THE repercussions of the R246-million upgrade to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead can be felt 566km away - in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg.
Funding for the Dolomite Risk Management Programme, meant to secure foundations of government buildings in Carletonville, was diverted by the Department of Public Works, a Kaya FM investigation has found.
One such building was the SAPS complex that consisted of barracks for single officers, homes for married personnel, a massive police garage, a coroner's office and a charge office.
The Carletonville police station serves 23000 residents. The premises have been left for ruin when it was abandoned over six years ago because of safety fears.
Vandals have looted and gutted the property. Staff left when sinkholes formed.
Funds for ongoing maintenance and repairs were instead reallocated to Nkandla, and the last repairs were six years ago. The department has given no clear indication as to when they intend to continue with the repairs.
Engineering geologist Tony A'Bear said the rehabilitation of a site hit by dolomite should take no longer than a month once commissioned.
Community leader Abe Malefo said he felt Carletonville had been neglected by the government and that the abandoned police station was clear evidence of this.
"We are the most neglected area in Gauteng," he lamented.
Documents from the public protector and the department revealed inflation of budget allocations of different projects, only for it to be moved to the Nkandla project.
Officials overseeing the construction in Nkandla are nowfacing internal censure for their part in the overspending.
The public protector's report on Nkandla explained that R20-million was reallocated from the Dolomite Risk Management Projects within the Department of Public Works.
The report emphasises that dolomite projects were underfunded. More than 20% of land in Gauteng is dolomitic and poses a massive problem to construction of buildings.
Most municipalities in the province have some type of Dolomite Risk Management Programme to negate the effect of dolomite. The West Rand is particularly prone to this phenomenon because of mining activity in the area.
There are well over 1000 sinkholes in the province.
In Khutsong, also in Carletonville, over 15000 people have been moved as their homes were built on dolomitic land.
Public Works budget for Dolomite Risk Management increased from R37-million in 2005/2006 financial year to R160-million in 2010/2011. But the department makes no mention of dolomite-related projects in its annual reports or budget speeches.
The only dolomite projects that could be independently traced were SAPS upgrades to three police stations in Soweto, two in Ekurhuleni and one in Tshwane.
Soweto tenders were advertised in November of 2013.
The investigation found that R20-million was transferred from the Dolomite Risk Management Project to the Nkandla project on June 14 2010.
A further R18-million was moved from the department's capital projects on July 13 2010.
On March 7 2012, R36-million was moved to fund Nkandla and on September 12 2012, close to R40-million was moved from other projects to Nkandla.
In its submission to the public protector, Public Works stated that the Nkandla money came from savings from other capital projects within the department.
A saving is made only once a project has been completed and comes in under-budget.
A reallocation requires a budget adjustment. To achieve this, an application is made to the central budget committee of the department, with further approval from Treasury.
Neither the committee nor Treasury raised the alarm. Both have also not been held accountable for lack of monitoring.
In the meantime, the costs accumulate in Carletonville.
The department pays R157000 in rent a month for alternate premises for police offices. This has been ongoing since 2009, and it amounts to about R10-million.
DA MPs Anchen Dreyer and Hermanus Groenewald, who revealed the state of Carletonville police station in 2010, said the real culprits were senior officials on the central budget committee in Public Works and national Treasury who mis-allocated the funds.
lLance Claasen is the head of News of Talk at Kaya FM and Pitso Molemane is a senior journalist at the station.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
Nkandla 'robs' Gauteng residents - Carletonville's loss is Zuma's gain, report reveals
THE repercussions of the R246-million upgrade to President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead can be felt 566km away - in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg.
Funding for the Dolomite Risk Management Programme, meant to secure foundations of government buildings in Carletonville, was diverted by the Department of Public Works, a Kaya FM investigation has found.
One such building was the SAPS complex that consisted of barracks for single officers, homes for married personnel, a massive police garage, a coroner's office and a charge office.
The Carletonville police station serves 23000 residents. The premises have been left for ruin when it was abandoned over six years ago because of safety fears.
Vandals have looted and gutted the property. Staff left when sinkholes formed.
Funds for ongoing maintenance and repairs were instead reallocated to Nkandla, and the last repairs were six years ago. The department has given no clear indication as to when they intend to continue with the repairs.
Engineering geologist Tony A'Bear said the rehabilitation of a site hit by dolomite should take no longer than a month once commissioned.
Community leader Abe Malefo said he felt Carletonville had been neglected by the government and that the abandoned police station was clear evidence of this.
"We are the most neglected area in Gauteng," he lamented.
Documents from the public protector and the department revealed inflation of budget allocations of different projects, only for it to be moved to the Nkandla project.
Officials overseeing the construction in Nkandla are nowfacing internal censure for their part in the overspending.
The public protector's report on Nkandla explained that R20-million was reallocated from the Dolomite Risk Management Projects within the Department of Public Works.
The report emphasises that dolomite projects were underfunded. More than 20% of land in Gauteng is dolomitic and poses a massive problem to construction of buildings.
Most municipalities in the province have some type of Dolomite Risk Management Programme to negate the effect of dolomite. The West Rand is particularly prone to this phenomenon because of mining activity in the area.
There are well over 1000 sinkholes in the province.
In Khutsong, also in Carletonville, over 15000 people have been moved as their homes were built on dolomitic land.
Public Works budget for Dolomite Risk Management increased from R37-million in 2005/2006 financial year to R160-million in 2010/2011. But the department makes no mention of dolomite-related projects in its annual reports or budget speeches.
The only dolomite projects that could be independently traced were SAPS upgrades to three police stations in Soweto, two in Ekurhuleni and one in Tshwane.
Soweto tenders were advertised in November of 2013.
The investigation found that R20-million was transferred from the Dolomite Risk Management Project to the Nkandla project on June 14 2010.
A further R18-million was moved from the department's capital projects on July 13 2010.
On March 7 2012, R36-million was moved to fund Nkandla and on September 12 2012, close to R40-million was moved from other projects to Nkandla.
In its submission to the public protector, Public Works stated that the Nkandla money came from savings from other capital projects within the department.
A saving is made only once a project has been completed and comes in under-budget.
A reallocation requires a budget adjustment. To achieve this, an application is made to the central budget committee of the department, with further approval from Treasury.
Neither the committee nor Treasury raised the alarm. Both have also not been held accountable for lack of monitoring.
In the meantime, the costs accumulate in Carletonville.
The department pays R157000 in rent a month for alternate premises for police offices. This has been ongoing since 2009, and it amounts to about R10-million.
DA MPs Anchen Dreyer and Hermanus Groenewald, who revealed the state of Carletonville police station in 2010, said the real culprits were senior officials on the central budget committee in Public Works and national Treasury who mis-allocated the funds.
lLance Claasen is the head of News of Talk at Kaya FM and Pitso Molemane is a senior journalist at the station.
For more stories like this one, be sure to buy the Sowetan newspaper from Mondays to Fridays
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