The DemocraticAlliance wants the Finance Minister, Malusi Gigaba, to assure Parliament and the public that two mega-contracts between government and Chinese parastatals will not go ahead without the procurement laws being adhered to.
DA MP, AlfLees, was reacting to media reports on Sunday that the Water and SanitationDepartment as well as the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) were in the process of handing contracts worth R70 billion to Chinese parastatals without a public tender or permission from Treasury to bypass tender laws.
“Minister Gigaba must urgently account for Treasury’s alleged planned deviation in the competitive tendering process and make an assurance that due procedure will be followed before handing over these R70 billion contacts to Chinese companies without the proper tendering process,” Lees said in a statement.
“The last thing that South Africa can afford right now is another corrupt multi-billion-rand inter governmental tender deal,” he said.
Earlier this year the Western Cape High Court ruled that the process leading to government signing agreements with Russia for a nuclear contract was “flawed, unconstitutional and not in line with sound decision making”.
“The DA will not allow an attempt at grand corruption of this sort to transpire again and we will use all available avenues to challenge the lack of due process in these deals,” said Lees.
