The purpose of a government is to govern – whether it is at the local, provincial or national level.
So I get heartily sick and tired of hearing how one or other member of government has enriched himself or herself at the expense of the taxpayer who keeps paying their salaries.
Yet another case of government blundering emerged last week in eThekwini's Umlazi township where a housing contract worth R300m has been halted because the contracting company, with the dubious name of Zikhulise Cleaning and Maint. & Trans CC, has failed to deliver the 4,500 houses they were supposed to build.
Worse still, the firm is not registered with the National Home Builders' Registration Council (NHBRC). It was, but its membership expired in 2007 and it should not have been allowed to build even one house if it was not enrolled with this organisation.
Zikhulise's owner, Shauwn Mpisane, who is married to millionaire former Metro policeman Wiseman S'bu Mpisane, claims that work on the site was stopped because the council had stopped paying her company.
eThekwini council's spokeswoman, Beatrice Motsisi, has denied this.
Interestingly though, Zikhulise's status on eThekwini's own website shows that its membership of the NHBRC has expired and it says that only two houses have been built there. R300m for two houses built by a non-member of the NHBRC!
The R300m contract was awarded to Zikhulise to build 4,500 houses. That hasn't happened and now in 2010 it emerges that the company hasn't even been a member of the NHBRC since 2007. But R300m has been paid to the firm.
If you ask me there's certainly something very fishy going on.
First of all, how does a company such as Zikhulise get a R300m contract in the first place? That's not an insignificant project and it's not something that a man or woman with a bakkie and a handlanger could do over weekends.
Contracts such as this take a lot of skill, know-how and specialised building experience. Such projects require experienced and skilled management. Ask any one of the many reputable building companies in South Africa and they will confirm this in no uncertain terms.
However, some government official (or a group of officials) in offices in eThekwini's council decided that Zikhulise was the right company for the job. Presumably these officials had checked Zikhulise's credentials to ensure that it could deliver fine buildings and high standards of craftsmanship backed by exceptionally capable management.
Pull the other leg – this one's been pulled off already.
Having wasted R300m the council has stopped paying the Mpisane's. How did it take so long for the council to stop paying? Surely somebody, somewhere must have driven past the site? Surely the claims submitted were checked against the reality of what was being built?
Clearly not.
It's way too much trouble for a councillor to get out and inspect what's happening in his or her wards. It's much too much trouble for a payment clerk to check that the work was done before approving the claim for payment.
The money is gone – although maybe some of it might be reclaimed – so there's little point, I think, in saying that the NHBRC could, in terms of the Housing Protection Measures Act, impose a fine of R25k and/or a prison sentence of up to one year for every house that has not been registered.
Zikhulise's owners could face a maximum penalty of R112m and/or up to 4,500 years in jail. And maybe that's what should happen to anyone who doesn't do what the law insists they should do.
The other point is that some government official awarded the contract to this organisation. How did that happen?
My own opinion is that laziness, idleness, stupidity or worst of all, possible self-enrichment, played a key role in reaching this decision.
Clearly our government officials are failing our people.
Of course the Mpisanes have benefited from the payments made to them by the eThekwini council. In fact, the married couple are apparently living in the lap of luxury in a mansion in La Lucia with a fleet of cars that are rumoured to be worth at least R100m.
The Mpisanes' house – complete with armed guards to patrol the perimeter – is valued at R7m on the municipal valuations' role, but estate agents working in the area who are familiar with the property estimate it's worth about R15m.
According to a report published in the Saturday Star, the Umlazi site has some houses on it, but one of these houses has already collapsed and others show signs of seepage with watermarks running through the second-storey slab into the lounge below.
Hardly the sign of quality building work.
At this stage it's not clear exactly how many homes have been completed, but they have not been plastered yet and those ones that have been built on a steeply inclined ridge, have foundations that are exposed because of erosion from the wet and humid Durban climate.
Portable toilets are being used by some of the residents because the houses don't have working toilets. The portable toilets are intended for the workmen on site.
As the houses are not enrolled with the NHBRC, they have not been inspected either.
According to eThekwini's city manager, Michael Sutcliffe, R300m has been paid to the Mpisane's for the work that should have been done, but clearly hasn't been.
In this case, like so many other failed housing contracts, there is only one entity to blame: the government itself.
Officials chosen from the ranks of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), because the officials who awarded the contract did so on behalf of the council and the council run the government.
So it is the local government officials who, yet again, have failed the people and I'm heartily sick of this.
The money is not the issue because government officials who have the interests of the people at heart are there to spend the money wisely. The lack of government ability is the issue and I don't care if the officials concerned are part of national, provincial or local government.
They need to be fired or, preferably, be jailed for their actions.
And, taxpayers and tenants are guilty of only one thing: voting for useless, incompetent and stupid representatives who need to be expunged from government.
*Hartdegen writes a regular column for Property24.com. The content of his columns constitutes his personal opinion and doesn't pretend to be facts or advice. Contact him at paddy@neomail.co.za.
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Totally agree, Paddy! The corruption in government makes one truly sick! The only hope is that a lot of moderate Black folks, who have around 80% of the voting power here, realise that THEY too are being taken for a complete ride with the ANC's corruption and mismanagement and vote against it. We have the potential to be a great country, but it's being horribly messed up right now by incompetent and corrupt people. – Alan
Do not even talk about NHBRC inspectors to me. Now you ask Mr Sexwale for me: “How can a competent inspector not see visible cracks in the floor slab and walls of a house that is in the process of being build!!!!! He (the inspector) visited the site before and after we asked our architect to do a site visit. We could see that there were serious structural problems, the architect confirmed that but the NHBRC inspector did not notice this. How convenient!!!!!! Obviously this is incompetence or self enrichment of the NHBRC.”
Have you got any link that I can follow to get to Mr Sexwale???? – Carmen Carstens
Sexwale's spokesman reportedly said in last nights Daily News that the eThekweni Municipality are going to be sued for the 300 million. That is just making the hard pressed ratepayers suffer even more as the Municipality will just use ratepayers money to defend its incompetence. The Mpisane's should - just for starters - have both their mansions attached and auctioned as well as the fleet of exotic cars and their bank accounts frozen. Then they should be fined and jailed. Next our sycophantic City Manager, Sutcliff, Useless Mayor Mlaba, Finance Head Kumar and a few choice others who all awarded themselves "Scarce Skills" allowances surreptitiously last year - should be kicked out as well as being investigated by the Hawks for what every ratepayer suspects to be rampant corruption with all the jobs for pals that are awarded. The local papers have letters every day from ratepayers aghast at what this band of INCOMPETENTS have done to what was our own wonderful surf and holiday capital. It is now known simply as "dirty Durban". – Jenny
