On Tuesday, Special Tribunal judge Lebogang Modiba ruled that the two companies — Caledone River Properties and Profteam — which were awarded the tender to build the fence cannot enjoy profits that they gained from the R40m contract.
Kaizer Kganyago, spokesperson of the SIU, said the judgment sends a strong message to those involved in maleficence. “It means a lot for us because it shows that this thing we talk about of consequence management. When people feel that when they do things wrong, they then suffer the consequences. Now they have done the work but they will not enjoy the profits of the work they did,” Kganyago said.
Caledone River Properties and Profteam were awarded a R40m contract in the beginning of the hard lockdown in 2020 to build a 40km fence along the SA and the Zimbabwe Beitbridge Border Post to secure borders during the pandemic. Soon after the companies constructed the fence, it started to fall apart, prompting the SIU to investigate the awarding of the contract.