Department says no trick to deceive Scopa

A resident shows some defects in one of the houses to minister Sexwale during his visit in August

By Ofentse Mokae
10 September 2009

Human Settlements department the former housing department, says there has never been any intention to deceive parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

This follows after the committee found defects at some houses at N2 Gateway Housing Project in Cape Town.

The committee paid a visit at the housing project on Wednesday to view progress had been on defects reported by the Auditor-General in his report.

Some of the defects that were identified by the Auditor-General were cracks in the walls and floors, peeling paint, doors that were not fitted properly as well as loose fittings and uncovered drain pipes.

Scopa said it was shocked to learn that the defects in the houses built at the project had not been fixed as was earlier reported by the department.

In a media statement the department said there have never been an intention to mislead the committee.

“There has never been any intention to mislead Scopa. This is a complex project involving all three spheres of government and we remain totally committed to ensuring its success in partnership with all stakeholders,” the department said.

The department said it was hard at work to ensure that the defects on the homes as well as dissatisfaction from residents were given the necessary attention.

According to the department, a private audit was conducted on Joe Slovo 1, about 18 months ago which showed an absence of fundamental structural challenges.

Last month human settlements minister Toyko Sexwale together with his deputy Zoliswa Kota-Fredericks lead a ministerial delegation to the housing project to obtain first hand information about the project.

Sexwale was also shocked to learn of the defects at the housing project, however he said these were just problems to the provision of houses, saying some people don’t even have a roof over their heads or lived in very bad conditions.

The main intention of the project was to comprehensively address the housing and development needs of the informal settlements adjacent to the N2 Highway.

After their visit 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 about their findings.