The Democratic Alliance (DA) is probing contracts awarded for maintenance and development at the multi-million rand Upington Industrial Park. This comes after repair work to a road that was completed on 15 October, only lasted a month before once again pulling up and affecting accessibility to the park.
In August this year, the DA flagged the critical state of the Industrial Park’s road that had pulled up at the entrance due to it not being properly compacted. It is concerning that the exact same situation has repeated itself, resulting in further fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
This is not our only concern at the industrial park. We previously also highlighted broken lighting, theft at the guard house, the broken gate and boom, and the erection of a useless stormwater canal that runs uphill.
Despite appealing to the MEC of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Venus Blennies-Magage, to schedule an urgent stakeholder meeting, to address our concerns, all we see is ongoing questionable contracts that are draining the park of any real opportunity to effectively stimulate the ailing local economy.
The industrial park has to date cost government at least R50 million, with a further R200 million in the pipeline. This money cannot be allowed to be wasted on crony contracts, ultimately robbing Northern Cape residents of jobs.
The DA will refer our concerns to our counterparts at the provincial legislature, to probe through committees. We will also demand transparency from the Northern Cape Economic Development, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (NCEDA), in relation to how funds have been, and will be allocated.
Businesses who were co-opted into the park with empty promises and a critical lack of communication and basic courtesy by NCEDA, deserve for the park to be efficiently and effectively managed. This is necessary to prioritise investment, job creation, service delivery and inclusive growth for all residents of the Northern Cape.