R54 million down the swimming pool in the halted Olympic project

Staff reporter

Bloemfontein – The Member of Executive Council for Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation in Free State, Zanele Sefuba has confirmed her department paid R54 million in the halted National Training and Olympic Preparatory Centre (NTC) project.

The project which was earmarked for development in Bloemfontein and launched by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), in partnership with the Free State Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation, (SACR) and Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM) in August 2013 was dead on arrival.

Details of what transpired to the project were revealed in the Internal Question Paper (IQP) after Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL, W Pretorius asked Sefuba about the current status of the project.

In response Sefuba said.

“The project has been halted pending decision of the national Department of Sport, Arts and Culture and other provincial departments responsible for sport.”

Pretorius asked about funding allocation and a breakdown of expenditure.

“Amount paid was R 54, 260,000 – the amount was paid by SACR as transfer payment to the Free State Sport Confederation,” Sefuba said.

Below is a list of companies that were paid and their categories:

Despite monies paid, there is nothing to show.

Zanele Sefuba, MEC for SACR didn’t respond to our questions.

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