DA questions Public Works Prestige Projects expenditure in the midst of Covid-19

10 June 2020

In response to a Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary question, the Minister of Public Works, Patricia De Lille has indicated that the planned expenditure on Prestige Projects for the 2020/21 budget is a whopping R423 million.

This is more than double the amount of R193 million for Prestige Projects that was originally indicated during a briefing by the Department to a joint parliamentary committee last month. When questioned about which Prestige Projects are being funded, the Director-General, Sam Vukela was visibly reluctant to provide clarity.  The official response to my parliamentary question shows the reason for his reticence.

Some of the projects of the R423 million include:

R48 million for the revamping of the Groote Schuur estate;

R15 million for roads and parking at the Bryntirion Presidential Estate;

R203 million for facilities management at the Union Buildings and Presidency offices; and,

R104 million for the Parliamentary Villages in Cape Town.

In addition, R132 million has been budgeted for various projects around the Parliamentary complex in Cape Town and the Union Buildings in Tshwane.

While it may be argued that some of this expenditure is essential maintenance, the DA believes that in a Covid-19 crisis when the health services are faltering under immense pressure and the economy is plummeting, such expenditure is incredibly irresponsible.

Prestige projects and state functions have come under fire in recent times for extravagant and glamourous excess spending while the remainder of the country plunges into the depths of economic misery.

All available, non-essential expenditure must be directed towards caring for the lives and livelihoods of all South Africans, not projects around government installations which are only being used by a greatly reduced percentage of their occupants, especially during the national lockdown and Covid-19 pandemic.

The DA calls for this expenditure to be urgently revisited and re-prioritised to cater to the real needs of the nation in the midst of the Covid-19 storm.

Issued by Tim Brauteseth,NCOP Member for Public Works and Infrastructure, 10 June 2020