DA and EFF rip into Public Works Department calling it “Department of Jokes”

During the debate on Budget Vote 7: Public Works in Parliament yesterday, DA Shadow Minister of Public Works, Kenneth Mubu, said the Department of Public Works (DPW) is sometimes referred to “as the Department of Nkandla or the Department of Public Jokes”.

He added that the Auditor-General’s report for 2012/2013 revealed the “dysfunctional state” of Minister Thulas Nxesi’s Public Works Department. For the third year running his Department’s Property Management Tradition Entity (PMTE) was awarded a Disclaimer of Opinion, which Mabu referred to as “the worst possible audit outcome”.

“Chairperson, perhaps the biggest failure of the Minister in 2013 was his handling of the ‘Nkandlagate’ scandal. He along with the other so-called security cluster ministers devoted much time to trying to justify the obscene expenditure of over R245 million of public money on President Zuma’s private homestead,” Mabu said.

He went on to say the DA was demanding answers to why the Nkandla Task Team report was classified as ‘Top Secret’. Mabu also wanted answers about taxpayer’s money being spent on upgrading ministerial houses.

“Minister Nxesi recently refused to provide a breakdown of public money spent on 35 ministerial homes, when the DA asked for this information in a parliamentary question… He claims that such details would ‘compromise security’,” Mabu said.

EFF MP Nokulunga Sonti did not hold back on her criticism of the DPW either, saying “the EFF and the majority of South Africans do not trust Public Works” because of Nkandla, adding her party did not believe the Department “has systems in place to monitor the finances it receives from the National Treasury”.

Responding to Public Works Minister Nxesi’s earlier statement that the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) would create six million work opportunities for the poor and unemployed, Sonti said that while her party supports the EPWP, it could do with some improvements, including participants being employed on a full time basis and being paid a minimum wage of R4 500. Sonti added that EPWP projects should be specifically aimed at improving rural infrastructure, such as roads and dams.

Sonti suggested that the Department of Public Works establish a state construction company “to build all government infrastructure”.

DA MP James Masango accused DPW of being “a milking cow for the tenderpreneurs of this world” and a “get rich quick scheme for high profile government officials and their connections”.

He added the Minister Nxesi needed to be more hands-on in dealing with corruption in this Department. “This requires that you spend more time tackling the problems of this Department, and less time on defending or protecting the President.”

Like Sonti, Masango had some suggestions on how the EPWP could be improved. He said while it provided work opportunities and helped in alleviating poverty, it was unsustainable and provided temporary rather than real employment.

Earlier in the debate Minister Nxesi told Parliament about the strides being made by his turn-around strategy for the Department of Public Works. "With National Treasury we have conducted an audit of the 2,162 properties leased-in from the private sector, and introduced more robust systems to manage the leasing portfolio," Nxesi said.

He added that they were also getting better at rooting out fraud and corruption. "The audit also highlighted leases where fraud and collusion is suspected. Findings included that the Department of Public Works has been paying rental to the tune of R5m a month for 108 properties that were vacant or unoccupied,” Nxesi said.

Furthermore, the DPW was leasing 12 properties that were occupied by non-government tenants, at a cost of R1 million per month and no lease agreements could be found for another 578 leased buildings. The DPW has since stopped payments for the all these properties and referred the matter to the Special Investigating Unit for further investigation.

Nxesi also told MPs of his new "Operation Bring Back" campaign, which after its launch, would see the recovery of land and other properties, many of them in the former homelands, stolen from the state towards the end of Apartheid.

To read more on the how Nxesi has stabilised his Department, read this.