R22m theatre scandal: Let's hope Housing wasn't Sisulu's ‘dress rehearsal' for Defence
Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale was absolutely right to halt the scandalous R22-million theatre production, paid for by his department under his predecessor, Lindiwe Sisulu. We particularly welcome Minister Sexwale's admission that "plays and theatres have nothing to do with the building of houses."
However, Minister Sisulu's response to these statements leaves a lot to be desired. Minister Sisulu has built a reputation for responding viciously to criticism, and has a history of failing to identify or correct problems with her own leadership style. In spite of this, one would at least have hoped she could acknowledge what ordinary South Africans, and indeed her own cabinet colleagues, have made very clear is nothing more than rampant, self-indulgent spending.
Many very serious problems emerged with the implementation of housing programmes under Minister Sisulu. With no real strategic direction, Minister Sisulu continued to persist blindly in a manner that was neither workable nor affordable. A salient example is the disastrous failure that has become the N2 Gateway Project. A recent auditor-general's report noted that timeframes set for the project had been hopelessly unrealistic, and officials appearing before SCOPA's subsequent hearings admitted that they were following the instructions of their political leaders, who told them that the project timetable was non-negotiable, irrespective of the logistics. Sisulu was no doubt one of the main culprits.
The recent revelation that a total of 40,000 defective RDP houses nationwide will be flattened and rebuilt at a cost of more than R1-billion is another shocking example of the wastage of public funds that occurred under Sisulu's tenure. Sisulu has never so much as admitted error, let alone taken responsibility, for this gross failure.
Notably as Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Sisulu has refused to answer a raft of parliamentary questions submitted to her, and has refused to appear before parliament to explain the SANDF's state of preparedness. In August she confirmed her appointment of Paul Ngobeni as her legal advisor - a man who left the University of Cape Town in disgrace and may never practice law again in the United States after being found guilty of seven counts of misconduct in Connecticut.
This is a minister who simply doesn't make good decisions. Little wonder she still thinks it was a good idea to spend R22-million less on building houses, and R22-million more on a theatrical farce.
Statement issued by Butch Steyn, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of human settlements, November 27 2009
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