Did the acting DG of Public Works and Infrastructure mislead Parliament?
9 July 2023
During a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure, held on 7 June 2023, the acting Director General (DG) for the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), Ms. Nyeledi Makhubele, informed committee members that a circular will soon be issued inviting interested parties to lease 300 DPWI owned properties across the country.
This concession followed weeks of sustained DA pressure in which we exposed how the continued neglect and lack of maintenance of DPWI properties had created havens for criminal activity, creating safety risks to local communities. Acting DG Makhubele, committed to providing members of the portfolio committee with said circular including details on the 300 properties that will be put up for leasing.
However, to date, no circular has been issued and neither has the Portfolio Committee been presented with an update as to what is causing the delay. I have subsequently written to the DPWI Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Ms. Nolitha Ntobongwana, requesting her to summon the Acting DG and the Property Management and Trading Entity (PMTE) to come and account before the portfolio committee for what has essentially become a misleading commitment on the DPWI properties.
On oversight visits to some of these buildings, I have seen first-hand how the prolonged neglect and failure to manage of DPWI properties has made them staging centres for criminal activity and vagrant behaviour – forcing nearby communities to live in fear.