Auditor General To Investigate R37m Beitbridge Border Fence – De Lille

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille on Monday said her department still wanted to know whether it got value for money when constructing a R37 million Beitbridge border fence.

De Lille and her department briefed Parliament’s public works committee on the matter. MPs were also updated on public and privately owned properties earmarked for use as quarantine sites.

She said getting to the bottom of the Beitbridge border fence investigation could take longer than expected because of the lockdown.

The aim of the project was to repair and replace an existing borderline fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the project has come under the spotlight because of associated costs that the department has defended.

De Lille said the Auditor General Kimi Makwetu was still investigating.

“The AG has come back to me on 30 April to confirm that it might take a bit longer because of the lockdown period. But the he assured me they’re investigating whether we got value for money and these processes were followed,” she said.

On quarantine sites for COVID-19 patients, the department said provincial public works departments would have their own facilities, which they would make available from their own immovable asset registers.

EWN