Ramaphosa’s Cabinet must go: 5 Reasons for the DA’s Motion of No Confidence in Patricia de Lille

15 March 2022

Note to Editors: Please find an attached soundbite by Samantha Graham-Maré MP

During the last few weeks, the DA has been laying out the reasons why we tabled a Motion of No Confidence in the Cabinet.

A brief search on the internet reveals a plethora of reasons why many in President Ramaphosa's Cabinet should be fired; they are just not up to the task, and Patricia de Lille is one of them.

We cannot accept that President Ramaphosa continues to rely largely on an administration afflicted with glaring levels of incompetence and corruption, especially given his admission that South Africa underwent an age of nine wasted years under his predecessor.

In accordance with our principles of holding the Executive accountable, the following are the reasons why Patricia de Lille should be sacked as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. Patricia De Lille’s negligence directly contributed to the Parliament fire - Findings from an October 2020 Audit Report by audit firm BDO, on the ‘Review of Parliament Prestige Construction Projects Performance’, has confirmed that the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, must be held directly responsible for the fire that burned down Parliament.

According to the report, which was handed to De Lille in September 2021, three months before the devastating fire, Parliament was left severely exposed to disaster due to:

Non-compliance with fire regulations;

Ventilation system design and fire protection in the Precinct needs to must be reviewed by a fire consultant;

A critical lack of attention to the risk of fire to heritage assets;

Lack of site safety management; and

Lack of quality management on refurbishment and upgrade projects.

2. Main actor in the irregular Beitbridge border washing line - She has ducked and dived responsibility for the now infamous Beitbridge Border ‘washing line’ with a price tag of more than R40 million. A Special Investigative Unit (SIU) report established that the Minister erred when she issued an emergency directive on the fence to the Director-General of the Department of Public Works and (DPWI). The SIU found that these instructions “placed an enormous project and compliance risk on the Department”:

A National Treasury report found that “it would seem the Minister had a supplier or contractor in mind” when she instructed that a variation order be issued to seemingly ensure that a specific contractor, Magwa Construction was appointed.

In reaching its conclusions on the Beitbridge border fence, Treasury warned that “[in] terms of separation of powers, the Executive Authority, must not interfere in administrative functions.”

3. Bullying officials in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure - A former Deputy Director-General of the Department of Public Works, Mahalingum Govender, filed a Public Protector complaint in which she detailed allegations of ongoing political meddling and bullying by De Lille. Govender’s complaint included allegations of unlawful instructions to officials, constructive dismissal of officials and purported ulterior motives in the termination of contract workers.

4. Fails to pay rent on time leading to lock outs – 4 days ago, various departments including the Department of Water and Sanitation, SAPS and the Department of the Treasury were locked out by a disgruntled landlord after the De Lille’s Department failed to pay rent on time. Critically, the SAPS Criminal Record and Crime Scene office was unable to process Police Clearance Certificates as a result.

5. Dismissed call to alleviate housing shortage as “stupid” and “a joke” – The DA has repeatedly called on the national government to release the massive tracts of land that it owns or controls in Cape Town to address the housing shortage in Cape Town. After writing to de Lille with this request, she appeared in an interview and appeared to dismiss the call for her to release Acacia Park as “stupid” and “a joke.”

Whenever something goes wrong where De Lille is in charge, it is always someone else’s fault and never here own.

It must be disheartening for South Africans who were promised a "new dawn" to learn about the broken state of our democratic institutions at the hands of inept Ministers.

South Africa deserves better.

Issued by Samantha Graham-Maré, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, 15 March 2022