The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
1. I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has finalised a technical condition report on the constructed fence. In its current form, the fence is not fit for purpose and is in material non-compliance with the project specifications. For this reason, the DPWI has resolved not to carry out any repairs on the fence as this will constitute wasteful expenditure.
The DPWI is also currently collaborating with the Department of Defence (DOD), the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to develop a multi-party Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to integrate and align the collective roles, responsibilities and operational plans of each organisation on the matter of border fencing and control as a precursor to implementing a new integrated border-line solution.
2. (a) Currently, the DOD, supported by the DPWI and the DALRRD through the above-mentioned processes, is consulting its internal DOD structures to develop user specifications and user asset management plans in compliance with the Government Immovable Asset Management Act No. 19 of 2007 Section 6 (1) (b) and Section 14 (1) (a) (b).
(b) The tasks and projected timelines are as follows:
i. Request for Information: To support the DOD in the development of an integrated Borderline solution, a Request for Information (RFI) was commissioned by DPWI on 28 March 2021. The RFI closed on 26 of April 2021 and 16 Proposals have been received. The Bid Evaluation Committee completed the evaluation of bids in June 2021. Three bids were compliant to the terms of reference of the RFI. Compliant bids were submitted to DOD in July 2021 to be incorporated into the final specifications for border fences.
DOD indicated in a meeting held on the 11th November 2021 that engagements are transpiring internally and will confirm the submission date of their approved specifications by 25 November 2021. To date DOD has not submitted their approved specifications.
ii. Feasibility studies: Site acquisition feasibilities completed.
Construction feasibilities will require 12 to 18 months to complete, upon receipt of DOD output specifications.
The above processes have been commissioned, some completed and the remainder are underway as indicated above. This will ensure that all legal and legislative frameworks are complied with to allow for the formalisation of the RSA borderline to meet South African and International Standards.
The collective body of work from the above processes will identify viable engineering options, risk analysis and mitigation strategies, funding models and budget co-ordination. These would input into subsequent bid and construction processes, and enable informed funding requests to be submitted to National Treasury.