Department of Public Works not preserving assets
Recently a property owned by the Mpumalanga Department of Public Works Roads and Transport (DPWRT) came under investigation due to its dilapidated state.
MBOMBELA- An employee of the DPWRT searched for a house in the vicinity due to the scarcity of government accommodation in the city.
She was unable to procure a government house, even though she had been on the allocation list for the past four years. The employee approached the deputy director at the DPWRT office, and on his advice she searched for a house in and around the city of Mbombela.
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She came across a house in Sonheuwel and questioned the validity of the lease agreement, because this broken-down house was actually occupied by three families and a street vendor, without clean running water nor access to electricity.
Lowvelder questioned the DPWRT on who occupied the house, as it seemed like the house was possibly hijacked by illegal tenants. The department replied that the occupant is a government official who is employed by the Mpumalanga Provincial Government.
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During a parliamentary question and answer session in national Government, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille, revealed to the Democratic Alliance (DA) that of the 387 vacant residential properties owned by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), approximately 339 are in a derelict and broken-down state.
The Parliamentary responses further disclosed the fact that a further 81 properties are in such a state that they should be demolished.
Samantha Graham-Mare, the DA shadow minister of DPWI, alleges that it seems that the department is incapable of maintaining government properties. She alleges that the derelict infrastructure is no doubt a result of financial mismanagement at the hands of the current government not utilizing public funds for their intended purposes.
De Lille was unable to give tangible answers as to what government’s plans were for these decaying properties. The DA will therefore endeavour to request more information on the whereabouts of these properties, whether they will be suitable for low-cost housing and the amount owed to the municipalities in terms of rates and taxes by the department.
It is the belief of the DA that these buildings could either be sold to supplement the state coffers or be converted into affordable housing geared towards middle-income people who earn too little to qualify for a bond.
Cyril Dlamini, provincial spokesman for DPWRT, indicated that government’s investigation is ongoing on who is staying in some of the government houses. There is an initiative to verify the occupants, as there are allegations that non-governmental employees are staying in some of the vacant houses. The project’s aim is to dispose of these vacant properties that are not in use and give them back to municipal and other government employees to reside in.
The initiative, called Operation ‘Bring Back’, was started in 2016 and is driven by the DPWI. They are also asking the public to assist government in identifying these houses occupied or hijacked by private people.
Operation ‘Bring Back’ has already identified properties sitting in private hands, according to Dlamini. “Houses in one province can belong either to the provincial or national government, therefore the operation is conducted jointly by both spheres of government,” he said
