KZN MEC for Cogta Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi and his counterpart MEC for public works Martin Meyer during a media briefing in Durban. Photo: Sandile Motha
The KwaZulu-Natal department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) has cut off a single service provider which raked in R24 million annually supplying it with office space.
“This represents a practical solution to the long-standing challenges of high office leases and underutilised public assets. The MEC for public works is leading by example to say we must use government-owned buildings, so that we reduce the costs of hiring buildings,” the MEC for the department Thulasizwe Buthelezi told a joint media briefing with the department of public works and infrastructure on Tuesday.
Over the years, various KwaZulu-Natal government departments have paid exorbitant sums renting offices from private property owners, many of them with close ties to high-ranking politicians. This is despite the provincial government owning buildings which remained unoccupied.
Buthelezi said the government of provincial unity was putting an end to this.
“We won’t be renewing the lease of Southern Life Plaza in Pietermaritzburg. Cancelling that lease means we’re going to save R72 million over the next three years as the department of Cogta. Currently, we are spending R24 million per year in hiring that building,” he said.
When the ANC governed the province alone, the Southern Life Plaza building housed several departments for years. Buthelezi said the lease would come to an end in October.
His counterpart in the public works portfolio Martin Meyer said the move was part of a broader plan to move away from outsourcing office space and that his department had so far completed an assessment of over 95% of government-owned assets in the province.
“The process has been long, and with some challenges, but overall a success and an initiative that puts us in a better position to be able to pave a way forward. An audit completion rate of 95% was achieved. A total asset count of 10 067 was reflected,” he said.