Lindiwe Sisulu on how Eastern Cape Housing Took a Blow as Govt Failed to Spend R338m Budget
- Minister Lindiwe Sisulu recently revealed that the Eastern Cape Housing Department was unable to build some much-needed new houses for residents in the area
- According to Sisulu, Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 are the reason why the housing department was unable to complete the building projects, which had been given a R338 million budget
- Sisulu also clarified that the money was reallocated to Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and the Western Cape to be used for their building needs instead
- Meanwhile, many have accused the Eastern Cape government of corruption amounting to millions of rand after "shacks" were built for residents of Duncan Village in the Eastern Cape and not proper homes
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Minister Lindiwe Sisulu recently announced that the Eastern Cape Housing Department was unable to complete a housing project in the area with the R338 million budget, leaving Duncan Village residents in “temporary transitional residential units".
Covid-19 delays
According to the Human Settlements Minister, Covid-19 regulations meant that many contractors were unable to complete their work while the pandemic also resulted in a shortage of material supplies.
Source: Getty Images
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Sisulu also revealed that the money, which was meant to build houses in Duncan Village, was then reallocated to four other provinces; Gauteng, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga, News24 reports.
Corruption and looting allegations
Meanwhile, the Mail & Guardian has reported that residents of the Duncan Village are not happy in their temporary homes and have referred to them as "a waste of money" and a means for looting funds meant to build housing. Many of them also questioned why they were moved from one shack to another shack.
Lindiwe Sisulu's Cuban employment drama
In other Briefly News reports, Human Settlement, Water and Sanitation Minister Lindiwe Sisulu stood firmly by her decision to employ 24 Cuban engineers to assist in the repairing of leaks and other water problems.
This includes the Vaal River spillage after criticism was directed at her by ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba and AfriForum, which were against the appointment of the engineers.
Sisulu defended her decision and stated that the main reason for the agreement is to gain the Cuban engineers' infrastructure maintenance and operational skills. This will assist throughout the water value change from the source to the tap.
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Source: Briefly News
