Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Reveal Nkandla contracts: IFP

Confidential Nkandla agreements between Bonelela Construction Enterprises and the department of public works must be disclosed, the IFP said on Monday.

"Millions of rands worth of tenders were awarded to Bonelela Construction Enterprise in the recent upgrade of President [Jacob] Zuma's homestead in Nkandla," Inkatha Freedom Party MP Petros Sithole said in a statement.

"It is alleged that Bonelela Construction Enterprise sub-contracted to Zuma family members, who undertook many work projects at the private homestead."

The Sunday Times reported that court documents filed in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg spelled out an abandoned liquidation dispute between a contractor which was hired for the state-funded project and sub-contracted creditors, which were owed more than R5 million.

Thandeka Nene, the sole director of Bonelela Construction Enterprise and Projects, reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement in February with 23 creditors who provided services for the project at Nkandla.

According to the report, the documents showed that more than 34 villagers in Nkandla, some of them close relatives of the president, were hired and paid about R75 a day by Nene.

Zuma's spokesman Mac Maharaj declined to comment and referred all questions to the department, the newspaper reported.

The public works department reportedly said Minister Thulas Nxesi was on public record as saying that issues pertaining to Nkandla were under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit.

Sithole said awarding tenders to Bonelela had to be investigated to see if proper processes were followed.

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