The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is dismayed that the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has again failed to spend its allocated budget.
This was revealed in the department’s fourth quarterly report for the 2019/2020 financial year.
According to the fourth quarterly report, the department has underspent by R485 million. In Programme Two: Housing Needs, Research and Planning, the department only spent R3 million which is 29 percent of R11.6 million, the allocated budget for the fourth quarter. This is the highest underspend in the department for the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year.
In Programme Four: Housing Assets Management and Property Management, the department only spent R33 million which is 38 percent of the R89 million of the allocated budget; it also spent R1.6 billion of R2 billion allocated budget in the Programme Three: Housing Development for the fourth quarter.
The under expenditure by this department which has a reputation of failing to spend its human settlements budget can no longer be tolerated.
Housing is a major crisis facing this province. The housing waiting list has exceeded a million, yet this department is incapable of spending its allocated housing budget to ensure that it delivers dignified housing to our people who are living in unsanitary and inhumane conditions.
This department lacks a political leader to drive the core mandate of the department; MEC Maile is incompetent and not fit to head this department.
The DA calls on the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura to intervene by putting measures in place to ensure that this department spends its allocated budget for the benefit of our people who do not have access to adequate housing.