Given the sheer scale and frequency of corruption in South Africa, it takes a monumental blunder to catch the public’s attention.

It’s easy to gloss over numbers that range well into the millions, but there is something about the R37 million border fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe that has struck a nerve.

Perhaps it has something to do with an increased interest in securing our borders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille has come under fire for sanctioning the spend, which equates to roughly R1 million per kilometre.

Video footage shot back in April showed how easily people were crossing through the fence at Beitbridge, and now Carte Blanche has gone for a closer look:

As the lockdown of national borders was meant to curb the movement of people and spread of COVID-19, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure awarded a tender worth R37 million in emergency procurement processes to fix the notoriously porous border fence between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Not only has Parliament’s public accounts watchdog SCOPA cried foul and launched an investigation, it seems the revamped fence is not serving its purpose and being vandalised as fast as it was built.

Critics have called it “a vanity project that serves no intent”, and others have questioned if the contract was awarded fairly.

I guess it’s time for inquiries, and then inquiries into the inquiries, before nobody ends up being held accountable.

Here’s the Carte Blanche segment from this past Sunday:

[source:carteblanche]