DID wastes R22m to guard three dilapidated houses

19 July 2017

The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development has spent R22 million to date to safeguard three dilapidated and uninhabitable houses situated along 14th and 15th Avenue in Boksburg North, Ekurhuleni.

This has been revealed by Gauteng Infrastructure Development MEC, Jacob Mamabolo, in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

According to MEC Mamabolo there are 36 houses that belong to the Gauteng Provincial Government in total; 31 are illegally occupied, two have been rented out and three are vacant and currently being guarded by security as they are uninhabitable.

The security company was hired by the department in October 2011. The department has paid a ridiculous amount of R22 million to date for security services for three houses.

This is a waste of public money that could rather have been used for the benefit of our Gauteng residents.

The market value of these houses has dropped because they have fallen into disrepair due to the fact that they were neglected and allowed to be vandalized.

MEC Mamabolo says the department in consultation with the Department of Roads and Transport have started a process to evict the illegal occupants from these houses.

We will hold both MEC Mamabolo and MEC Vadi accountable for ensuring that they fast-track their engagement of handing over these houses to DID for disposal to avoid further wasteful expenditure.

Issued by Janet Semple, DA Political Head for Boksburg East Constituency, 19 July 2017