THURSDAY, 10.30AM
MPUMALANGA Premier Mathews Phosa has reacted swiftly to auditor-general Henri Kluever’s call for a commission of inqiry into the Motheo Rural Housing Scheme, announcing on Wednesday the appointment of a commission to be chaired by Deloitte & Touche MD Hugh Dreyer.
Dreyer will assemble a team to investigate any possible misrepresentation made during the award of the R198-million Motheo contract, and to conduct a forensic audit of payments made to Motheo. The commission will also examine “the contrived nature of the agreement with Motheo Construction”.
Said Phosa: “In addition to making findings on possible undue processes in the appointment of Motheo, I would also like to request the commission to … carefully examine our management practices during this process and come up with … specific proposals to improve them.”
However, Phosa specifically excluded from the probe’s ambit any issues affecting the national housing department. Kluever’s call for an inquiry asked that Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi Mahanyele’s relationship with the head of Motheo also be probed.
Meanhwile, former Housing Director-General Billy Cobbett has reiterated that he was fired after recommending that the Motheo project be examined by the auditor-general. Mthembi-Mahanyele has consistently denied firing Cobbett, maintaining he resigned of his own accord.