Government department paid R28 million for 90 pothole repair machines but did not fix a single pothole five years later

The Department of Defence and Military Veterans bought 90 machines for R28 million in 2021 to fix potholes. Five years later, not a single pothole has been fixed.

This was revealed by the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Angie Motshekga, in a Parliamentary question-and-answer session.

Member of Parliament Carl Niehaus asked for details on the ineffective and unproductive use of pothole machines, also known as rollers or compactors.

He said that the department used a large amount of public money to buy these machines to benefit military veterans and improve service delivery.

Motshekga responded, revealing that the procurement value for the 90 roller drum machines was R27.796 million.

Despite spending millions, the pothole repair project has not been implemented since the 90 roller machines were procured in 2021.

“This is because there is no visible project implementation plan that would have informed the procurement process,” she said.

“As per the departmental records, no funds were budgeted or spent by the department on training related to repairs of potholes.”

The department has since referred the matter to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) for proper investigation and recovery of funds.

“The relationship between the department and the SIU is regularised by a Secondment Agreement between the two parties,” she said.

“Since the matter is still under investigation, these machines are regarded as evidence and, therefore, cannot be used without authorisation by the investigators.”

As part of his question, Niehaus alleged that the pothole machines were illegally rented out to other parties.

He added that certain individuals within the Department of Defence and Military Veterans enriched themselves through such processes.

Motshekga responded that she was not aware of anyone using the department’s roller drum machines.

“If you are aware of such officials renting out the machines for their own benefit, I will be very pleased to receive such information,” she said.

“During the recent asset verification and inspection, the Department’s Internal Asset Management Unit reported that machines are intact and under safe storage.”