R2 billion in irregular expenditure by Departments of Human Settlements could have built more than 16 000 RDP houses

4 October 2017

According to the Auditor-General (AG), Kimi Makwetu, various Provincial Human Settlements Departments have lost billions, which could have been used to build more than 16 000 RDP houses, to irregular expenditure.

According to the AG presentation, the following provinces are the biggest offenders:

Free State – irregular expenditure of R974 million;

Mpumalanga – irregular expenditure of R745 million;

KwaZulu-Natal – irregular expenditure of R559 million; and

Gauteng – irregular expenditure of R345.5 million.

These four provinces, collectively, account for R2 billion in irregular expenditure.

While hundreds of thousands of people on housing waiting lists are denied the dignity of owning a house, the ANC government is failing to spend available funds to deliver houses.

The fact that the money lost to irregular expenditure could have been used to build more than 16 000 RDP houses is an unacceptable waste.

The DA will write to the Chairperson of the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, Ms Nocawe Mafu, to request that she summons Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and all the implicated MECs to appear before Parliament to account for this shocking careless expenditure.

This is clear indication that the ANC has forgotten about our people. They simply do not care about the people who have been waiting for decades for a house.

Minister Sisulu’s failure to respond immediately to these damning revelations is indicative that she is neglecting her ministerial responsibilities in pursuit of her Presidential ambitions for the ANC.

The DA will await the Minister and the MEC’s appearance before Parliament to account for the monies which could have gone towards improving the poor South Africans’ lives and bringing them a sense of dignity they deserve.

Issued by Solly Malatsi, DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements, 4 October 2017