Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo defined his estimate as ‘horribly wrong’ because his department said in a statement the figure stood at 400 and 600 houses.
A screenshot of Mosebenzi Zwane appearing before the state capture commission on Friday, 25 September 2020. Picture: SABCNews/Youtube
JOHANNESBURG – Former Free State human settlements MEC Mosebenzi Zwane on Friday said he still did not know how many houses were built during his tenure, but he personally handed over 50 houses.
Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo defined his estimate as “horribly wrong” because his department said in a statement the figure stood at 400 and 600 houses.
Zwane distanced himself from that statement while testifying before the state capture commission. He has been implicated in masterminding a scheme to take R1 billion intended for low-cost housing.
In the past, the commission also heard that he was MEC when both the controversial asbestos project and the Vrede dairy farm came into being.
“It looks like the department is giving much bigger figures in terms of how many houses you handed over. It certainly may be more than 400,” said Zondo.
Zwane responded by saying, “What should be noted is that I was not too sure in terms of the number of houses.”
“Your estimation would be quite horrible,” Zondo said in response.
“It is not to say these were the total number of houses that were completed during that process,” Zwane said.
The former MEC said he did not know that figures were inflated.
“That was never brought to my attention. My main concern was not money, it was the people who were promised houses,” he said.
WATCH: State capture commission proceedings
