Durban — The Department of Arts and Culture has failed to provide clarity on whether it is investigating the alleged missing library magazines valued at R7.8 million.
According to the DA’s KZN spokesperson for arts and culture, Bradley Singh, magazines purchased by the department had not been delivered to the KwaZulu-Natal libraries.
Singh said the department failed to provide reasonable explanations for the purchase and the non-delivery of magazines or how the tender was awarded to a company that was not a magazine supplier.
Singh said he could not get answers from former Arts and Culture MEC Hlengiwe Mavimbela. He has now appealed to the new MEC, Amanda-Bani Mapena, to look into the matter.
Singh further alleged that the documents confirming payments to the company in question revealed that its address was that of a residential flat and not a business capable of manufacturing and supplying magazines worth millions. The same company is alleged to have supplied plant seeds to KZN’s Department of Agriculture.
“According to the Central Suppliers Database, the company is also not a VAT vendor despite an annual turnover of more than R10m. It is compulsory for a business to register for VAT if the total value of taxable supplies made in any 12 consecutive months exceeds R1m. This means that the company is not tax compliant and should have been disqualified from the tender process,” Singh said.
He said the province and the country had become riddled with tender fraud, yet nothing was done about it.
He said the party believed there was more than enough evidence to warrant an investigation on why payments were made before the magazines could even have been delivered.
Singh called for the matter to be resolved before it was forgotten and more corrupt people went unpunished.
Daily News