While millions of Gauteng youth are struggling to access sustainable job opportunities and to access funding for their start-up businesses, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) has wasted over R2.6 million building one RDP house in Evaton West.
This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) in a written reply to questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
According to MEC Maile, the NYDA appointed a service provider to build an RDP house in Evaton West because they have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Sedibeng District Municipality. The project started in mid-March and was completed in mid-October, and they spent over R2.6 million.
The request for the building of this house was tabled in the Sedibeng Council on 11 December 2020, seeking Council approval to build a house in Evaton West.
This follows a letter written by a grade eleven girl from Evaton dated 10 October 2019 to the Sedibeng MMC for Health and Social Development requesting the extension of the RDP house because there are too many occupants, while her mother is ill and unemployed.
The DA conducted an oversight inspection at the house and was disappointe.
“I am disappointed and shocked to discover that there was no extension, however, there was an additional house that was built and left incomplete,” said Gauteng DA MOL Kingsol Chabalala.
“There are no tiles in some of the rooms in the new house, and the walls have cracks.”
Chabalala says the house is not worth R2.6 million as the value of such a house is a mansion.
“The DA will be demanding to see a copy of the MOU between the NYDA and Sedibeng. The DA councilors in Sedibeng will request the MOU from the council and challenge the council to conduct an oversight inspection at the newly built house to determine whether there is value for the R2.6 million spent on it. This will allow us to as certain what role if any the council played in building a new house and if the council had any oversight over the building of this new structure. If it is found that due processes were not followed, we will be demanding that immediate action be taken against the officials and politicians involved.”
Chabalala says if it is found that taxpayers money was misused they will call people to account.
“Should it be found that taxpayers’ money was misused by officials and politicians they must pay back the money immediately and be held accountable. They must also fix the defects and complete the house,”
