Today, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng debated the 2024/25 annual reports for various departments, including the Human Settlements, Roads and Transport, e-Government, Education, and Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.
The 2024/2025 Annual Report for the Department of Human Settlements in Gauteng reveals mismanaged budgets and abandoned communities, a cycle of unfulfilled promises and neglect for housing as a constitutional right. If the MEC Tasneem Motara is not shifting responsibility to local authorities or the National Treasury for failing to meet targets, she is admitting that the department’s long-term goals and vision remain out of reach.
The Roads and Transport Annual Report reflects a department overwhelmed by its responsibilities, underperforming on its commitments, and failing the people of Gauteng where it matters most: on the road, at the intersection, and in the daily commute. While the department attained a clean audit opinion, this reflects compliance rather than actual performance.
What emerges from the 2024/25 E-Government’s Annual Report is a consistent pattern of systemic fragility across the department’s core functions: infrastructure rollout, procurement transformation, human resource capacity, and digital platform governance. Programme one repeatedly fails on targeted procurement, disability inclusion, employment equity, and youth absorption. Programme two continues to underdeliver on WAN, LAN, and Wi-Fi rollout, despite multiple remediation commitments.
The Education’s Annual Report paints a painful reality that despite repeated promises, the Gauteng Department of Education continues to fall short on delivering the safe, dignified learning environments our children deserve. Most alarming is the scale of irregular expenditure. The department incurred R1 459 497 000 in irregular expenditure during the 2024/25 financial year. The Auditor-General has identified an additional R1.52 billion in irregular expenditure still under assessment, relating specifically to Learner Teacher Support Material (LTSM) procurement. Compounding poor financial management are issues of overcrowding, poor safety, and inadequate nutrition programmes in our education system.
The Department of Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR) achieved only 62% of its annual targets, despite spending 91% of its budget. This is a failure in basic governance. Instead of progress, we see regression. If we are spending almost all the money, but achieving only half the work, that is not service delivery; that is a failure of governance. It is the definition of no value for money. The need for a designated MEC must be addressed with urgency.
Below are the speeches delivered during today’s Annual Reports debate in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL):
- Mervyn Cirota MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements.
- Evert Du Plessis MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Human Settlements.
- Evert Du Plessis MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport.
- Nicola van Dyk MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Roads and Transport.
- Mervyn Cirota MPL, DA Gauteng Member of the Roads and Transport Committee.
- Ina Cilliers MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for E-Government.
- Mike Waters MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for E-Government.
- Sergio Isa Dos Santos MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Education.
- Mike Waters MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Education.
- Bronwynn Engelbrecht MPL, DA Gauteng Member of the Education Committee.
- Kingsol Chabalala MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.
- Leanne De Jager MPL, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation.