Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) postponed a hearing on a damning report into a Cape Town housing project on Tuesday after an "incoherent" response from the officials responsible for the project.
"There is a great deal of dissatisfaction at the way members of the committee are getting feedback," committee chairperson Themba Godi told representatives from the City of Cape Town and the provincial and national departments of human settlements.
"There is a lack of coherence of information, yet this was a project by the three spheres of government."
The aim of the multi-billion rand N2 Gateway Housing Project (N2GP) was to provide housing adjacent to the N2 Highway between Bhunga Avenue near Langa and Boys Town in Crossroads.
The report, released in June last year, found a number of irregularities in the project, which had been dogged by protests and a series of court challenges over evictions from the informal settlements it was supposed to replace, since its launch.
It said the business plan for the construction of the N2GP had not been finalised and approved before the actual construction commenced.
An interim business plan for the project had indicated that R3,42-billion was required to complete N2GP by 2009/10. This resulted in an overall shortfall of approximately R1,7-billion, of which the national department of housing (NDOH) would have to provide R1,68-billion.
"The NDOH could not indicate how they would pay the said amount," the report said.
The report said the project's business plan had indicated that the average income of households in the region was R1 200 per month. The income of 99 percent of the current tenants however, ranged from R1 500 to R7 500.
The report found that the time frame of six months in which interested parties had to deliver the initial 22 000 planned units was insufficient.
It said work had commenced on certain sites prior to individual project approval from the Western Cape provincial government, resulting in irregular expenditure of R71,8-million.
Last week hundreds of residents from the N2 Gateway housing project marched through central Cape Town to protest against structural defects and plumbing problems. The 704 units in the complex were also said to be becoming havens for drug dealers.
"Everything is just wrong in that complex," chairperson of the residents' committee Luthando Ndabamba said.
The units that the protesters lived in were erected on land formerly occupied by shack-dwellers, many of whom had been relocated to more distant areas of the Cape Flats.
Scopa will next meet the City of Cape Town and the provincial and national departments of human settlements on August 5. - Sapa
"There is a great deal of dissatisfaction at the way members of the committee are getting feedback," committee chairperson Themba Godi told representatives from the City of Cape Town and the provincial and national departments of human settlements.
"There is a lack of coherence of information, yet this was a project by the three spheres of government."
The aim of the multi-billion rand N2 Gateway Housing Project (N2GP) was to provide housing adjacent to the N2 Highway between Bhunga Avenue near Langa and Boys Town in Crossroads.
| 'There is a lack of coherence of information' |
It said the business plan for the construction of the N2GP had not been finalised and approved before the actual construction commenced.
| 'Millions irregularly spent' |
"The NDOH could not indicate how they would pay the said amount," the report said.
The report said the project's business plan had indicated that the average income of households in the region was R1 200 per month. The income of 99 percent of the current tenants however, ranged from R1 500 to R7 500.
"Consequently affordable housing was not provided for the target market concerned."Geotechnical surveys on soil problems were not completed prior to the commencement of the project. This resulted in costly improvements having to be made to the soil conditions and "delayed the delivery of the programme at critical stages".
The report found that the time frame of six months in which interested parties had to deliver the initial 22 000 planned units was insufficient.
It said work had commenced on certain sites prior to individual project approval from the Western Cape provincial government, resulting in irregular expenditure of R71,8-million.
Last week hundreds of residents from the N2 Gateway housing project marched through central Cape Town to protest against structural defects and plumbing problems. The 704 units in the complex were also said to be becoming havens for drug dealers.
"Everything is just wrong in that complex," chairperson of the residents' committee Luthando Ndabamba said.
The units that the protesters lived in were erected on land formerly occupied by shack-dwellers, many of whom had been relocated to more distant areas of the Cape Flats.
Scopa will next meet the City of Cape Town and the provincial and national departments of human settlements on August 5. - Sapa
No comments:
Post a Comment