The Gauteng Provincial Government spent R28m on 16 converted shipping containers to be used as fruit and vegetable stalls as part of an empowerment project that is now being scrapped.

It cost R1.38m per each six-metre container for ‘architectural design, construction, and commissioning’ as well as R375 000 each for ‘customised insulation and anti-rust coating’.

The provincial Department of Agriculture & Rural Development awarded the project implementation contract to a company called Farm Yard last year to run a market outlet programme in townships across the province.

A comparison done by the Sunday Times found that 12-metre shipping containers – twice the size of those used in the project – repurposed in a similar fashion to the ones used in the project cost between R150 000 and R170 000 each.

These exorbitant costs have prompted Vuyiswa Ramokgopa, the new MEC for agriculture in Gauteng province, to halt the second phase of the programme, in which a further R20m would have been disbursed.

‘It’s very important that we demonstrate impact for every rand that we spend. This is about ensuring that every rand we spend delivers to the people that it’s intended to deliver to.’

The funding is part of a R36m conditional grant from the national department that was spent on an ambitious project to boost subsistence farmers, community co-ops, and budding entrepreneurs in the townships.

Full Sunday Times report