Chairperson, the Department of Public Works, the custodian and manager of the state's immovable assets, has truly failed to do what it promised to do: to provide strong leadership in order to ensure that the department is truly turned around. The department is still characterised by corruption and mismanagement at all levels, evidenced by eight years of qualified audits.
For the past three to four years, the department has received disclaimers from the Auditor-General for being a department with no credibility whatsoever. This basically means that the budget given to the department should be considered wasteful expenditure in its entirety, because there is no system of identifying the legitimate spending in the department. It is clear that the systemic flaws identified by the Minister himself in his last budget speech have not been resolved. In fact, in some cases things have gotten worse.
The Minister had said that the department was like a business that was in great need of transformation. Yet, if it were a business, the company would be bankrupt, the CEO would be on the verge of going to jail and no bank would be willing to loan them any money. Yet, in our government, failure seems to be rewarded more than success, while our people suffer the consequences of their failures.
Staff retention has been a difficult challenge for the department to resolve, with many employees choosing to find work elsewhere in large numbers. This can be a sign of a lack of change in the attitude of leadership and in the working environment.
How are people expected to work for a department that overspends millions on renovating ministerial homes? Ministers are public representatives and it is unacceptable for them to have extravagant housing upgrades. More suitable accommodation could have been bought at half the price of some of those renovations. Yet, the department's biggest failure is at KwaNxamalala, where it has not only shown that reckless expenditure is rampant within the department, but also that there has barely been any turnaround. The blatant lack of disclosure has solidified the department's "don't care" attitude towards those they are responsible for.
Inkomo ziyabhokola kusemahlangeni, ngubani lo odlayo kulo Mnyango? [It's a laissez-faire situation; who is benefiting in this department?] Or was the department created as an expense account for presidential and ministerial extravagance? If one is to build something new, you expect him to know he can get proper material at affordable prices and not expose himself to corruption, especially with other people's money. Clearly, Prestige has failed in the proper implementation and monitoring of service providers.
The Immovable Asset Register, IAR, needs to be brought up to date. There is no reason for the department not to know about its assets here and abroad because that should be its basic function. The Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, is not the great success the department claims it to be. It is not functioning in all areas, while some people do not even know what it is or how to implement it.
We were promised strong and determined leadership. What we received, instead, was a lukewarm performance, and no accountability from the Minister and his department. With municipalities owed millions by different provincial public works departments, it seems other branches of leadership in the department are also lacking.
It is clear, though, that the department's leadership is there to obtain as much money as it can, because cases of corruption associated with high- ranking officials whose actions have bankrupted the department have practically been ignored. The Minister does not seem to understand or care that he is presiding over a department that is a cesspool of corruption. We can no longer stand by while the Minister promises one thing and ends up doing something completely different and acting as if the officials are untouchable.
The budget should be adjusted to reflect the department's poor performance. We should not congratulate failure. The IFP reiterates the statement we made regarding the Department of Public Works. It must be completely disbanded and its functions must be channelled to other relevant departments for the benefit of our communities.
Ngqongqoshe, asikwazi ukuthi sithi izinto ozenzile awuzenzanga. Ngakho-ke, siyakubongela lapho okwaze ukwenza kahle khona kanti futhi sizokweseka. Kepha uMnyango wakho wona awusebenzi ngendlela. Ngiyathokoza. [Ubuwelewele.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.) [Minister, we cannot deny the things that you have done. Therefore, we congratulate you where you were able to perform well and we will support you. However, your department is not performing well. Thank you. [Interjections.]]