The chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Aaron Motswana, says the committee denounces the alleged indecisiveness and the lack of political will of Premier Bushy Maape, and MEC for the Department of Human Settlements (Cogstah) Lina Miga, for allegedly not preserving the assets and wealth of the former Bophuthatswana government. He alleges that the government could have lost a massive R4.9 billion - calculated for the period between 2005 and 2009 - due to the non-collection of revenue from at least 98 000 properties.

ALSO READ: North West 'loses billions in revenue collection'

Motswana has further threatened to rope in the Hawks to probe the alleged massive corruption and collusion involving its properties in other provinces, allegedly worth billions of rands.

ALSO READ: Hawks to be roped in over alleged property fraud in North West

The spokesperson of the North West Department of Human Settlements, Tsholofelo Mathibedi, told OFM News that the department cannot quantify the figures given by the committee chairperson at this stage. He says different processes have to take place to verify and quantify the figures contained in the allegations. However, the Premier’s office has yet to comment on OFM News’ inquiry.

Motswana says the money could have been lost because of illegal occupation, the unlawful and fraudulent sale of properties involving politicians, government officials, and business associates. Motswana lambasted the North West Housing Corporation for the alleged lack of proper accountability of its cross-border properties in Gauteng and the Free State.

“The assets were handed over in 1994 which include the properties within the country, and former Bophuthatswana international entities.

“If the entity is experiencing challenges with certain government entities such as the City of Tshwane, the intergovernmental relations processes should take place, such as involving the Department of Human Settlements and the Office of the Premier, so that they can engage with their counterparts in Gauteng and other provinces to resolve these long outstanding issues,” Motswana adds.

This follows after an oversight visit to assess properties in Gauteng, the Free State, and the Northern Cape, which were allegedly accumulated from the then Bophuthatswana regime led by Lucas Mangope. The Mangope regime is said to have also had properties in countries such as Israel, the United States of America and Vietnam, amongst others, where Mangope used to house what they termed governors at the time.

It’s alleged that a property in the country of Israel was built to the tune of $2.7 million and it was used to house Mangope’s governors during his regime.

“The Committee has vowed to leave no stone unturned in revealing the extent of theft and fraud committed by the lawyers, public servants and businesses. The wealth and assets of Bophuthatswana cannot be left exposed to looters and hyenas under the pretext and hypocritical principle of hating the former government. What the former government built and accrued was for the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the North West. It was not for hyenas disguised as businessmen and lawyers,” Motswana further adds.

OFM News