Former Head of the Provincial Human Settlements Department, Nthimotse Mokhesi, is set to be one of the witnesses expected to take the stand.

Mokhesi is expected to answer critical questions regarding his role as an accounting officer and why the department signed off on a contract that had no value for money for the province.

Mokhesi recently was fingered in a Public Protector report, which found the department guilty of failure to follow proper procurement procedures in the awarding of the asbestos housing contract.

Mkhwebane, in her report released in May, indicated that the 2014 contract awarded to Gauteng-based Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill Trading joint-venture in the Free State was awarded unlawfully.

She found Mokhesi guilty of maladministration and gross negligence.

This, as the provincial department participated in an expired contract of the Gauteng Human Settlements Department, and failed to conduct a due diligence investigation before participating in the contract.

Mkhwebane said the province was in possession of the Gauteng Department's Service Legal Agreement, which had expired, and went ahead to pay the service provider an amount of R139 million despite the Auditor-General having declared the procurement as irregular as early as July 31 in 2015.

The contract for service providers to identify and remove asbestos roofs in the province has since the 2014/15 financial year drawn much controversy, with millions paid by the department remaining unaccounted for.

Mkhwebane said, "the Department created the impression that they participated in a contract concluded by another state institution [Gauteng Department] while the services were not the same as specified in the existing contract and also the price was higher."

Mkhwebane said this was in contravention of Treasury regulations and amounts to improper conduct. She said their findings also indicate that the service provider had subcontracted the contract at a fee of just over R21 million, while the service provider was paid R230 million.

Previous testimonies before the commission have also indicated how the provincial department awarded the Blackhead Consulting and Diamond Hill Trading joint-venture the contract despite the two companies not having accreditation to remove asbestos material.

Blackhead CEO Edwin Sodi, in August testified that they were not in a position to remove any asbestos material from the houses they had agreed to audit as they were not accredited, but could only "audit and assess" the houses.

The businessman, who stands accused of making a R600 000 payment towards the purchase of a Ranger Rover for the department's former Director, Thabane Zulu, told the commission the multimillion-rand asbestos project was set to unfold in two phases with the first one entailing the audit of houses and the second the removal thereof, which they sub-contracted.

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