Hundreds of workers took to the streets on Thursday to demonstrate against job losses and retrenchments, as well as to push government to fix its economic mess.
The foreigners were being sheltered at two facilities after being moved there in April from the city centre.
The Public Works and Infrastructure minister made a statement in the National Assembly on Tuesday on the implementation of the government’s much-vaunted infrastructure plan.
The minister was addressing the Infrastructure South Africa Project Preparation Roundtable which is taking place on Tuesday in Midrand.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) found that the R40 million tender for the border fence was awarded irregularly and recommended that 14 officials be disciplined.
They also want Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille to shoulder the blame for giving the directive.
The minister is under fire after National Treasury and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) detailed to parliamentarians the irregular procurement process for the construction of the R40 million fence earlier this year.
The Department’s acting Director-General Imtiaz Fazel said that an investigation into the project found the process did not comply with procurement guidelines.
The project was commissioned by minister Patricia de Lille in March, shortly after a national state of disaster was declared by the president.
The investigation report found several alleged procurement and other irregularities, and allegations of fraud committed by the officials, and the border fence project service providers.
This forms part of 276 projects from all over the country now being handled by the Public Works and Infrastructure Department's Sustainable Infrastructure Development System Methodology.
The Public Works and Infrastructure Department has gazetted a list of Strategic Integrated Projects to be rolled out over the next few months.
The group was left stranded for hours on the tarmac at OR Tambo International Airport on Monday.
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has briefed Parliament on properties earmarked for use as quarantine sites.
The department said the properties, which are a combination of government and private-sector facilities, could accommodate over 16,000 patients so far.
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille made the announcement on Thursday.
Minister Patricia de Lille and officials from the department were at pains to explain to members of Scopa the ongoing problem and plan to resolve the matter of non-payment.
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille also revealed it was not just government entities that failed to pay rent on time, but companies like Telkom.
