Public works wasted R35bn in five years

Johannesburg - The public works department has lost almost R35bn to wrongful and wasteful construction or leasing of state buildings in the last five years, The Star reported on Monday.

The R34.98bn losses were uncovered during the department's review of around 1.3 million transactions of the Property Management Trading Entity dating back to 2009.

The losses were revealed in a confidential report that The Star reported it had seen.

The losses were ... "a result of supply-chain management processes not adhered to".

It revealed however, that there was a steady decrease in the losses of public funds in the last five years.

Around R22bn was lost in the 2009/10 financial year, R4.9bn was lost in 2010/11 while R3.8bn was lost in the 2011/12 period.

The figure was R3.1bn in 2012/13 and R600m in the last year.

Around R1.1bn was lost to fraudulent activities.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi was expected to reveal the details at a media briefing on Monday while the report would be released to the public once it was presented to parliament on Tuesday.