Cases of important government buildings falling apart because the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) isn’t looking after them properly are getting worse. It’s clear now that DPWI isn’t doing its job of taking care of the government’s buildings.
From the rundown Telkom Towers where the police headquarters are, to the Parliament buildings that were damaged by fire in 2022, DPWI’s record of managing assets is causing big problems for the country.
Because DPWI is failing so badly, the DA wants a complete review of its responsibilities. They think other government departments should have more control over their own buildings. If this doesn’t happen, it could mean more wasted money as departments try to find other places to work from.
The Auditor-General (AG) has been warning for a long time that DPWI’s Property Management Trading Entity (PMTE), which looks after government buildings, is causing problems because they’re not managing the properties well. The AG says too much taxpayer money is being wasted on fixing up buildings that still aren’t suitable for people to use.
One example of this mess is the police headquarters at Telkom Towers. It’s been reported that nearly R1 billion has been spent fixing it up, even though it was bought for R700 million in 2015. Despite all that money spent on renovations, the building might still have to be emptied because it’s falling apart.
Minister Sihle Zikalala says his Department will investigate what’s gone wrong at Telkom Towers, but it seems like a weak attempt to hide how badly PMTE is managing government properties. This isn’t a new problem – the AG flagged issues with Telkom Towers in 2021 and again recently.
On top of all this, DPWI is still paying rent for the police to use other buildings when they should have moved into Telkom Towers ages ago.
It’s worrying that PMTE, which is struggling to manage assets properly, is in charge of looking after buildings for important departments like Health, Defence, Home Affairs, Higher Education, and Justice. If we don’t act fast to let departments manage their own buildings, it could make the government’s service delivery problems even worse.
By Sello Seitlholo
