Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre still incomplete after ten years

Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson says there has been a growing trend of memorial projects that are left incomplete despite huge financial injections.

This, after rejecting a joint report by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture on the completion of the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance in Hankey in the Eastern Cape.

The Sarah Baartman Centre of remembrance has been plagued by delays since a construction tender was issued in 2014, which has seen millions spent.

The construction still remains 37% completed.

Macpherson says the goal is to eliminate wasteful expenditure.

“For far too long the South African state and the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and their implementing agency have spent millions on memorial projects, just for those to remain incomplete or fall into a state of disrepair, this era of fruitless and wasteful expenditure has to come to an end I know that both Minister McKenzie and I are committed to achieving that goal together.”

[STATEMENT] Today, I rejected a joint report by the DPWI and DSAC on the Sarah Baartman Centre of Remembrance in Hankey, Eastern Cape. Despite millions spent since 2014, only 37% of the project is complete. This is unacceptable.

Minister @GaytonMcK and I will meet soon to… pic.twitter.com/8wDgdgM0LC

— Dean Macpherson MP (@DeanMacpherson) September 10, 2024