EFF Provincial Secretary, Malefane Msimanga, told OFM News that MEC William Bulwane's department allegedly made a massive R180 million payment in advance to contractors who did not do the road construction work. 

Also read: Free State department accused of making shady payments

Bulwane, who previously denied this, says the department has received a number of complaints and enquiries on allegations of advanced payments to appointed contractors. Bulwane has a media briefing on Thursday to address the state of roads in the province and clear these allegations.

The reported roads that the tenders were awarded for, include Dewetsdorp, Tweeling and Jim Fouché, among others.

In one instance it is alleged the department paid R47 million upfront for the construction of the Dewetsdorp Road, another R41 million for the construction of the Reitz- and Tweeling Road, and R18 million towards the Thaba Nchu public route.

Bulwane, however, told OFM News that some of the details involving these allegations are sub judice, as the matter is currently being deliberated in the Free State High Court.

“There were five roads where we terminated their contracts. Some of the contractors who were terminated took us to court. They want to continue but we are the ones saying ‘we are defending’, because they left the site on their own. So we were left with no option because there were many accidents on those roads, particularly the Reitz/Tweeling Road. So, it was the same as Life Esidimeni - if anybody wanted to take me to court, I was going to be arrested for negligence. That’s why I said we must terminate and appoint new contractors. We are still awaiting those documents, because as far as I know I have never received anything. It’s difficult to talk about, because it’s in the hands of the court now. The matter is sub judice, and I can’t go into details, but maybe after this case I will go into the details and see if somebody has been paid upfront. If it's corruption, I must deal with it, because the Premier has entrusted me with that responsibility of making sure that I deal with corruption. So, I will deal with it once I have the information,” Bulwane said.

OFM News