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The DA will be asking the Auditor General, Mr Terence Nombembe, to include an appraisal of the Department of Human Settlements’ (DHS) attempt to fudge sanitation figures in his review of delivery and implementation of the Rural Households Infrastructure Grant (RHIG).

Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, told the portfolio committee on Human Settlements this week that he will call on the Auditor-General (AG) to look into RHIG roll-out.

Last week, the DA revealed that the DHS were fudging RHIG delivery figures. The DHS indicated a 98% delivery rate in 2010/11 and an 87% delivery rate in 2011/12. Treasury, however, confirmed that that the delivery rate for 2010/11 was in fact 46% and that the rate for 2011/12 was 69%.

The RHIG is specifically targeted to address backlogs in rural settlements targeted at existing households without access to water and sanitation. With a budget of R1.2 billion for four years, it has become a matter of serious concern that the RHIG has failed to achieve its objectives and that the DHS seems to be providing misleading figures on delivery.

Section 5 of the Public Audit Act provides for the AG to carry out an investigation or special audit of a national department upon the receipt of a complaint or request. I will today be writing to the Auditor General, Mr Terence Nombembe, to ensure that he includes the inconsistent delivery figures in the scope of his investigation into the RHIG.

Decent quality sanitation services should not be a privilege to only a few. Every South African deserves this dignity. It is a welcome development that the Minister will ask the AG to intervene. We hope that his investigation sheds light into the inefficient implementation of this grant and the limited benefits that vulnerable communities have enjoyed from this programme.