DA welcomes proposed sale of Gauteng Premier's official residence

27 September 2016

I welcome the announcement today by Gauteng Premier David Makhura that the Premier's Official Residence in Bryanston Johannesburg will be sold along with all houses owned by the Provincial Government.

He said this in an oral reply to my questions in the Legislature.

According to Makhura, the Department of Infrastructure Development has been given an express mandate to sell all houses owned by the Gauteng Provincial Government.

He said: "We are confident that this decision will not only save us money from maintenance but it will help raise additional resources to fund the TMR priorities such as student bursaries and rollout of Tshepo 500 000."

Last year about 50 engagements and meetings were held at the Bryanston house, which costs about R1.5 million a year to run.

Makhura said that more details about these meetings would be provided to me this week in response to an application I made in March this year in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

It was revealed last year that R4.2 million was spent on the house since May 2014 when Premier Makhura took the decision not to live there.

My view is that it is much cheaper to use the province-owned Emoyeni conference centre or a private venue as the annual cost of the Bryanston house works out to about R30 000 a meeting just as a venue.

A lot of money could have been saved if the house was sold earlier as it is a white elephant.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Member the Oversight Committee on the Premier's Office and Legislature, 27 September 2016