Mvezo bridge official suspended

ANOTHER Eastern Cape senior government official has been suspended over the iNkosi Dalibhunga Mandela Legacy bridge development in Mvezo.

Ayanda Ngqandu, a director of rural enterprise and industrial development at the department of rural development and land reform, was suspended last week.

Documents and laptops belonging to him were seized by the department’s security personnel. His office was locked and he was escorted from the Ocean Terrace office block.

Ngqandu’s department was one of those involved in the sourcing and buying of building material for the R127-million Mvezo bridge, which included 10km of paved road leading to Chief Mandla Mandela’s home.

A source in the department told the Daily Dispatch that among other things, Ngqandu was suspended for nepotism and issues related to the paving of the Mvezo road.

“His sister-in-law is employed in the department and he sat in the panel [that interviewed her] and failed to declare that.

“He’s also involved in corruption allegations for ploughing of fields in Peelton, Cefane and Mount Frere where it was reported that certain hectares of land were ploughed, only to find that only a few hectares had been ploughed while the department paid money,” said the source.

Ngqandu could not be reached for comment at the time of writing yesterday.

However, department spokeswoman Linda Page confirmed he had been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation. “The investigation is not only targeting a single official but includes various aspects related to activities within the programme in the Eastern Cape office,” said Page.

Two months ago the Dispatch reported that the bags of cement worth an estimated R1-million were left in the open and were now damaged.

AR900 000 piece of machinery used during the road’s paving was also left neglected close by, while a generator worth about R150 000 was left in a partially fenced yard in Mvezo.

His suspension comes after another director, Dudu Nghona, was suspended and six other officials had their documents, laptops and cellphones seized in August.

The officials were from the department’s finance, supply chain management, disaster management and infrastructure directorates.

The probes follow the Dispatch’s exposé of how millions of rands were spent on the road from the N2 to Mvezo. —