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The ANC-run Gauteng province has failed to spend a single cent from the R265 million allocated for the upgrading of Informal Settlements in the municipalities of Merafong, Westonaria and Randfontein in the current financial year.

This emerged at the Human Settlements Portfolio Committee meeting yesterday, where the Department was tabling its fourth quarter report. The R265 million was allocated as part of the Revitalisation of Mining Towns.

This is a serious indictment on the ANC-run province, which has shown that it does not care about the people of the West Rand. There are many informal settlements in the municipalities of Merafong, Randfontein and Westonaria that could have benefitted from these funds. It is near criminal that a province still fails to spend money earmarked to uplift the poorest of the poor in our society.

The DA has called on the Chairperson of the Committee to summon the MEC of Human Settlements in Gauteng, Paul Mashatile, to appear before the committee and explain why the province failed to spend one red cent in this regard.

For the alleviation of poverty in South Africa, it is of paramount importance that government prioritises the upgrading of informal settlements. It is completely unacceptable that money allocated to the poor is not spent leaving the poor to further languish without the necessary services to which they are entitled.

Issued by DA