Sisulu doesn’t want to reveal who the contractors are for the Alliance housing project

24 June 2021

In response to parliamentary questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, has refused to tell parliament who the contractors are and how much money they have received for the Alliance housing project in Ward 71, City of Ekurhuleni (Please see attached here, here and here).

All we were told is that the project is due to cost R88 653 998.62.

Furthermore, she has chosen to hide behind the non-existent “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly” document.

In her response to DA Constituency Head for Daveyton-Etwatwa, Mat Cuthbert, MP, she stated that:

“…Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used:   ".......a certain person (name furnished “.

It is clear that she has scant regard for parliamentary accountability and oversight.

Her responses also raised some other very serious questions about the project:

None of the applicants whose housing subsidy applications were declined, were given an opportunity to rectify their mistakes, in order to comply with the department’s requirements.

There is less than a week left until the 30th of June 2021, but none of the 419 houses that are due to be completed by this date, have had their foundations laid as of yet?

There is no mention of what action steps have been taken to recuperate funds from the initial two contractors, who were terminated due to poor performance?

Lastly, why has she has declined to make the list of approved beneficiaries public?

In light of her actions, the DA will be submitting a PAIA request to her department to ensure that the beneficiaries of the Alliance housing project are provided with full information about what has happened to their long awaited housing project.

Statement issued by Mat Cuthbert MP - DA Constituency Head: Daveyton-Etwatwa, 24 June 2021