Johannesburg - Government has pulled the plug on the R300-million cultural precinct near Enyokeni Palace of the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini in Nongoma, Northern KwaZulu-Natal .
A month after he suspended a top official, Arts and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa has stopped construction and ordered an investigation into the entire project.
The Sunday Independent has established that Mthethwa has ordered a forensic investigation into the department which will probe, among others, issues around the authorisation and budgeting for the cultural precinct.
The precinct, along with the Nwamitwa cultural precinct in Limpopo, appears to be among the reasons for the suspension of Sibusile Xaba, Arts and Culture director-general.
Mthethwa suspended Xaba last month, citing the outcomes of auditor-general Kimi Makwetu’s audit report into the department, which showed increasing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the department year on year since Xaba was appointed.
While this played a significant part in the decision to suspend Xaba, contents of a confidential document appear to have made up the minister’s mind on irregularities in the R300 million project.
The Sunday Independent is in possession of a legal opinion and terms of reference for the probe, prepared for Mthethwa, which questions all issues around the construction.
The legal opinion was sent on September 3 this year, about 30 days before Mthethwa suspended Xaba.
Xaba confirmed yesterday that Enyokeni was one of the reasons he was given for his suspension, but said no details had been given.
“I can confirm that it (Enyokeni) was one of the reasons given for my suspension, but there were no details about what exactly was wrong about Enyokeni.
“But I can also confirm that the auditor-general did not raise issues about Enyokeni and it was not part of the irregular expenditure that he mentioned,” said Xaba.
He said before he was suspended, construction was continuing on site but he would not know the status of the project since he had not been at work since his suspension.
Independent Newspapers first reported earlier this year that the precinct, which is set to be centred on the Reed Dance annually hosted by Zwelithini in September, had a reserve budget of R300m from the department.
The Reed Dance, which is attended by girls from all across the country, includes virginity testing and has become one of the flagship cultural activities in the province.
The plan was apparently that the precinct, to be located around Zwelithini’s palace, would eventually become an economic hub, surrounded by hotels, restaurants and bed and breakfasts.
The first phase of the project would include the construction of ablution facilities for about 30 000 maidens who attend the festival yearly, a grass platform, a concrete surface with portable covers for protection from the weather as well as portable showers.
A new footpath from the arrival point to the royal square would also be completed and a VIP area for 2 000 guests would be erected as part of the construction. While a budget of R200m had initially been allocated for the project, it is believed to have escalated to R300m, raising the ire of some opposition parties, with the DA describing the budget as “ridiculous”.
While the department has maintained the precinct was its brainchild, Independent Newspapers has previously quoted Zwelithini’s spokesman as saying he had requested the development.
Earlier this year, Zwelithini came out guns blazing at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature, saying the questions around the R300m expenditure on the precinct were an insult to the Zulu people.
According to the legal opinion handed to Mthethwa, the department had committed itself to building the precincts but there appeared to be no formal process to handle the project.
The legal opinion recommended a forensic probe which would look at, among others, the approval process for the project as required by the Public Finance and Management Act.
Other points raised regarding the project include the issue of the ownership of the land on which the precinct was being built.
Also in question was the amount spent so far, and whether any funds have been transferred from other projects.
The terms of reference for the probe will also include the increase in irregular expenditure in the department from 2009/10.
According to the document, the irregular expenditure increased from about R3.5 million in the 2010/11 financial year, when Xaba was appointed by then-arts and culture minister Paul Mashatile, to more than R95m by the 2012/13 financial year.
More than R74m of this had resulted from the awarding of the contract to a supplier who, it was found, had not scored the highest points during the selection process.
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure increased from R743 000 in the 2010/2011 financial year to R3.2m by the 2013/2014 financial year.
Arts and culture spokesman Sandile Memela confirmed yesterday that an investigation was under way, but would not specifically confirm issues around Enyokeni.
The royal family referred questions to the Department of Arts and Culture.
Sunday Independent