Share

Govt tackles 'shoddy' RDP houses

Johannesburg - Steps were being taken to rectify badly-built RDP houses and to hold responsible parties accountable, the department of human settlements said on Wednesday.

Human settlements director-general Thabane Zulu said the department would soon introduce a house rectification programme to deal with defective houses built from 2002.

He said the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was also conducting investigations into several housing contracts, and that scores of people had already been convicted.

"Contractors who were responsible for this shoddy workmanship are currently being prosecuted and public monies being recovered," said Zulu.

"On the issue of public servants from various national, provincial and local municipalities who fraudulently benefited from [the] government housing programme, the department revealed that 1 061 such officials were prosecuted between 2010 and 2012," he said.

Of these, 1002 had been convicted.

Zulu was responding to a call from Public Protector Thuli Madonsela for feedback from the department about its progress in dealing with problems with RDP houses.

Madonsela's office is conducting its own investigation into the matter.

Zulu told the portfolio committee on housing that investigations had revealed that RDP housing problems included the allocation of houses.

She said there were also issues of procurement irregularities, including corruption and fraud, and post-allocation problems, including missing title deeds and the illegal sale of RDP houses.

Zulu said the department was working on setting up a project management unit to help fix the problems.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.02
-0.6%
Rand - Pound
24.01
-0.5%
Rand - Euro
20.53
-0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.35
-0.0%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.6%
Platinum
900.40
+0.4%
Palladium
998.40
-0.3%
Gold
2,210.05
+0.7%
Silver
24.65
+0.0%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,079
+0.6%
All Share
74,269
+0.5%
Resource 10
56,875
+2.2%
Industrial 25
103,593
+0.3%
Financial 15
16,463
-0.4%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders