Free State Human Settlement pays DBSA R15m to manage asbestos removal

Staff reporter

Bloemfontein – The forced transfer of Deputy Director: Payments and Authorisation from Human Settlement to Social Development after his complaint to the Public Service Commission over payments to DBSA has attracted our attention, and rightfully so, there is a cloud of smoke.

According to the letter sent to PSC by James Zuko, a 57-year-old MBA holder with 31 years of experience as a public servant Thuso Marumo, former acting CFO at Human Settlement was suspended after questioning the DBSA and Human Settlement deal, his suspension was approved by Kopung Ralikontsane, Director-General of Free State Provincial Government.

“Marumo’s suspension was subsequently lifted when Ketso Makume, MEC for Human Settlement intervened,” reads the letter sent to PSC.

Furthermore, the department uplifted suspensions of two employees Thabiso Makepe: Chief Director of: the Project Monitoring Unit, and Nozipho Berlina Molikoe: Chief Financial Officer who are implicated in the asbestos case that is currently before the court together with Ace Magashule, Edwin Sodi, and others.

They returned to their positions and signed off another asbestos project with DBSA with Makepe as committee chair and project manager.

Sources at Human Settlement say Treasury raised an alarm after Human Settlement sought advice after engaging DBSA and their response was it’s pointless to seek advice when the horse has already bolted.

Another source said even the Auditor General of South Africa referred the department to its internal audit as things were not done in accordance with regulations.

According to letters between DBSA and Human Settlement, and MOA all in our possession, DBSA was appointed on 28 September 2022, hardly 28 days after Masemene was appointed, and at that time, Mxolisi Dukwana was the MEC.

Masemene was appointed on 1 September 2022, a month after the infamous meeting in Sandton on 29 July 2022 attended by Dukwana, and Ntombela.

In weeks to come we will unpack how tender documents were sent to Jo’burg and documents got missing in the process.

An invoice dated 20 October 2023 in possession of this publication shows DBSA invoiced R75 million, R15 million of which is the initiation and management fee.

Reporting this and cases to PSC which will come back later including procurement of land for R27m made James a target.

Fortunately for James, he was just transferred unlike Babita Charl, Marumo and Colette who were killed for doing exactly what he did.

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