Minister of public works and infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, on Friday confirmed that her office had used its first right of refusal and purchased the Lindela Repatriation Centre property.
The property had been bought by another company during an auction of the Bosasa assets two weeks ago. Before the bidding, the auctioneer had explained that first right of refusal had been given to the department of public works. This meant that despite the property going under the hammer, the department had been given 14 days to decide if it wanted to purchase the property instead.
The Krugersdorp property, which houses undocumented migrants pending their deportation, was highly contested during the bidding and was finally auctioned for R60m as part of the assets belonging to the now liquidated African Global Operations, formerly known as Bosasa.
“In terms of the right of first refusal, the liquidators invited the government to match the price of R60m. The DPWI has matched this offer and is in the process of finalising the acquisition of the property at a price of R60m,” De Lille said in a statement.