'Ghost' buildings cost government R60m

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi says the government is wasting R60m a year on buildings that are vacant or occupied by illegal tenants. Image: GCIS

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi revealed this ahead of his departmental budget vote in the National Assembly. He said this was shown by a Treasury audit of more than 2,000 properties leased by government.

Dhaya Govender, the Public Works' Interim Head of the Property Division, said most of the buildings were occupied by strangers and cost taxpayers at least R900,000 a month per building. They were located in Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Despite this, Nxesi insisted he had stabilised the scandal-prone department in the last two years. Nxesi, however, warned that the government faced a huge risk as no lease agreements could be found for another 578 leased buildings.

The matters have been referred to the Special Investigating Unit, which has been pivotal in helping Nxesi clean up the troubled department he started leading in 2012.

Charges of fraud, corruption likely

Nxesi said many officials in his department and businesses trading with them could be charged with corruption, and many more hauled before courts in a bid to recoup monies paid fraudulently.

The minister said he had already introduced systems to stop payments related to vacant properties.

The deserted and damaged Marshall Street Barracks that is one of thousands of dilapidated buildings owned by the government. Image: Heritage Portal

He said 75 of the 90 cases investigated by the SIU had been finalised, resulting in seven officials being fired and civil action being instituted against employees and contractors in eight matters. Nxesi said another 23 had taken the easy route and resigned.

However, he could not say with certainty that his department's new five-year term would be without any scandals like Nkandla.

"We can only say we are putting in systems to ensure we are able to prevent such incidents but criminals are very sophisticated," he said.

Operation Bring Back

Nxesi said he would soon be launching "Operation Bring Back" aimed at recovering land and other properties stolen from the state a few years before the democratic administration came into office in 1994.

He said these included land parcels and a range of properties that in some instances have been converted into bed and breakfast outlets without the state benefiting from the proceeds.

Nxesi said most of the stolen assets were in the former Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei.

These included dilapidated buildings in small towns and several cities. He said the government was ready for what appeared to be an indefinite legal battle to seize the stolen assets.

"The process will not take us less than three years. You find some of these people are very rich and always ready to go all out in court," he said.

"Those buildings now belong to individuals. They are using them as houses and bed and breakfast establishments but there are no records of any transactions that have been done," he said.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge