M&G: Hundreds of govt officials caught for housing fraud

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-11-26-hundreds-of-govt-officials-caught-for-housing-fraud

Hundreds of govt officials caught for housing fraud
NATASHA MARRIAN | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Nov 26 2009 13:10

A total of 923 government officials have been brought to book by the Human Settlement Department’s crackdown on corruption, Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Thursday.

“We are hot on the steps of other people in government,” Sexwale said at a housing settlement meeting in Boksburg. “We cannot allow people to turn the poor into a business. This is morally reprehensible.”

Of those nabbed, 800 were from national and provincial government and 123 from local government. The information was contained in a report by the Special Investigation Unit, which heads the department’s special audit task team.

Sexwale said his department was not just “mouthing slogans”, but “giving teeth” to its drive to root out corruption.

Five members of the legal fraternity had also been struck of the roll for housing corruption.

Sexwale said 40 000 houses across the country were demolished or rectified because of poor workmanship. Two of these collapsed, causing the deaths of a 13-year-old youth and a woman.

“Clearly, somebody must account. The situation clearly follows from questionable contracts and building standards approved by government officials and implemented by the private sector.”

Sexwale wanted the “stamping out” of corruption to form part of Thursday’s meeting aimed at building partnerships between the government and private sector in the drive to build sustainable housing settlements in the country. He urged delegates to come up with ideas to “give the poor a voice”.

“We face a complex financial reality where the private sector too often adopts a wait-and-see attitude to financing the homes of the poor … this is a call for us to go the extra mile.”

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Statistics South Africa data showing that the country had emerged from recession did not mean “the South African economy was out of the woods”.

It was a “long haul” to real economic recovery, he said.

“At the level of national government departments, the division of revenue has seen a decline in allocations … the situation is not going to improve significantly,” he said.

This, coupled with the fact that the department was “confronted by a grotesque form of urbanisation” leading to an increase in informal settlements, needed careful thought to overcome.

“All stakeholders must understand that being financially poor does not mean intellectual ineptitude. That is why it is important to work with the poor. There are challenges confronting all of us … we must think and think things through in order to find appropriate solutions.”

The two-day meeting concludes on Friday. Participants include representatives from the mining and financial sectors. — Sapa