In August last year, the premier of Limpopo, Stan Mathabatha, was photographed cutting a ribbon during a small ceremony to officially hand over tin structures to families in Talana, Tzaneen.
The structures were billed as the government's intervention to address accommodation needs heightened by the demand for social distancing during the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
Notwithstanding the need for basic housing, it was evident from day one that this project was not the most prudent use of taxpayers' money. The structures came with no ablution facilities and were placed on bricks.
With a price tag of R64,000 per unit, amounting to R2.4m for the project, it soon became clear that this was a waste of public money at best. At worst it was a product of corrupt deals.
Those involved in the project claimed that the hefty price tag was because the material used was supposedly durable and able to last for up to 20 years.
Of course, nothing was further from the truth.
Yet government leaders, including human settlements minister Lindiwe Sisulu, refused to take responsibility for this embarrassment of a project.
Some berated this newspaper for calling the units what they actually are – overpriced shacks that fall short of the standard of decency the government should afford people.
Today, a year later, we report that these shacks are falling apart. No surprises here.
At least eight of them have sunk into the ground while five others have shaky wooden floors and dozens have leaking roofs.
The good news is that the Special Investigating Unit, which investigated the contract, found that the tender was obtained fraudulently. They found that the service provider, Aventino Group, had allegedly made misrepresentations and forged unrelated documents to win the bid.
Company director Happy Mohlala and those involved have been charged with fraud, money-laundering and forgery.
Based on the overwhelming evidence in the public domain, we hope that they will be held accountable for their crimes.
The bad news is that, like any other act of corruption, this saga is not victimless.
On the receiving end of this sham are families who live in conditions of poverty and who are let down repeatedly by a government that is mandated to improve their lives.
They certainly deserve much better than the shoddy hand they have been dealt so far.
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