#ParksidePalace: 'Knock, knock – is anybody home?'
The Democratic Alliance in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature will call on the province’s Office of the Premier to submit a detailed analysis of expenditure on his official residence, Parkside Place in Pietermaritzburg.
The move follows a statement by Premier Willies Mchunu in the provincial legislature earlier today and comes after the DA exposed that KZN’s Public Works department was conducting upgrades to the house worth a staggering R32million. The revelation caused a public outcry which led to all further work being suspended.
While the DA welcomes the Premier’s statement, we remain concerned that for the past six years the province has had absolutely no benefit from the facility as a result of it having been declared unfit for habitation. This as a result of poor appointments and the subsequent cancellation of contractors by Public Works.
It is also disappointing that, to date, the Premier has tried every trick in the book not to take responsibility for the upgrades, first blaming former Premier Senzo Mchunu, claiming he had authorised the expenditure and then blaming Public Works. The fact is that this is supposed to be his home and the buck stops with him.
In short, Parkside Place has become a comedy of errors with no solution in sight.
Given the lack of direction from the ANC, the DA has today made two proposals. The first is that the Premier return this historically valuable building to its original condition through cost-effective measures and make it his full-time base.
This includes committing to ensuring that it is properly maintained so that the province’s taxpayers do not end up with another massive renovation bill in just a few years’ time. Failing this, he must return the facility to the people of KZN.
Either way, the citizens of our province do not deserve to be handing over their hard-earned money to pay for a facility that the Premier never uses. The DA will not stand by while this building becomes yet another white elephant. A decision must be made either way.
Statement issued by Francois Rodgers MPL, Leader of the DA in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, 8 December 2017
