The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is set to launch a full investigation into Buffalo City Metro’s controversial contracts involving the Leighandre “Baby Lee” Jegels Recreational Park, popularly known as The Stoep, and the recently renovated Marina Glen area.
The unit, however, is still waiting for premier Oscar Mabuyane’s office to sign a letter of support to proceed with its investigation into the multimillion-rand projects.
But office of the premier spokesperson Khuselwa Rantjie denied on Thursday that it had received the letter and declined to comment on the matter.
The letter is required for the SIU to get a presidential proclamation to authorise the investigation.
Once signed, a motivation for the proclamation will be processed through the department of justice and sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office.
The requests for the letter of support for the Baby Lee Jegels Park and Marina Glen, popularly known as Ebuhlanti, including three other cases involving the department of public works, have allegedly been sitting on Mabuyane’s desk since June 2025, according to the SIU.
This came to light during provincial SIU acting head Mike Koya’s presentation of the latest reports of investigations involving state organs in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday.
Koya was speaking during the Eastern Cape provincial legislature’s strategic session for all committees at the East London’s ICC as part of preparations for the year.
“We have four matters where we are expecting a proclamation, however, they are being held up by the letter of support.
“We have been waiting since June for the letter on public works tenders involving roads and we want to investigate the Stoep and Ebuhlanti,” Koya said.
The Marina Glen leisure and recreation site on the city’s beachfront officially opened its gates at the start of the festive season.
The upgrade, initially budgeted at R4m, ballooned to more than R31m and has been plagued by delays and legal issues.
Informal “braai masters” were forced to relocate to the smaller “Little Mauritius”, cutting their income, while the management of the project has drawn criticism.
The city said the completion of the project was a major step toward improving public infrastructure, boosting local economic activity and creating inclusive social spaces.
In November 2023, the R87m Leighandre “Baby Lee” Jegels Recreational Park raised eyebrows when Mabuyane unveiled the facility, which had been completed and fenced off since 2022.
EFF leader Mziyanda Hlekiso at the time referred to the project as a “veranda stoep” with political parties and some members of the public calling for an investigation on the money spent.
The Quigney Ratepayers’ Association said details pertaining to the contracts of both projects should come to light.
“We are happy about the investigation but we [the public] have no background info on what was agreed on.
“But there are lot of shortcomings with both projects so the facts should be put on the table,” the association said.
BCM DA councillor Sue Bentley said the party welcomed the SIU’s plans.
“The Buffalo City Metropolitan Development Agency has always been reticent to be transparent with council and it is only through Notices of Question submitted by the DA that the rising costs of The Stoep came to light.
“Unbelievably, a Notice of Question submitted in May 2024 regarding costs is still bouncing around in the council agenda because it was initially so badly answered.
“From the responses that were given, the costs for various line items did not even correspond when the report came back a second time — the cost of the whale was R1m in the initial response, but since escalated to R1.3m in the subsequent response.
“The hawkers stalls were costed to be R6.7m but escalated to R8.5m (due to design changes) in the initial response and in the subsequent response they cost R2.3m.
“The list of costing discrepancies is long between the responses given to council — clearly there is a problem,” Bentley said.
“Ebuhlanti was always going to be a potential money pit problem because the initial report about the intended upgrade to council deliberately left out the overall costs that were intended to be incurred.
“It was only through the media that council discovered the ever-escalating costs.”
EFF provincial secretary MPL Simthembile Madikizela welcomed the investigations.
“We will, as the organisation, interact with the caucus of the EFF in Buffalo City and then explore the possibility of laying criminal charges, because we have observed that the investigations of the SIU take too long and in most instances struggle to survive the test of courts of law … maybe the matter can be taken to the commercial crimes unit.”
Neither BCM nor its development agency, BCMDA, commented by the time of publication, despite repeated promises by the BCMDA to do so and the Dispatch extending its deadline.
Koya said that as of September 2025, the Eastern Cape owed the SIU more than R150m. It was owed nearly R1bn nationally by state organs.
Though the SIU receives budget allocation from the department of justice, it relies heavily on a portion of the recovered funds from its investigations.
MPLs Mawethu Krune and Mlibo Qoboshiyane asked Koya whether the funding model was sustainable.
Koya said it was not sustainable and the unit was looking to other funding mechanisms.
Provincial legislature deputy speaker Vuyo Jali told MPLs that oversight programmes should offer relief and resolution to people’s lived experiences in the province.
“Our oversight mechanism must reassert public confidence in democratic institutions — the relevancy of the legislature in the daily lives of people.
“We should remain steadfast and committed to make the legislature effective and take it closer to the people by responding to the needs of the people.”
Provincial legislature chief whip Loyiso Magqashela said the planning session was not merely a procedural requirement, but rather a strategic platform to strengthen the effectiveness, relevance and credibility of the provincial legislature.
“As the office of the chief whip, we reaffirm our full support for this process and our commitment to ensure discipline, co-ordination and collective responsibility in the execution of committee programmes.”
Daily Dispatch
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