By Marvin Charles 
16h ago
Cape Town – Opposition parties have raised questions after the City said it had spent more than R61.8 million in general emergency Covid-19 procurement.
According to the City, the money was spent on shelter, food, mattresses, water and burial requirements.
Good party secretary-general Brett Herron said the “Strandfontein camp (was) a wholly inappropriate solution for providing shelter to homeless people”. So if they’re (City) saying they spent R61m on the homeless, then R53m was spent on the camp,” he said.
“That is financial recklessness, because there’s absolutely nothing to show for it. Homeless people refused to stay there and anyone who visited it condemned it as a gross violation of human rights.”
Herron said he had referred this spending to the Special Investigating Unit and the auditor-general for investigation.
The City said an additional R72.8m was spent on procuring personal protective equipment to ensure that basic services could continue while protecting staff members.
It said the procurement had to be undertaken on an extremely urgent basis in response to the pandemic.
“This government does not have a decent track record. If the City has plans to spend an additional R72m on solutions for homeless people, they should engage with a wide range of experts and organisations and implement solutions with impact and that are sustainable. Otherwise they’re just going to waste more money,” Herron said.
ANC caucus leader Xolani Sotashe said there should be an urgent investigation into the spending.
“A full investigation must be sanctioned by treasury into this. We should not only be worried about the amounts and rather about the companies that were contracted by the City,” he said.
Last month, the City was criticised for spending R52m on the Strandfontein site for the homeless, which was only in existence for six weeks.
A company named Downings Marquee Rentals was awarded the contract for the Strandfontein site. A total of R43m was spent on tent hire for the period. The company’s group chief operating officer, Gerald Steyn, told the Cape Argus: “We confirm that we rendered services to the City of Cape Town in respect of the Strandfontein homeless site. We deny our group was involved in any wrongdoing and would welcome a neutral investigation.”
Mayco member for finance and deputy mayor Ian Neilson said: “The City has acted in an accountable and transparent manner to ensure that these funds were spent appropriately and in line with National Treasury guidelines and all legislation governing public finance spending in South Africa.
“It has been well documented that the emergency basic services and health interventions in Cape Town by the City and the Western Cape government have stood out head and shoulders above comparative cities in South Africa,” he said.
“We have not only as a city and province managed to avert a devastating infection peak; we implemented interventions in a transparent and accountable manner. The consolidated R133,8m procured Covid-19-related services and goods has been done responsibly and by the book.”
