Sidewalk 'a sky-high rip-off'

Discrepancies spark suspicions of overbilling on public projects.

- Hein Kaiser

Kurhuleni DA ward councillor Simon Lapping has raised serious concerns about the city's tender process, calling for third-party forensic audits on all awarded contracts.

This follows a discrepancy in figures, sparking suspicions of overbilling on public projects.

The cost of a sidewalk paving project on Zuurfontein Road in Kempton Park raised serious red flags for him.

"After a question in council on the cost of the one kilometre stretch of paving noted it cost R12 million to build, I was shocked," said Lapping, who said he immediately investigated and consulted with construction firms to ascertain the real cost involved in laying a short piece of bricked paving.

"It came to less than R1 million, based on quotes by local companies," he said.

Wayne Bruun of Eticon Construction met The Citizen on site to quote independently on the job.

"At retail cost, the bricks can be purchased at R3.20 each, and the kerb would have cost an additional R40 000 to lay," he said.