Police tenders - more graft allegations
2011-07-27 22:25
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Police
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Pretoria - The FF Plus has asked Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to investigate the R134m construction of the Inanda and Pienaar police stations in Mpumalanga, it said on Wednesday.
"The initial tender was set to be R55m, but in the end it cost R134m," said Freedom Front Plus police spokesperson Pieter Groenewald.
In a letter, he also asked Madonsela to investigate alleged irregularities with the issuing of tenders at the two police stations and the possible favouring of the company "Midway Two".
"It appears as if a cat's nest of irregularities has taken place with the awarding of tenders in the police service," he said.
"Millions of rand of the taxpayers is at stake here and the public has to receive the assurance that taxpayers' money is being used correctly."
The police stations are two of 33 reportedly being scrutinised by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
"I am asking the public protector to also investigate the matter as the report of the public protector is submitted to Parliament, and the report of the SIU is not necessarily handed to Parliament," said Groenewald.
Fully-paid trip
Earlier this month, Madonsela released the second of two reports into two police building leases.
In it, she found that the conduct of national police commissioner General Bheki Cele and Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde amounted to maladministration.
On Wednesday, The Star reported that, on the instructions of Cele, the SIU was investigating 33 police stations and police officials who had been found to have direct interests in entities awarded contracts.
It was also investigating the processes followed in the awarding of the contracts.
Former policemen Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton Hlela, Lieutenant General Matthews Siwundla and Major General Stefanus Terblanche were allegedly implicated.
Hlela was a deputy national police commissioner and head of the police supply chain management at the time of the alleged irregularities.
His fully-paid trip to the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2003 was also being investigated.
It was thought to have been sponsored by Midway Two, which had reportedly obtained virtually all the police contracts involved.
- SAPA
