Committee wants answers on N2 Gateway Housing Project

Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts was early today shocked to learn that defects in the houses built under the Western Cape N2 Gateway Housing Project had not been fixed as it was earlier reported by the Department of Human Settlements.

The Committee discovered this during its visit to Langa Township, Cape Town, which was aimed at finding out whether the defects reported by the Auditor-General in his report about the project have really been attended to.

The defects identified by the Auditor General were:
* cracks in the walls and floors
* peeling paint
* doors that were not fitted properly
* loose fittings and uncovered drain pipes and blocked drains.

During the meeting, in which the report was tabled, the Department of Human Settlements indicated that the defects identified by the Auditor General had been fixed.

Committee members inspected some of the houses and discovered that the report given by the Department was inaccurate. Members found that the defects had not been attended to.

Committee Chairperson Mr Themba Godi said: "What we have been told by the officials during the meeting has not happened, the Committee has been misinformed. Officials reported in the meeting that all the defects had been sorted."

Members of the Committee were outraged at officials who appeared before the Committee and gave an inaccurate report. The Committee will finalise its report with recommendations and this will be submitted to the Speaker on the National Assembly.

Statement issued by Parliament of South Africa, September 9 2009

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