Durban - Durban businessman Jay Singh wants Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to apologise for claiming that the ill-fated Tongaat mall was partially financed by her department.
"I can categorically state that the Tongaat mall was never partly funded by the human settlements department as stated by minister Lindiwe Sisulu in an interview with the media recently," Singh's spokesman Mervyn Reddy said in a statement on Thursday.
Singh is chief executive of Gralio Precast (Pty) Ltd, which was building the mall when a portion of it collapsed on Tuesday November 19, 2013, killing two people and injuring 29.
In comments that were recorded, Sisulu told a media conference in Durban on Tuesday: “The tragedy about that building is that it was partly funded by myself.”
The Department of Human Settlements confirmed on Wednesday that a company linked to Singh was being investigated.
“The investigation seeks to establish whether funds meant for social housing projects were diverted to the construction of the mall,” department spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mahaya, said.
And Sisulu said she was “keenly waiting” for the outcome of the investigation, and repeated that “part of the funding did come from Human Settlements”.
The Daily News has double-checked the minister’s comments and she confirmed that she was referring to the Tongaat Mall.
Sisulu promised to call another press conference when the findings were known.
However, lawyers for Singh said on Wednesday the development was privately funded.
Sisulu’s assertion also contrasts with the evidence given by Singh’s son, Ravi Jagadasan - director of the developer, Rectangle Property Investment - who testified in July at the ongoing Department of Labour commission of inquiry into the collapse, that the mall was privately funded.
The Daily News sent several questions to the Department of Labour, but no response was received at the time of publication.
However, sources said that the department knew nothing about the human settlements department having partially financed the mall.
If correct, the department should have been part of the commission of inquiry as it could be partially accountable.
Mahaya said the Human Settlements department was investigating all the companies that had received funding for projects from the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) across the country.
SHRA, which falls under the department, regulates affordable rental homes. All the parties being investigated were aware of the probe, which had been going on for several months, Mahaya said.
He did not know when it would be concluded, he said, adding that the department’s chief executive had been suspended in December pending the outcome of the investigation into contracts awarded to various companies.
It has previously been reported that Woodglaze Trading, which is linked to Singh, had received more than R300m from SHRA for the Moko rental housing project in Phoenix.
Asked why Sisulu had stated as a matter of fact that she had partially funded the Tongaat mall, Mahaya said: “The minister, being a minister, must have had access to documents or draft reports on the investigation, so maybe that’s how she got to the conclusion that the department had partially funded the mall.”
Daily News and Sapa