MEC Maile, where is the Evaton Renewal Project’s missing money?

22 July 2019

The Gauteng Human Settlements and COGTA MEC, Lebogang Maile, has failed to account for R376 million that has been spent so far on the Evaton Renewal Project (ERP) in the Emfuleni Local Municipality.

According to a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, MEC Maile revealed that R332 117 511.77 has been spent so far on this project.

These figures are contradictory to the figures contained in the report published by the Auditor General (AG) in 2016 and his predecessor’s written replies in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

According to the AG’s report findings, R708 474 966.00 had been spent on the Evaton Renewal Project by the end of 2014/15 financial year.

Yet the former MEC for COGTA and Human Settlements, Paul Mashatile, stated that the cost of the ERP was R470 million. While his successor MEC Uhuru Moiloa revealed that R206 842 207 has been spent on this project thus far.

It is now clear that the department has no idea how much has been spent on ERP and has failed to account for the missing money.

The DA has written to MEC Maile requesting him to investigate the failed ERP, but we have not yet received any feedback in this regard. The Evaton residents have the right to know what happened to their money.

We will continue to put pressure on the MEC to institute an investigation into this project to determine the exact amount of money spent to date on the ERP.

Issued by Kingsol Chabalala, DA Emfuleni Constituency Head, 22 July 2019