The City of Cape Town, accused of using the N2 Gateway as a “political football”, has been stripped by national government of all responsibilities relating to the housing project.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu declared a dispute against the City on Monday and instructed Mayor Helen Zille to recuse herself and the DA-led multiparty government from future involvement in the project.
But Zille said: “There is little new in today’s announcement. Province and (Sisulu) have already taken this project away from the City of Cape Town. This happened the day before the March 1 elections when an agreement was signed with Thubelisha Homes.”
‘The City’s remaining role in the N2 Gateway is to hand over all relevant information’
This agreement placed the next phase of the project in the hands of provincial and national government.
“The City’s remaining role in the N2 Gateway is to hand over all relevant information to Thubelisha, and to provide services to the flats,” she said.
Sisulu met with housing MECs and representatives of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on Monday in Gordon’s Bay to discuss the progress of government’s implementation of housing projects.
Their decision to freeze the City’s participation in the inter-governmental management of the government’s flagship project was announced at a hastily convened briefing late on Monday night.
While it was impossible for most media representatives to attend the briefing, the Cape Times learned later that while project management was transferred from the City to the province and Thubelisha Homes in February, the City was still part of the M3 group comprising representatives of the three tiers of government.
‘The auditor general’s involvement is a welcome development’
The City has now been dropped from this inter-governmental oversight group, “in the context that housing is a national and provincial competency”.
The N2 Gateway project has been dogged by controversy since its launch last year.
Zille said last week that the City refused to pick up the tab of more than R200-million for overrun costs and claims by contractors against the City for payment delays.
It is still unclear how the first 705 completed units will be allocated. Building costs of the units have increased significantly since the project started, resulting in a R35-million budget overrun for the first phase.
Delegates attending the two-day meeting, which ends on Monday, reportedly welcomed Sisulu’s decision to wait until she could respond with the housing MECs to reports about the status of the pilot housing project.
The City was accused of contravening the Intergovernmental Relations Bill that regulates interaction between the three spheres of government.
Zille’s absence from a recent M3 meeting about the project was highlighted as a lack of willingness by the City to participate in formal discussions with the government and province.
The delegates supported Sisulu’s decision, announced last month, to place Auditor-General Shauket Fakie in control of financial aspects of the project.
Zille has welcomed this, saying: “The auditor general’s involvement is a welcome development. We are also committed to continuing our forensic audit into the matter.”
The City has referred one of the tenders for the management of the project’s first phase, awarded by the former ANC-led administration to Cyberia Technologies, for forensic audit.
Although Cyberia were awarded a R5m tender for project management, they were paid altogether R12m before their contract was terminated shortly before the local government election.
The question of the overruns remains unanswered, although it was suggested that the auditor-general would decide how much of this would be paid by the City.
Zille said she “welcomed the admission” by Sisulu that province and national government should “share in covering the outstanding costs of this project”. The City is still responsible for the funding and provision of bulk infrastructure for the development.
Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi could not be reached for comment late on Monday night. Neither could Sisulu’s spokesperson, who did not return several messages.
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on June 13, 2006
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu declared a dispute against the City on Monday and instructed Mayor Helen Zille to recuse herself and the DA-led multiparty government from future involvement in the project.
But Zille said: “There is little new in today’s announcement. Province and (Sisulu) have already taken this project away from the City of Cape Town. This happened the day before the March 1 elections when an agreement was signed with Thubelisha Homes.”
‘The City’s remaining role in the N2 Gateway is to hand over all relevant information’
This agreement placed the next phase of the project in the hands of provincial and national government.
“The City’s remaining role in the N2 Gateway is to hand over all relevant information to Thubelisha, and to provide services to the flats,” she said.
Sisulu met with housing MECs and representatives of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on Monday in Gordon’s Bay to discuss the progress of government’s implementation of housing projects.
Their decision to freeze the City’s participation in the inter-governmental management of the government’s flagship project was announced at a hastily convened briefing late on Monday night.
While it was impossible for most media representatives to attend the briefing, the Cape Times learned later that while project management was transferred from the City to the province and Thubelisha Homes in February, the City was still part of the M3 group comprising representatives of the three tiers of government.
‘The auditor general’s involvement is a welcome development’
The City has now been dropped from this inter-governmental oversight group, “in the context that housing is a national and provincial competency”.
The N2 Gateway project has been dogged by controversy since its launch last year.
Zille said last week that the City refused to pick up the tab of more than R200-million for overrun costs and claims by contractors against the City for payment delays.
It is still unclear how the first 705 completed units will be allocated. Building costs of the units have increased significantly since the project started, resulting in a R35-million budget overrun for the first phase.
Delegates attending the two-day meeting, which ends on Monday, reportedly welcomed Sisulu’s decision to wait until she could respond with the housing MECs to reports about the status of the pilot housing project.
The City was accused of contravening the Intergovernmental Relations Bill that regulates interaction between the three spheres of government.
Zille’s absence from a recent M3 meeting about the project was highlighted as a lack of willingness by the City to participate in formal discussions with the government and province.
The delegates supported Sisulu’s decision, announced last month, to place Auditor-General Shauket Fakie in control of financial aspects of the project.
Zille has welcomed this, saying: “The auditor general’s involvement is a welcome development. We are also committed to continuing our forensic audit into the matter.”
The City has referred one of the tenders for the management of the project’s first phase, awarded by the former ANC-led administration to Cyberia Technologies, for forensic audit.
Although Cyberia were awarded a R5m tender for project management, they were paid altogether R12m before their contract was terminated shortly before the local government election.
The question of the overruns remains unanswered, although it was suggested that the auditor-general would decide how much of this would be paid by the City.
Zille said she “welcomed the admission” by Sisulu that province and national government should “share in covering the outstanding costs of this project”. The City is still responsible for the funding and provision of bulk infrastructure for the development.
Local Government and Housing MEC Richard Dyantyi could not be reached for comment late on Monday night. Neither could Sisulu’s spokesperson, who did not return several messages.
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on June 13, 2006
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