LETTER: Gauteng infrastructure cannot deliver but Makhura still allocates it billions

The wellbeing of Gauteng residents is once again in jeopardy after yet another dismal performance by the Gauteng department of infrastructure development. During the last quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year, this department failed to meet and deliver on a number of targets set.

This is deeply worrying as the department is critical to ensuring basic services such as public healthcare, libraries and schools are delivered to our residents, unhindered. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted that this department is full of cracks that no amount of plastering will fix.

The unacceptable performance of this department is not unknown to the administration of premier David Makhura, who during the recent state of the province address debate lamented the fact that the department of infrastructure was not able to meet its mandate because of its poor performance. He went on to strip the department of the responsibility to refurbish Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital after the fire, as well as to maintain health facilities.

Despite this, Makhura insists on allocating a budget of R3.2bn to the department, with no consequence mechanisms in place to ensure performance and efficient spending. The only victims in all this are the residents of Gauteng. The fact that the department is unable to fulfil its mandate means residents are subjected to longer waiting times at state healthcare facilities and will struggle to find a school near where they live for their children.

Alan Fuchs, MPL, DA Gauteng spokesperson for infrastructure development and property management

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