Question NW957 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
08 June 2020 - NW957
Graham, Ms SJ to ask the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
(a) What progress has her Department made on the investigation into the alleged scam around quarantine sites, where repatriated South African citizens were diverted from pre-arranged hotels to government quarantine facilities by officials from her Department, (b) which hotels had been procured for the specified repatriated citizens, (c) what number of persons were diverted, (d) what was the (i) negotiated cost per person for the hotels that had been procured and (ii) cost per person for the government accommodation and (e) did her Department incur any losses as a result of this action in respect of monies paid to the hotels in advance?
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
(a) I have instituted investigations into this matter, and the Director-General for Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Adv. Sam Vukela, has appointed an investigator. The investigation is currently underway.
(b) The DPWI procured the following hotels for the repatriates on the day,
• Capital Menlyn Maine Hotel
• Radisson Blu-Gautrain Hotel
(c) The Department of Health reportedly allocated the passengers to the available rooms at the following facilities;
• Eskom (70 rooms),
• Transnet Esselen park (80 rooms) and
• Telkom (30 rooms).
(d) (i) Negotiated cost per room for the Capital Menlyn Maine Hotel is R1138.50, and for the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel is R1000.00
(ii) DPWI did not contract with public facilities.
(e) (i) The Department informed me that DPWI did not incur any losses as no monies were paid in advance to the two hotels.