/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

During a meeting of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts today, it emerged that the Department of Human Settlements (DoHS) has been flagrantly contravening all legislation relating to the awarding of tenders to implementing agents for the delivery of the Rural Household Infrastructure Programme (RHIP).

About 2,6 million households still do not have access to basic sanitation services. The RHIP was set up to accelerate the delivery of basic services to rural households and these contraventions are a major setback to enhancing human dignity, quality of life and living standards for South Africans living in rural communities.

The committee meeting followed the release, earlier this month, of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA)’s special performance audit of the RHIP, which found that, between 2010 and 2013, only R501 million of the allocated R1.2 billion had been spent on building Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) toilets across the country.

It has also emerged that the DoHS failed to spend more than R700 million of its allocated funds. The AGSA further found that the department failed to monitor the delivery of toilets by the outsourced management firms.

In awarding the contracts to these firms no service level agreements between the department and management consultants were signed and the listing of actual deliverables and performance indicators were non-existent. These firms were paid in full in advance for shoddy and poor workmanship in delivering VIP toilets.

My colleague, DA Spokesperson on SCOPA, David Ross MP, has already written to the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer requesting full disclosure as to how goods and services were contracted, and to outline what action has been taken against the long list of non-compliance with procurement policies.

Acting DG Ntshangane was evasive in his responses and tried to shift the blame onto lower level staffers for not conducting proper oversight. We will await the outcome of the Chief Procurement Officer and demand that those responsible be held accountable.

Furthermore, the DA will closely monitor all grants to ensure the Rural Household Infrastructure Grant (RHIG) scenario does not take place ever again and that anyone responsible for abusing the public purse by circumventing legislation is held accountable. The DoHS cannot continue rewarding officials who think their only task is to spend money without any checks and balances.

The Rural Household Infrastructure Grant (RHIG) was established in 2010 by the Department of Human Settlements to fast track the rate of toilet delivery in the RHIP. It is essential that it works, so that millions of South Africans can access basic services that will afford them the dignity they deserve.

Issued by DA