A preliminary investigation by law firm Cheadle, Thompson and Haysom (CTH) into the appointment of project managers on the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town has found no evidence of direct political interference or corruption.
The investigation found that at worst there was a ”lack of clarity” about the roles of various panels and committees involved in the project, as well as ”a lack of integration of all the three spheres of government”.
The report, completed in March last year and already handed to former mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo, was forwarded to mayor Helen Zille this week.
It comes after the Cape Town City Council confirmed that it would still conduct its own forensic audit of all contracts in the first phase of the N2 project, despite the announcement by the Minister of Housing, Lindiwe Sisulu, that Auditor General Shauket Fakie would in future manage the financial aspects of the scheme.
The CTH investigation was commissioned by M3 — comprising representatives of three tiers of government — last year, when rumours of corruption in the ambitious pilot project first surfaced.
”It was widespread but not forensic. We interviewed everyone involved but did not look at people’s bank accounts,” a researcher confirmed.
The initial investigation found that the appointment process ”may have been flawed” but that there was ”no conclusive evidence of direct political interference”.
It also found ”no evidence of improper behaviour by the project managers”. It adds that perceived flaws in the process may have fuelled suspicions of corruption.
The report recommends that concerns about the competency of the project managers should be dealt with via the assessment process envisaged in the request for proposals. ”The assessment should consider past performance of the project managers, the future requirements of the project and the strategic plans drafted by the project managers for driving the project to completion.”
It also identified ”possible” problems in the procurement process as a result of ”a lack of clarity as to the different roles of the technical adjudication panel, the Goods and Services Property Advisory Body and the Supply Chain Management Committee, and the lack of integration of the three spheres of government in the process”.
It found that little purpose would be served by restarting the process at this stage.