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Gauteng Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa.
Gauteng Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, has sent a clear message of zero tolerance for the abuse of public funds.
Yesterday, Ramokgopa announced the launch of an internal investigation into the R36-million fresh produce project.
The aim was to set up 16 container stores in townships and give small-scale entrepreneurs vital market access.
However, six months after its launch, the project has no stated deliverables.
It’s reported that the Gauteng government has already spent R28-million of the allocated budget.
Ramokgopa says they acted swiftly when the noticed irregularities.
“These containers at the current pricing they come in at an average of R1.75-million per container, which is just absolutely obscene. And as soon as we discovered this, my first call was to suspend the project, send correspondence to national government and actually request a deviation of any further funding from this project whilst we reassess it. It is an absolute gross abuse of public funds. The pricing does not correlate with market pricing for similar structures, and this is something that is truly endemic unfortunately within government and within the public sector.”
MEC @VuyiswaRamokgop Launches Internal Investigation on R36 Million Farmyard Township Retail Project #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/BITW0ekMJS
— GP_AgricRuralEnviro (@OfficialGDARD) November 17, 2024
