The Western Cape’s head of housing has had his employment contract suspended following an internal investigation into alleged malpractices and irregularities within the department, the MEC for housing said on Sunday.
”The essence of the matter is that there were serious questions about the HOD [head of department], John Africa, providing management in terms of the Public Finance Management Act and in the context of delivery of houses in the province,” said MEC Marius Fransman.
The termination of Africa’s contract followed an internal forensic audit, started by Fransman’s predecessor and current MP, Nomathala Hangana.
The audit was completed in March this year and brought to light underspending of R144-million in the delivery of housing during the 2003/04 financial year.
The audit also highlighted shoddy workmanship and a lack of control mechanisms. Corruption was not an issue. According to Fransman the investigation pointed to ”serious weaknesses” within the department with regard to servicing and verification of housing projects, as well as a lack of capacity within the provincial and local government spheres.
He said that Africa would be officially charged with misconduct, and two others, at director and deputy director levels, would also be charged with management ”irregularities”.
”We decided to act at the most senior leadership level and not just at low-level management,” said Fransman, who stressed that the vast majority of housing officials were ”good” officials.
He said the action against the senior officials signalled a change and ”new course” for the the housing department.
”The drastic decision taken… shows the provincial government is serious in its action to ensure that we effect the required changes to ensure fast-tracking in housing delivery,” said Fransman.
He said the provincial department would be embarking on a revamped management strategy plan, ensuring stability and continuity.
This strategy, which would have a ”strong interventionist approach”, will also see better cooperation between local and provincial government, the creation of a ”delivery pipeline” and a focus on unblocking restrictive legislation.
Fransman said the reality was that the province had a housing backlog of 320 000 and would not be able to deal with the backlog given the financial constraints and other factors such as migration and urbanisation.
”The question is whether we are able to show good faith to the people,” he said, suggesting that poorly built houses were a thing of the past, with more attention to be spent on quality as opposed to quantity.
Asked whether former MEC Hangana should not have taken some responsibility for the lack of delivery, Fransman said his predecessor should be credited for initiating the forensic audit and fast-tracking its recommendations. – Sapa