MPs question dismal performance at Public Works

Parliament’s portfolio committee on Public Works and Infrastructure have raised concerns about the department's failure to meet about 80% of its projects planned in the 2022/23 financial year.

The DA’s Edwin Bath asked if the department had an action plan to fast-track delayed projects, adding its performance was “not acceptable”.

In March GroundUp reported on the Auditor-General’s report on material irregularities to the portfolio committee. It found that the department bought the Telkom Towers complex in Pretoria for almost R700m in April 2016 and eight years later, was underutilised and police staff were recently evacuated from the premises due to safety concerns. Eight of the buildings in the complex were vacant, costing the government at least R592m. This was flagged by the Auditor-General as a material irregularity.

The Telkom Towers were intended to be the SA Police Service (SAPS) headquarters in Pretoria but the buildings were declared unfit for human use after an inspection by labour department officials earlier this year.

Bheki Cele who was police minister at the time admitted he had been working from home for the past four years due to the state of the Telkom Towers.

During the briefing on Wednesday, Wayne Thring of the ACDP questioned the progress of the Telkom Towers matter. He said hundreds of millions of rand had been “spent to house SAPS” in the complex which remained incomplete.

Siza Sibande, head of the Property Management Trading Entity at the department, said the department was addressing some of the issues.

“There are some matters that go as far back as 2013 and include the Telkom Towers issue, where the minister has instituted an investigation ... We are reviewing our annual performance plan as part of the budget assessment process,” he said.

The portfolio committee is expected to visit Telkom Towers next month.

The presentation by the Auditor-General’s office also revealed that just 20% of the department’s planned targets were achieved in the 2022/23 financial year.

Tintswalo Masia, deputy business unit leader at the Auditor-General’s office, said 107 projects were significantly delayed, involving total expenditure of R3.9bn. “These delays are mainly attributed to the poor performance of the contractors and are not ready to be used by departments.”

The Auditor-General’s report found that the department Public Works “continues to fail to deliver projects that are of quality, in a timely manner and within budget”. They also found irregular expenditure of R521m. compared with R145m in the previous financial year.

Masia added that material irregularities were still an issue in the department, resulting in an estimated loss of R746m.

The Auditor-General’s office is expected to return to the committee with further details on the material irregularities it found in the department.

GroundUp