Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality has questioned the credibility of Cooperative governance and traditional affairs department (Cogta) to investigate the multimillion controversial Lesseyton Sports facility construction.
The municipality came under fire after it released a statement and photos of a shoddy R15 million sports facility. This was just before the 2021 November local government elections.
The hawks, the SIU and the office of the public protector (PP) are investigating the matter.
Cogta also appointed investigators to look into the validity of the award and the lawfulness of the procurement processes related to the award of the tender, the municipality said.
The local authority said the released preliminary report by Cogta investigators would be taken to council’s legal advisors.
“The credibility of Cogta as the investigating agent was also raised by council as a concern given the fact that Cogta was part of the construction of the project. It is important to note that the report is a desktop product,” council said.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane visited the stadium and said it didn’t even cost R1 million, News24 reported.
The statement said legal advisors will liaise with Cogta to request the finalisation of the investigation and submission of the final report and its findings.
“Council also resolved that all implicated officials will be granted an opportunity to respond to the findings and recommendations,” the municipality said.
Cogta provincial spokesperson, Mamnkeli Ngam, said the department would reserve its comment only saying they had noted the statement.
“The department wishes to reserve its comment for now, until a final report is made available in this regard,” Ngam said.
Questions sent to Cogta included if they were part of the project and what their role was.
