POLITICS

MEC not acting on Jansenville corruption - DA

Dacre Haddon says the ECape municipality is being grossly mismanaged

The Democratic Alliance will be tabling a motion to the Provincial legislature asking for a forensic audit into the affairs of the Ikwezi (Jansenville) amidst allegations of gross mismanagement and corruption.

The DA will also be requesting the MEC for Local Government, Sicelo Gqobana, to invoke Section 139 of the Constitution, allowing the province to intervene into the affairs of a municipality.

The allegations are raised in a petition from the community dated 25 February 2010 and received by a staff member of the MEC's office.  Despite undertakings by the MEC that he would visit Jansenville, he has failed to do so.

The petition contains allegations of bribery, misuse of a council credit card, awarding tenders to friends, the reallocation of funds and the non enforcement of bylaws.

Bad management of the Municipality, failure to properly collect revenues, maladministration and nepotism are further serious allegations contained in this petition. 

What is more, having visited the town on 10 June 2010, I saw horrors pertaining to housing delivery. 

Below is a list of some of the issues established before and during a public meeting as revealed by the residents:

  • People who do not qualify for RDP houses as they are business owners and or home owners have received RDP houses from the department.
  • The building of RDP houses on a plot that is registered in a person, different to the RDP house applicant's name.
  • The building of RDP houses on a plot where there is already a house.
  • Allocation of RDP houses to government officials.
  • Transfer of RDP houses from one owner to another without the initial owner being consulted or informed.
  • RDP houses which were denied by the Provincial Department of Housing were built regardless of being denied.
  • RDP houses were built on incorrect properties.
  • RDP houses built on existing business properties.
  • RDP houses are being rented out for accommodation and businesses purposes.

Furthermore the DA would like to enquire what criteria were used when determining who qualifies for a RDP house for this specific project.  It seems that standard legislation did not apply to this project.

It has also come to light that some of these beneficiaries rent out their RDP houses for R500 to R800 a month.  The question whether these beneficiaries are in actual need of these houses also needs to be investigated.

According to the records this project started in 1996 as a mud house project of 75 houses and has evolved into a RDP project.  Some of the residents who have applied for a house in 1996 are still waiting to hear from the department whether they have been approved.

The DA will request an investigation to the above mentioned discrepancies by the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale.

The residents of Jansenville are suffering poor service delivery in Jansenville.

Is it fair that the people of Jansenville have to suffer the indignity of shocking services because of malice and bad management from their council officials?  Once again, the people and the community suffer as they do not get access to their Constitutional rights of service delivery.

The lack of urgent intervention and decisive action by the MEC is disappointing.

The residents of Jansenville have lost confidence in their ANC council and are fed up with the on-going poor service delivery in this municipality.

Statement issued by Dacre Haddon, MPL, Democratic Alliance Eastern Cape, July 16 2010

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