R40,290 million was allocated to the controversial Sol Plaatje cleaning project. This ANC-job creating project, has been in operation for almost a decade, with no results to speak of. In addition, as at the last known date, only R69 million of the R126,710 million set aside for pothole repairs was actually utilised. This is despite an unmet promise by the Premier that there would not be a single pothole in and around Kimberley by the end of 2021.

Even less is known about the rest of the R500 million which, aside from Roads and Public Works, was apparently being managed by a team, including COGHSTA and the Office of the Premier.

It is important that we get a clear picture of this project as a whole and we will be expecting COGHSTA MEC, Bentley Vass, to consolidate all information into single report to be presented to parliament, following the submission of my letter of request to the chairperson of the Standing Committee on COGTA.

We cannot be expected to accept expenditure on the R500 million project in good faith and we are determined to ensure accountability of this project through stringent oversight.

Issued by Delmaine Christians MP - DA Member of the NCOP