Civil rights organisation AfriForum held a meeting with the Department of Public Works regarding Manaka Property Investments, a company of which Limpopo’s premier, Cassel Mathale, and the chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on finances, Thaba Mufamadi, are directors.
The meeting came after AfriForum had received information that Manaka Property Investments was allegedly selected as the preferred bidder for three lease agreements for government institutions in Pretoria. These institutions are Statistics South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Water Affairs.
According to Tiaan Esterhuizen, AfriForum’s organiser in Gauteng, AfriForum wants to determine whether or not the correct tender procedure was followed in respect of the leasing of the buildings in question.
During the meeting, AfriForum requested access to the documents and reports of the various committees which had dealt with the authorisation of the tenders. The civil rights group has given the Department of Public Works until the end of September to provide the documents.
‘Should Public Works not meet our request or should we come across any irregularities in the reports, we will consider taking legal action,’ says Esterhuizen.
