Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Roy Jankielsohn MPL and Sesotho soundbite by Jafta Mokoena MPL
The ANC-run Department of Human Settlements is at the centre of the housing crisis in the Free State. Their track record is marred by a series of failures as a result of corruption and incompetence.
The Department of Human Settlements, entrusted with the task of providing integrated and sustainable housing solutions, has consistently ranked among the worst-performing departments in the province. Shockingly, over the past five financial years, from 2018/19 to 2022/23, the department has forfeited a staggering R1 billion of unspent funds to national treasury. Despite the premier’s rhetoric about upholding human dignity, the department’s underperformance is projected to cost the province an additional R670 million in budget cuts over the next three financial years.
The Free State is grappling with an alarming housing crisis, which is exacerbated by the prevalence of 770 blocked or stalled projects, over 100 contractors appointed without a contract and a total of 11,000 incomplete (half-built or never started) houses across the Free State.
Furthermore, the Auditor-General reported that only 18.75% of targets and only 152 houses were built in the 2022/23 financial year. Almost all expenditure in the department has been classified as irregular, with an accumulated irregular expenditure of R4.9 billion, which has never been investigated. There is also no action plan yet in place to investigate this.
The Zondo Commission found that in 2010/11 financial year the R1 billion spent delivered no houses. The Dark and Silver City project in Mangaung broke ground in 2007, and after approximately R225 million of expenditure, the project remains ongoing despite the indication that the project would be completed during the 2020/21 financial year. A Further R490 million has been spent on the G-Block complex in Matjhabeng, which has been ‘under construction’ for over eight years
Human Settlements remains an integral part of providing dignity, safety and building communities. The ANC-run government has displayed a firm unwillingness to fulfil this mandate in the Free State. The DA has a plan to tackle the housing crisis in the province and residents must vote for this change on 29 May.