No fraud in Cape Town's IRT

2009-10-27 14:12

Cape Town - No fraudulent activity was found in an investigation into the rising costs in the first phase of Cape Town's Integrated Rapid Transit System (IRT), the city said on Tuesday.

However, a staff member would be disciplined, the city said.

City manager Achmat Ebrahim instituted the investigation on August 6 to examine cost escalation, underestimates, expenditure and who was responsible for certain decisions.

City spokesperson Kylie Hatton said the costs had risen from R1.4bn to R2.35bn with tenders coming in higher than expected and start-up costs significantly more than initially modelled.

No contracts for the IRT - intended to ease congestion and make public transport more popular - had been cancelled as a result of the audit.

The city had been allocated money from national government, and this would increase because of the provisions of the Revenue Act.

Disciplinary process

The city said it would say more when the disciplinary process was completed by an external facilitator, and according to its disciplinary policy, would not divulge the name of the official.

"The implementation of the IRT project is currently one of the biggest infrastructure development projects ever undertaken in the city.

"The importance, cost and scope of this project make it imperative that the city ensures that all processes have been correctly followed," it said.

At the same time it had to provide a transport service for the World Cup next year.

- SAPA