…as Law and Public Safety Cluster grills ministry over corruption, poor performance
Moroke Sekoboto
THE Ministry of Local Government, Home Affairs, Police and Chieftainship has come under sharp scrutiny after approving an additional M87 million for road and bus terminal projects in Berea.
The extra allocation comprises M70 million for the Berea Bypass and a M17 million cost variation for the Berea Bus Terminal.
Parliament had initially approved M123 million for urban road construction and rehabilitation. However, the ministry this month authorised the reallocation of an additional M70 million—without parliamentary approval—bringing the total urban roads budget to M193 million. It is not clear what the M70 million was initially intended for.
In addition, the ministry approved a M17 million variation for the Berea bus terminal project. The variation exceeds the legally permitted 15 percent threshold by a wide margin, standing at 52 percent.
Appearing before the Law and Public Safety Cluster on Friday, the Director of Planning in the Department of Local Government and Chieftainship, Malehano Letlema, said there had been no supplementary budget in the first and second quarters of the financial year.
She explained that the M17 million variation arose in the third quarter due to a misunderstanding between the ministry and the contractor.
Ms Letlema said the confusion stemmed from how project costs were interpreted during budgeting. She explained that while the ministry contracts on a lump-sum basis, the contractor submitted rates instead of total costs, which the ministry mistakenly interpreted as final project costs during the tender process.
“This misunderstanding resulted in the project requiring a variation,” she said.
On the Berea Bypass, Ms Letlema said the ministry had been compelled to reallocate funds after identifying severe traffic congestion in the district.
“Urban roads were initially allocated M123 million, covering projects such as road construction in Berea and the rehabilitation of Mpilo Boulevard. In the third quarter, we realised that congestion in Berea required urgent intervention. As a result, M70 million was reallocated and released in February (this month) from the contingency fund to construct the Berea Bypass.”
She added that the bypass project was deemed urgent due to its anticipated impact on easing traffic congestion in the district.
However, members of the committee were unconvinced.
Member of the Committee, Dr Mahali Phamotse, described the variation as “pure corruption” and questioned how such large sums could arise from what was described as a misunderstanding. She said there was widespread public concern about nepotism in the awarding of bus terminal tenders, adding that the latest revelations only deepened suspicion.
“This variation is unnecessarily huge and raises serious questions about the tendering process and those responsible for awarding contracts.
“There is a public outcry over bus terminal tenders, and people believe there is nepotism involved. The release of M17 million and M70 million from the contingency fund due to a so-called misunderstanding raises eyebrows,” Dr Phamotse said.
She demanded accountability from officials involved in approving the variation.
“Those who signed off on this M17 million must account. Do officials involved in procurement even have the expertise required? It appears documents are signed without proper understanding,” she said.
Another Committee member, Teboho Malataliana, also lambasted ministry officials, criticising the quality of documents presented to the cluster. He further expressed concern over poor service delivery, noting that the ministry had utilised less than 15 percent of its budget for community development.
Responding to the criticism, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mpopo Tšoele, conceded that there was a need to strengthen accountability and procurement processes.
“I have been in office for just a month, and I was presented with tender documents to sign. I hesitated and consulted the legal department because I do not have expertise in construction matters.
“I believe my predecessors may have signed documents without fully understanding them, which led to these problems. Going forward, I am committed to fixing this and strengthening our procurement systems,” Mr Tšoele said.