Special audit finds over R700 million unspent on building toilets for the poor

21 August 2015

A special performance audit of the Rural Household Infrastructure Programme (RHIP) has revealed the failure of the Department of Human Settlements to accelerate the delivery of basic services to households in rural municipalities, leaving millions of South Africans without access to basic sanitation services.

The audit report, which was presented to SCOPA earlier this week, found that between 2010 and 2013, only R501 million of the allocated R1.2 billion had been spent on building Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) toilets across the country. 

The Department of Human Settlements failed to spend over R700 million of allocated funds, showing complete disregard for the 2.6 million households that still do not have access to basic sanitation services. 

I have today written to the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer requesting full disclosure as to how goods and services were contracted, and to outline what action has been taken against the long list of non-compliance with procurement policies. 

In addition to massive underspending, the report finds an array of irregularities including:

Inconsistencies between the number of VIP toilets built and the number recording in the asset registers;

A shortfall of 13 813 VIP toilets, with R113.5 million paid to contractors that could not be accounted for;

Additional contractors being appointed at a cost of R89.4 million to “improve service delivery”;

Contracts being awarded to bidders before the results of the background and security screening by the SSA were received;

Service level agreements between the Department and management consultants not listing actual deliverables and performance indicators, resulting in the management consultants being paid in full in the face of inadequate progress; and

The management consultants failure to sign completion certificates for all the VIP toilets that had been paid for. As a result, there was no evidence that proper inspection and checks were completed and that toilets were built according to specifications. 

While the RHIP was established in 2010 to increase the rate of delivery, it is quite clear that, in reality, the very opposite is occurring. 

This is in sharp contrast to the DA-run Western Cape, where 99.1% of households have access to piped water and 90.5% have access to flush toilets, the highest in the country. 

The DA will not stand back and watch public funds being mismanaged while the dignity of millions of South Africans who remain without access to basic services is undermined.

Statement issued by David Ross MP, DA Spokesperson on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, August 21 2015