Pressure is mounting against BCM bosses as national and provincial government officials circle the embattled metro over dodgy and dysfunctional infrastructure projects that continue to milk taxpayers’ money.
Co-operative governance (Cogta) MEC Zolile Williams recently lambasted city officials over the contentious Marina Glen upgrades, popularly known as Ebuhlanti, and vowed to launch an investigation into the project which he says “should never have been allowed to happen”.
Members of both the Bhisho legislature and the Buffalo City Metro council have also demanded that those found responsible for financial mismanagement, corruption or dereliction of duty relating to the stalled Mdantsane swimming pool project be brought to book.
Political leaders this week voiced their displeasure over shenanigans around the projects, which had, over the years, sucked in millions of taxpayers’ money.
Williams highlighted the Mdantsane pool and East London Water World projects, which continue to be white elephants, after an outburst while responding to parliamentary questions at the Raymond Mhlaba Chamber on Wednesday, when asked about their progress.
DA MPL Leander Kruger had asked Williams what consequence management measures were being taken against officials involved in incurring an environmental fine and for details on the original and amended budget amounts for the Marina Glen project.
Responding, Williams said he was against the continuation of the project.
The metro initially said the project would cost a total of R4m, but the cost projections have since ballooned to nearly R70m.
Speaking to the Dispatch on Wednesday, Williams said: “That project wasn’t supposed to happen ... in the context of the environmental impact study.
“Before the project could be given a green light ... the municipality was at the forefront of implementing that project without the environmental impact study, which by law is wrong.
“Now, as such, they have been penalised.
“I still can’t believe that the project was implemented without following the prescripts of the law,” he said.
Mabuyane said he did not know about the projects until Scopa’s visit to BCM last week.
“I would have immediately advised against implementation.
“We will be interacting with Buffalo City ... the auditor-general’s report is also not impressive. There’s a lot of issues that I would want to engage Buffalo City on,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kruger said the phased approach and cost of R70m for the Marina Glen project was in stark contrast to what was presented to the council when R4m was approved for the project.
“Starting a project without council being aware of the full scope and costs of the project is dishonest and unlawful,” he said.
“BCM has, however, become home to projects started using this same modus operandi.
“These past failed projects are no doubt why the MEC is against the continuation of the project — he can see the pattern repeating itself,” he said.
Williams said Cogta would investigate the “whole” of BCM’s infrastructure grant projects on how the money was spent.
“It would be a big project ... our department may have to investigate Buffalo City alone with the resources we have.”
He had given a deadline of May 18 to nine underperforming municipalities that had received disclaimers in their audit outcomes from 2020 and 2024 to explain why they should keep their jobs and their turnaround strategies.
He said when BCM was summoned, metro officials had cancelled the meeting at the 11th hour.
ANC MPL Nomasikizi Konza on Wednesday tabled a motion without notice before the legislature, saying she was “gravely concerned” that the pool project remained in disarray, despite millions pumped into it between 2012 and 2024.
Konza said the projects demanded “urgent investigation and accountability”.
She then urged the house to resolve to “reaffirm relevant authorities to expedite the investigation” and demanded that those found responsible of wrongdoing be brought to book.
Her motion was not opposed by any of the multiparty house members, paving the way for a further debate by the legislature on the matter, on a date yet to be confirmed.
Konza called for the provincial government to intervene in the unfinished swimming pool saga, by joining hands with BCM to “develop and implement an actionable plan”, with clear timelines for the completion of the pool project.
This was a day before two investigation reports on the pool project were finally brought before the council on Thursday, one from the metro’s finance watchdog committee, Mpac, and another by forensic investigators EY (previously known as Ernst & Young), both of which had been shelved since December.
Though council bosses previously told visiting Scopa members that more than R25m had so far been paid for the project, the confidential EY report, seen by the Dispatch, showed that more than R56.9m was spent on the pool complex between 2012 and 2024.
At the December council meeting, it was revealed that a further R14.5m was needed for the “rehabilitation and completion” of the project, which would take the total expenditure to more than R71m.
The EY report showed that, over the years, money was distributed to more than 60 companies, including some “with close ties or links” to metro officials, and more than R13.7m was paid to 46 service providers with nothing to do with the project.
Among the investigators’ recommendations was that action needed to be taken against metro officials found to have had a hand in the alleged abuse of ratepayers’ money.
This after investigators found “potential conflicts of interest where entities connected to BCM employees received payments from the municipality”.
The report recommended that consequence management be implemented against senior metro managers and officials.
On Thursday, Caga’s committee also recommended that consequence management be instituted.
“Management must take immediate steps to recover amounts paid to contractors where final approval certificates were not issued due to incomplete or substandard work,” Caga said.
He also recommended capacity building for municipal staff, particular those involved in project management, planning and implementation.
Similar recommendations were made by Caga’s committee relating to the stalled multimillion-rand Water World Fun Park project, where the city had spent more than R120m for a recreational facility that remains in ruins.
The metro’s implementing development agency, BCMDA, came under fire during Thursday’s council meeting, as it was instructed to recover financial liability accrued due to poor workmanship or contractor negligence on the Water World site.
In the subsequent debate on the reports during the council meeting, multiparty councillors voiced their support for consequence management against implicated metro officials.
DA councillor Anathi Majeke said the council should be hanging its head in shame and pointed at mismanagement and possible fraud and corruption in BCM, which she said “justifies what the DA has fought for over many years, the urgent intervention into the systemic collapse of the metro”.
“It is deeply concerning that it took a recent oversight visit by Scopa to prompt this action.
“Without Scopa’s intervention, the reports, previously withdrawn under questionable circumstances in December 2024, would likely have remained hidden,” Majeke said.
While ANC councillor Dr Mike Basopu emphasised the need to implement the Mpac recommendations, the EFF’s Mziyanda Hlekiso said city officials were like “James Bond 007, who had a licence to kill. But with them here, it’s a licence to steal”.
UDM councillor Anele Skoti, who called for those implicated to be arrested, was reprimanded by council speaker Humphrey Maxegwana for insinuating that the BCMDA leadership was “mentally unstable” for continuing to pump money into these failed projects.
Daily Dispatch
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