SAPS HQ fiasco: MPs lose patience with Public Works Minister

MPs voiced their frustration about not being sent the Telkom Towers forensic report during a Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure meeting on Tuesday. Photo: Matthew Hirsch

• MPs on the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure expressed impatience on Tuesday with progress on the investigation into the Telkom Towers fiasco.
• The complex, bought in 2016 as headquarters for the SAPS, has been declared unsafe and is empty.
• MPs complained that a forensic report ordered by Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson had not yet been made available to the committee.

MPs have lost patience with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and Minister Dean Macpherson over the Telkom Towers investigation.

The Telkom Towers complex, purchased in 2016 for nearly R700-million to serve as the headquarters for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Pretoria, was evacuated in February last year and has been vacant ever since.

Macpherson launched an investigation into the purchase of the complex in August last year. But at a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure on Tuesday, MPS voiced their frustration that they had not been sent the report into the investigation.

The portfolio committee had applied for a joint sitting with the select committee, but this was cancelled at the last minute.

In a letter which was read out to the committee, Macpherson said: “I wish to apologise for the late submission of the presentations. The Department’s failure to provide the necessary documentation timeously undermines the important work of the Portfolio Committee in exercising oversight and holding government to account.”

“I must also express my serious concern with this recurring issue. As Minister, I have consistently made it clear that all draft documents must be submitted to my office at least one week prior to tabling. This allows adequate time for review and, where necessary, amendments.”

“Unfortunately, the draft Telkom Towers presentation was only submitted to my office yesterday evening. Upon review, a number of material concerns were identified and returned for rectification. Such repeated lapses are unacceptable, and my tolerance in this regard has now reached its limit,” said Macpherson.

He said he had requested that the Director-General’s office initiate “disciplinary processes against the officials responsible” for the late submission.

But MPs were not satisfied.

Sipho Mahlangu (ANC) rejected the apology and the letter. He said he wanted the forensic report. “The Minister must not take us for granted. It’s not the first time that documents arrive late. He must take us seriously.

“He can’t communicate with us through letters. The report that he’s referring to is not what we expected. In October last year, we received the same report. I’m proposing that we reject the same presentation.”

Siyabonga Gama (MK) said the issue had been ongoing for several years. “There are costs that government continues to incur. It is not in the interest of government that this matter be delayed any further,” he said.

The chair of the committee, Carol Phiri (ANC), also expressed frustration. “Every meeting we always discuss an apology,” she said.

Department of Public Works Deputy Minister Sihle Zikalala told the committee that he would have expected an action plan with the report. “It has not been given to me,” he said.

In a written response to a question in Parliament from Malebo Kobe (Action SA) dated 25 July, Macpherson had said the forensic report had not been finalised.

“The investigations relating to the Telkom Towers precinct are currently still in progress. As such, a final forensic report has not yet been concluded. Once the investigation is complete and the report is finalised, appropriate processes will be followed regarding its release,” he said.

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