DA Councillor and Papa Penny Slam R10.4 Million White Elephant Project in the North West, SA Fuming

• A member of the Democratic Alliance in the North West posted a video of a visit he made to a white elephant
• He visited a multipurpose recreational centre which was supposed to be completed in eight years
• The project reportedly cost the state R10.4 million, and South Africans were furious at the wasteful expenditure

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, has covered policy changes, cabinet reshuffles, the State of the Nation Address, Parliament and Parliamentary committees, politician-related news and elections at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News for over seven years.

NORTH WEST — Democratic Alliance (DA) Member of Parliament, Liam Jacobs, slammed a recreational centre in the North West which cost the state over R10 million to construct but was never completed. Papa Penny, who joined the MK Party, also condemned the building.

What happened to the R10.4 million project?

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Jacobs posted a video of his visit to the recreational centre in the North West on his Liam Jacobs Facebook page. The visit was part of an oversight visit the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts, and Culture conducted. Papa Penny, who was sworn in as an MK Party member, was present during the oversight visit. In the video, he laments the terrible condition of the recreational centre, which he displays. The project was pegged to be completed in eight years, but it was not.

The roof of the building was made partly of steel and partly of wood. The floors had mud patches, the walls were incompletely built, and some parts of the building were decaying. Jacobs also noted that thieves stole some of the roof's steel beams. The window frame had no windows, and there were doors attached to the door frames.

Watch the Facebook video here:

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Papa Penny and Jacobs slammed the poor structure and condemned it. Papa Penny did not reserve his comments.

"This is a building for cows and not for people," Papa Penny said.

South Africans livid

South Africans commenting on his Facebook post were heartbroken and furious.

Suemeney Trollip said:

"This is heart-wrenching. Makes absolutely no sense."

Kabelo Puoeng said:

"I think giving the names of all contractors and the municipality will put more shame."

Teresa Harry said:

"South Africa is a beautiful country that is being destroyed by the corrupt government. Politicians are lining their pockets and not caring about the country."

Joey Mokoena said:

"Just intensify your audit. You will discover that there are many such structures in the country."

Muvuledzi Omega Mudimeli said:

"Problem is that these tender guys don't get arrested also, it feels pointless."

Buti Modise said:

"And the government will never provide names and owners of contractors responsible. We will hear the same bull that they are still investigating."

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Lourens Du Plessis said:

"Just like everything they did, always a failure, snd the things that are perfect will be destroyed."

Johannesburg Civic Centre needs R1 billion to be refurbished

In a related article, Briefly News reported that the Johannesburg Civic Centre needs R1 billion to be refurbished after it had been left abandoned since 2023.

The building has been abandoned since a fire broke out, and most of the staff members of the City of Johannesburg now work from home. South Africans were stunned by the neglect and the money needed to refurbish the building.

Source: Briefly News