When you visit the Villages of Magwala, Wodehouse, and Isikhoba in Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape you will be met by the strangest sight.
In May 2021, odd-looking concrete panels were willy-nilly dumped at various sites, without explanation or further work, and left in the weather and wind.
Some panels were even broken and since they were left unattended and seemed to serve no purpose, members of the communities have appropriated them.
These are in fact prefabricated toilets and the United Democratic Movement (UDM) has been reliably informed that they were manufactured in Queenstown by Izwelethu Cemforce which is owned by Mr Wicus Diedericks who is based in Kimberley.
Community leaders alleged that they have not signed acceptance of these panels and that their signatures have been forged on the delivery notes.
There are serious allegations that Izwelethu Cemforce has been awarded a contract to supply these, now wasted, prefabricated toilets to the Chris Hani District Municipality, after African National Congress (ANC) councillors spent time hunting on Mr Diedericks’s farm, as evidenced by these photos.
In particular, the ANC Chris Hani Regional Secretary Mr Lusanda Sizani (pictured right) was photographed with a dead wildebeest.
There are rumours that the Chris Hani District Municipality paid R20 million to Izwelethu Cemforce in June 2021, but it is unclear what exactly the payment was for.
The Chris Hani District Municipality has a lot of explaining to do, e.g. why have these panels been lying idle since May and no toilets have been constructed for these communities as part of the municipality’s sanitation projects?
Lastly, the UDM calls on the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation to investigate this entire matter. The Hawks must assure the public that the tender process was above board.
Issued by Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP
President of the United Democratic Movement
