A major crackdown on fraud and corruption in government's housing programme is imminent. The Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, says he wants to prosecute contractors and public officials who have defrauded the state by building shoddy houses for the poor.A total of 2.8 million houses have been built in the country since 1994. But the housing reconstruction programme has been compromised largely by corruption, nepotism and greed. Sexwale says there are 1500 houses that must be destroyed in the North West and a similar amount of houses in the Eastern Cape.Sexwale also says that the Eastern Cape has budgeted R300 million while KwaZulu-Natal has budgeted R500 million to fix the shoddy houses. Sexwale says the aim of the crackdown is to blacklist incompetent contractors with a history of inferior workmanship.It has also emerged that a staggering number of housing department officials have colluded with these contractors. An estimated amount of R20 million has already been recouped from 800 civil servants who benefited unlawfully from housing delivery programmes.The probe will include complicit estate agents and lawyers. It will be spear-headed by the Special Investigations Unit and the office of the Auditor-General. Sexwale says the outcomes of the probe will include facilitation of criminal action, institution of civil action, forcing contractors to finish their work, claims against contractors, blacklisting of repeat offenders and naming and shaming of people.
The Minister's uncompromising stance comes just a week after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced a shortfall in state revenue during his medium term budget speech. This means more borrowing to sustain service delivery. Gordhan also vowed to stem out corruption and the fleecing of the public purse - brazen theft which has cost hundreds of millions of tax rands.
Well done Minister Sexwale!!!!
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