Public Protector confirms receipt of Helen Joseph Hostel complaint
The office of the Public Protector says it has received the complaint of ActionSA on misuse of public funds by the City of Johannesburg on refurbishments of the Helen Joseph Hostel in Alex.
The office of the Public Protector has confirmed receipt of an ActionSA complaint about what it alleges is a gross misuse of public funds by the City of Johannesburg on refurbishment work that never happened.
PR councillor Shadrack Mkonto, the man behind the complaint, said the Public Protector confirmed in a letter to ActionSA that it has received the correspondence and that the matter was receiving attention.
The claims of misuse of public funds relate to the refurbishment work carried out at the hostel in Alexandra. The city, while acknowledging that it considers such allegations of the misuse of funds as a serious matter, has since referred the matter to its Group Forensics and Investigation Service (GFIS).
In a statement in reply to questions sent by Alex News, the city said the Department of Human Settlements does not take accusations of [the misuse of] funds lightly, hence the matter has been referred to GFIS to investigate what has been brought to the attention of senior management.
“We, therefore, request that law enforcement agencies, including the Chapter 9 Institution as and when it receives the formal pending complaint, be allowed to conduct their work thoroughly so that they can focus on any unlawful or improper conduct as claimed by ActionSA Joburg Caucus.”
Mkhonto said his party raised concerns about the misuse of R17.5m that had been earmarked for renovations to the hostel. “After an oversight visit by the City of Johannesburg’s Section 79 Petition Committee, it was revealed that none of the work completed at the hostel amounted to the allocated budget of R17.5m.
“The hostel is still pretty much dilapidated due to a lack of infrastructure repairs which subjects the women residents to unpleasant living conditions and we have decided as ActionSA to take up the matter with the office of the Public Protector,” Mkonto said.
The Helen Joseph Women’s Hostel is one of three hostels in Alexandra that were built by the apartheid government in 1972 to house migrant workers. In its statement, the city said it has intended to re-develop the hostel into family units.
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