Durban — At least R9 million was allegedly paid by the eThekwini Municipality for private, non-functional toilets and showers at one of the city’s shelters, the DA said.
DA eThekwini finance committee whip, Councillor Mxolisi Khubisa, said they wanted clarity from City manager Musa Mbhele regarding R9m paid to a private service provider for non-functional toilets and showers at one of the city’s shelters.
He said this followed a report that revealed monthly payments of R250 000 to a service provider for the provision of 12 toilets and showers.
Furthermore, the investigative report by Ground Up also revealed that only eight showers had been installed – none of which were working or linked to the water supply.
The report further found that under the existing municipal contract, the supplier was to provide 20 toilets at two shelters in the city – Molyneux Road and Durban station. However, most of them were non-functional.
Khubisa said that notwithstanding the wasteful expenditure, according to the publication the service provider confirmed still having an active contract with eThekwini.
“The nature of the awarding of the contract has also come under the spotlight, with the contract having been awarded in terms of a National Treasury Covid-19 State of Disaster exemption in 2020. Under this provision, municipalities could award emergency contracts without having to subject them to normal tender processes,” he added.
He stressed that the contract process should have been reassessed once the Covid-19 state of disaster was lifted, as per terms of the supply chain management rules.
“This, however, did not happen, which is a violation of the Municipal Finance Management Act and supply chain management policy of the City.”
eThekwini spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said regarding the contract situation at Molyneux Road, there were six toilets and six showers, and Durban station had six toilets and six showers.
“The cost per month for each of the showers and toilets that form part of the contract for the two homeless shelters is R340.00 for each unit, depending on the number of days in each month,” Sisilana said.
She added that there were various initiatives and programmes driven by the municipality to help homeless people rebuild or transform their lives.
She added that the City had multiple programmes for the homeless, which included employment opportunities, skills development, ID applications, reunification services, and drug rehabilitation programmes.
“Currently there are 24 people who have been contracted and employed by the hospitality industry. Twenty people have been engaged as part of the public employment programme and another 30 people are receiving training through a partnership between the City and Moses Kotane Foundation. Two homeless people have been trained in cellphone repairs,” she said.
She added that the City did not have a direct mandate to deal with homelessness.
However, since cities/municipalities were at the coalface of these social ills and challenges, the City established a special purpose vehicle that was assisting in securing support for the implementation of interventions mentioned above.
“Lastly, and most importantly, the onus is on the homeless individual after receiving all the support that the municipality offers (as highlighted above) to want to live an independent life off the streets,” she said.
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