POLL | Do you think the Lesseyton ‘sports facility’ is worth R15m?

The debate about whether the “sports facility” recently unveiled by the Enoch Mgijima local municipality in the Eastern Cape really cost R15m to construct rages on, as politicians and civil society demand answers. 

The ANC-run municipality came under fire this week after it posted pictures of the sporting facility online, sparking accusations of cheap politicking and outrage over the facility, which many deemed incomplete and not worth the reported R15m price tag.

The municipality has since removed the original post but sought to set the record straight about how the money was spent.

“The Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality is aware of concerns from members of the public on social media about the Lesseyton sports facility constructed near Komani. The municipality regrets the manner in which the initial post was shared, where minimal detail was provided,” it said in a statement.

The municipality said the project scope entailed electrical installation, enviromental tests, palisade fencing, construction of a  guardhouse, changing rooms and steel grandstands, among other things.

The images initially shared by the municipalities showed officials cutting the ribbon to signal the launch of the facility, with community members seated on the steel grandstands in the background. 

The EFF announced on Wednesday that it was laying criminal charges against the municipality.

The red berets said the facility was basic and did not justify the price tag attached to it. It alleged that there were “obvious signs” of money laundering and corruption.

One SA Movement chief activist Mmusi Maimane is one of the biggest critics of the project. On Tuesday he described the “multimillion-rand” project as a “new low” for the allegedly corrupt ANC.