Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal legislature wants newly-elected Premier Willies Mchunu to decide on the future of the multimillion-rand civil servants training academy that was canned earlier this year because of budget cuts.
“There should be a meeting with the new premier to have a discussion on the political side. There is indication that it is something he is inheriting,” standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) chairwoman, Maggie Govender, said.
Govender made the comment after Scopa learnt the Office of the Premier was forging ahead with spending R15 million on planning and design for the academy’s three phases.
The academy was planned to be built in Westville, Durban, in 2018, possibly when the finances of the province changed, or KwaZulu-Natal entered into a public-private partnership funding model.
The expenditure did not augur well, with committee members understanding the expenditure on the academy had been put on hold, and that the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) was being approached for possible funding.
They asked a flurry of questions and expressed their frustration that the project had been delayed for far too long.
The ANC’s Zwelifile Ntuli was the first to raise the alarm, and asked what had happened to using the facilities at Dokkies College in Durban, where the academy is currently housed.
Acting director-general Frikkie Brooks said they were “squatters” and were allowed to use the facilities at the Dokkies College.
Brooks also said about 7 400 public servants had attended a range of courses at the academy in the last financial year.
“We need to keep the academy alive and functioning,” he said.
Brooks explained that it was important that the aca-demy’s designs and drawings were finalised so construction could take place without delay when funding was sourced.
He also said they hoped to draw from DBSA’s technical expertise in setting up a public-private partnership (PPP) funding model for large-scale capital investments.
There has yet to be a meeting with DBSA.
“We need to complete the designs as a package into the entity (before) going to PPP. That package will go into PPP.”
Brooks also said the PPP model could take two years to be completed, subject to approval by National Treasury.
But, the ANC’s Bongi Sithole-Moloi said the “story” about the academy had been going for years, and there was talk it would only happen after two years.
“Please take this very seriously. It’s like we are here to listen to stories,” Sithole-Moloi said, before telling how the budget had previously been allocated for the project - only to go unspent.
Govender raised concerns that R15m was likely to be wasteful expenditure.
“You can’t spend R15m on planning and not have bricks on the ground,” she said.
Brooks said they noted the frustrations from the legislators. “If we had no budget cuts, there would be construction on the ground now. That is the irony,” he said.
He insisted that the planning and designs for the academy’s phases needed to be completed before the provincial government sought the green light for the PPP funding model.
Daily News