Gauteng Department of Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara’s latest statements regarding the inability to prevent RDP invasions and recover millions from the now liquidated contractor Sam Mhlaba, who abandoned the R11 billion Montrose Mega City Project, confirm that the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS) lacks political leadership, planning, and financial discipline. This is also an indictment on the Premiership of Panyaza Lesufi, whose hollow promises are being exposed by his own MECs.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has, in the past, called upon successive MECs of this department to provide effective and sustainable initiatives to discourage and prevent illegal invasions and ensure the provisions of alternative accommodation. The failure to do so has enabled the rapid rise of informal settlements. It has also led to confusion within the department as to whether these informal settlements should be formalised or eradicated. This was evident last week when Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Motara publicly conveyed conflicting views on how to address the issue of informal settlements in the province.
The DA demands that Lesufi and Motara urgently clarify their plans for informal settlements: will they be upgraded, formalised, or eradicated? Additionally, we require complete transparency regarding the contractual relationship between the department and Mhlaba on the disastrous Montrose project.
We will table questions to ascertain what checks and balances were included in the contract to prevent huge losses caused by the liquidation, and what steps, if any, were taken to mitigate the loss before the liquidation. We will also seek clarity on the extent to which liquidation was aggravated by the local municipality’s failure to provide bulk services. The
This matter cannot be left unattended, particularly when many of the Mega Housing Projects in Gauteng have not come to fruition or are incomplete due to incompetent contractors, prompting the possibility that we might see a repeat of the fatal Montrose scenario.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would allocate RDPs to deserving beneficiaries, protecting them from illegal occupation. We would also ensure immediate disclosure of all outstanding contracts for public scrutiny. This would include the total amount paid for each mega project, the current progress of each project, the anticipated completion date, the status of bulk infrastructure, and the outstanding amount in each project.