/ 19 October 2006

No kid gloves for housing fraud suspects

Blanket amnesty will not be granted for all involved in fraud in the Department of Housing, and each case will be dealt with on merit, Director General of Housing Itumeleng Kotsoane said on Thursday.

”We do not want to send the wrong message that corruption pays,” he told a media briefing at Parliament.

The intention is to ”clear the cloud” casting doubt on the credibility of the department’s housing-subsidy system and ”clean the system”, he said.

Each case will be dealt with separately to determine whether the amnesty would apply, with the special investigating unit (SIU) closely involved. The proposed amnesty will include housing-subsidy beneficiaries, contractors, civil servants and other individuals.

Kotsoane said a proclamation is currently being prepared to allow for a much wider investigation by the SIU into housing fraud and corruption, and the amnesty will form part of this.

Such a proclamation will have to be approved by President Thabo Mbeki, but he could not say when it or the amnesty will come into effect.

The SIU is currently dealing with 88 housing fraud and corruption cases. Of these, three convictions have been secured, three were acquitted, 44 were referred to the police and 18 are before the courts.

Regarding the provision of housing, Kotsoane said the department will have to build about 500 000 units a year to wipe out the backlog and meet the target of eradicating all informal settlements by 2014, taking into account population growth.

Construction has picked up over the past three years to the current level of about 250 000 houses a year. ”The task is rather huge,” he said. — Sapa