Premier Makhura must recover stolen R171m
20 March 2018
Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, must recover the R171 million that has been stolen by officials from the Department of Human Settlements.
This money was meant to benefit the poor citizens of Gauteng whose houses and business properties were seriously damaged by hailstorms in 2016.
We welcome the decision to prosecute the individual officials that are involved in this corruption case. However, the DA demands that these officials must pay back the money to the Department.
If the Premier is serious about stamping out corruption and ensuring accountability in all Gauteng Provincial Departments then he must recover this money from the accused.
We have been informed that out of four senior officials that were implicated, two were found not guilty, one was found guilty and one resigned.
The official who has resigned must also be investigated to determine if they are involved in this corruption. One of the officials who has been found guilty must pay back taxpayers money and face the full might of the law.
This Department has a poor track record of recovering its stolen monies and lacks accountability.
This has resulted in the Department failing to reach its own targets and underspending on its allocated budget in every financial year.
The Department is plagued by numerous challenges ranging from 101 unfinished housing projects, approximately 800 000 housing unit backlog, corruption in housing allocations and completed yet unoccupied housing projects.
We call on both the Premier and the new Human Settlements MEC Uhuru Moiloa to conduct investigations on the financial health of the department and ensure those implicated face the might of the law and pay back the money.
Misuse of taxpayer’s money is a serious offence and offenders must be prosecuted.
Gauteng is in desperate need of a Total Change. Come 2019 when the DA takes over Gauteng we will bring Total Change and ensure accountability in all our Departments.
Issued by Mervyn Cirota, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements, COGTA and Traditional Affairs, 20 March 2018
