Beitbridge border: De Lille accused of writing letter pushing for tender

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has released a scathing report on the controversial Beitbridge border fence tender. Public Works Minister Patricia De Lille appears to become more implicated minute by minute.

On 16 March 2020 De Lille issued a directive to the Director-General of the department, directing him to appoint a service provider using emergency procurement processes in relation to the erection and repair of the Beitbridge border fence, also known as the ‘washing line’. According to the minister, the purpose of issuing the directive was to secure the border in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It was found that the fence, which didn’t serve its purpose, was overpriced by R14.3 million. 

BEITBRIDGE BORDER: DE LILLE ACCUSED OF WRITING A LETTER, FORCING THE PROCESS 

In an interview with Bongani Bingwa on Radio 702, SIU Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the contractor for the Beitbridge border fence was predetermined. He also said De Lille wrote a letter egging the process on despite red flags. 

“We have found when we did the investigation that there was a lot of pressure that was put but also we got an impression from our investigation that the contractor was already predetermined and the processes were not followed, therefore, we found there was no proper processes therefore the whole process is irregular,” said Kganyago. 

“We have found that she was the one who wrote the letter sort of instructing some of the officials to push the matter quickly and then that part is being handled by the treasury because it is about that instruction that was given,” he added. 

Kganyago said the SIU instructed that 14 officials should be disciplined. He said this did not include De Lille as her matter must be handled by the treasury. 

“Once Treasury has dealt with that part of the instruction, we will then deal with that. They can make that recommendation from their side” he said. 

TENDER IRREGULARITIES 

Kganyago said the SIU found that the fence erected was not in line with the specs. 

“For example, the fence was supposed to be about 2.4 metres high but it ended up being about 1.8 and it was stretched much more than it was supposed to be,” he said. 

“The contractor was paid a lot of money before they could even start the process. There was no need for the overprices that was done, it might have just been malicious,” he added. 

According to the report, the effecting of an advance payment of R21.8 million to the contractor and R1.8 million to the Principal-Agent within days of their respective appointments, was irregular as no material was delivered and construction had not commenced.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire De Lille following the Beitbridge border fence tender scandal.

“National Treasury and the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) presented damning findings before Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure today which suggests that Minister Patricia De Lille was much more involved in the procurement of the Beitbridge ‘Washing Line’ than she has previously admitted,” said DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Samantha Graham-Maré.