The Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng has launched a petition urging the Gauteng Provincial Government to whereabouts of the more than R24 million allocated for the building of the Palm Springs Multi-purpose Centre in Emfuleni. Emfuleni residents have been eagerly awaiting this much-needed centre to nurture local talent in different sporting codes and through sport build positive role models who will contribute positively to society. As it stands, this centre may never arrive.
This comes after an oversight inspection led by Kingsol Chabalala, the DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture, and Recreation (SACR), to the area designated for the multipurpose centre. “During my visit to the site, I made a concerning discovery: not a single brick has been laid despite millions having been spent on this project,” said Chabalala.
See the video here.
This is shocking considering that in 2020, the then Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile, informed the DA through a written reply that phase one of the project had been completed. According to Maile, this phase included the construction of various layers of earth materials and the installation of stormwater drainage systems. It cost R24 199 592.22, more than half the total project cost
DA MPL Kingsol Chabalala said, “It is completely unacceptable that the Gauteng government continues to make false claims about the construction of this community centre that does not exist. This dishonesty is particularly disgraceful as it misleads the public and undermines the trust and support of the community.”
The project was originally scheduled for completion on 15 June 2018. However, there is currently no timeline for when construction will begin or when it will be finished. The Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) is experiencing a significant funding shortfall, and the project will be financed through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG), but only after approval from COGTA has been obtained.
Unnecessary delays in completing this project have resulted in soaring costs that taxpayers are expected to cover. By 2020, R82 039 449.50 had already accumulated. This amount could have been used to build two multi-purpose centres for townships in Emfuleni, such as Evaton and Bophelong, which currently lack sporting facilities.
The DA Gauteng will table questions to the MEC for COGTA, Jacob Mamabolo, in addition to launching a petition demanding answers to the following questions:
Where has the money gone, as it has not been used for the construction of the multipurpose centre?
Why did former MEC Maile lie about phase one of this project?
What is the current cost accumulated by the delays in this project?
Why has COGTA not intervened to persuade Emfuleni to use the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (IMG) for this project?
Why has the Gauteng government failed to give updates on this project?
The petition will be run on social media and can be found here.