Sexwale receives report on corruption in housing projects

Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, says the Special Investigative Unit has handed him a report regarding its investigation into fraud and corruption in housing projects around the country. 

Sexwale says hundreds of department officials and contractors are already being arrested. He says stringent measures have been put in place to monitor the unblocking of reconstructive development programme projects. Sexwale was speaking at Montheding Village in the Polokwane municipality in Limpopo, where he handed over 49 housing units.

 

“In each of the provinces, each MEC in the province must have focus in those blocked projects. We will never unblock a project until there is sufficient proof that there is capacity, there are funds and contractors who are found to be responsible are brought to book. Two days ago, I received a report from the SIU - it is sad to see that how many hundreds of people inside government are being arrested inside government,” says Sexwale.

 

Sexwale says the 49 houses are part of his department’s nation-wide plans. “The 49 houses that we are handing over today are part of close to 200,000 houses that we are building. So every year we deliver that; in each place we will have 8,000 house."

"We are here to hand over these houses, so do not look at the number 49 look at the number 200 000 - that is what I build per annum. When people protest they do that publicly to attract our attention it is important that people should see with their own eyes, it is important that they see what we do,” the Human Settlements minister added.

 

In 2008, the SIU identified 31,259 potentially irregular housing subsidy transactions awarded to government employees. Twenty-nine cases had been finalised with sentences including the payment of the value of the houses delivered. 

The total amount of debt the department expected to recover was R6,827,036 and a cash amount of R1,103,772 had been paid back. 

In 2009, the SIU  identified more than 50,000 government officials who fraudulently received the state’s low-cost houses. Five hundred and fifty four public servants were convicted of the crime out of the seven hundred and seventy two  who had been charged.

- SABC