Nkandla rebooted? DA claim de Lille is ‘hiding property upgrade cash’

Tim Brauteseth of the DA has reignited his party’s feud with Patricia de Lille, this time suggesting that the minister of public works has been trying to hide multi-million rand projects that directly benefit government officials. The opposition MP has gone as far as to compare the situation to Jacob Zuma’s ‘Nkandla’ fiasco.

Patricia de Lille accused of ‘hiding expenditure’ by DA

The NCOP member for public works and infrastructure launched his allegations towards de Lille on Monday. This came after a fraught meeting of the department’s joint committee, where the ministry outlined their spending plans for the year ahead. But Brauteseth took exception to two innocuous details one of the last slides.

The department had budgeted almost R200 million for ‘Prestige Accommodation and State Functions’ over the next 12 months, but information was allegedly lacking.

What has Nkandla got to do with things?

Director-General Sam Vukela, deputising for Patricia de Lille in her absence, was also unable to elaborate on the matter – and missed a deadline to provide the DA with a written response. Brauteseth believes that PDL and her department are ‘hiding ill-advised expenditure’.

“Two projects and eight state events were set down with allocations of R102 million for Prestige ‘policies’ and R91 million for ‘Prestige Accommodation and State Functions’. Prestige Projects and State Functions concern maintenance on state-owned properties such as presidential and ministerial residences.”

“The infamous ‘fire-pool’ of Nkandla is just one such example. The only inference that can be drawn is that the Department and Patricia De Lille are hiding ill-advised expenditure. These projects have come under fire for extravagant spending while the remainder of the country plunges into the depths of economic misery.”

Tim Brauteseth

Patricia de Lille yet to respond

Of course, it is important to stress at this point that these are only allegations being made by a political opponent against Patricia de Lille. But, given that the Prestige Projects and State Functions fund has been abused so shamelessly by a previous administration, the need for transparency is of paramount importance.

Nkandla is the sprawling homestead where Jacob Zuma resides. He was told to “pay back the money” when he used state funds to add a number of luxury upgrades to the property, including a large pool. Brauteseth concluded his statement by saying he would ‘fight to expose the details’ of this planned expenditure and expressed his desire to ‘have them removed entirely’ from the Department’s budget.

Prestige Projects and State Functions concern maintenance on state-owned properties such as presidential and ministerial residences. The infamous “fire-pool” of Nkandla is just one such example.#Day53ofLockdown

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) May 18, 2020