ANC corruption and mismanagement cost the people of Tshwane 32,153 RDP houses

12 July 2016

The DA can reveal that while the housing backlog in Tshwane stood at over 120 000 according to the 2014/15 Gauteng Department of Human Settlement’s Annual Performance Plan, corruption and financial mismanagement in the Capital has cost its residents the equivalent of 32,153 RDP houses. This is a slap in the face of the thousands of people who are forced to go without houses as a result of an uncaring and dishonest ANC government in Tshwane. 

The ANC in Tshwane has lost at least R4.18 billion to corruption and financial mismanagement in the two largest financial scandals to make headlines this year. This includes the City of Tshwane’s irregular PEU smart meter contract that cost taxpayers R2.3 billion, as identified by the auditor general earlier this year, as well as R1.88 billion was lost to in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful (UIFW) expenditure in the last financial year alone. 

Moreover, the housing issue itself has been woefully mismanaged by the City of Tshwane and the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements. In a meeting of the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee in Parliament earlier this year it was revealed that R1.2 billion of the Human Settlements Development Grant was withheld from Gauteng due to consistent underspending.

This reflects a clear failure by the ANC government in Tshwane to correctly manage and prioritise the City’s finances and housing projects, and underscores the need to bring change to the Capital.

In order to address the housing crisis a DA government in Tshwane would:

- Free up more money for housing by stopping corruption and cutting UIFW. To this end, UIFW expenditure will be cut by half my first year in office and reduce it to below R1 million over the course of the term with a view to eliminating it entirely.

- Prioritise these funds toward service delivery projects, including housing, in order to increase the rate of delivery and housing allocation;

- Ensure that all housing projects are professionally manged and that all money allocated for housing is spent; and 

- Eradicate the unfair and corrupt allocation of housing by ANC officials and ensure that house lists are managed fairly and transparently.

It is clear that the ANC in Tshwane have failed time and time again to put the interests of the people first. A DA government in Tshwane pledges to lead a DA government that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs.

The DA’s track record in Cape Town shows that with the political willpower to do so, this can be done.

On 3 August vote for a clean government that puts the people of this city first.

Issued by Motheo Mtimkulu, Media Manager, Tshwane Mayoral Campaign, 12 July 2016