INLSA

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi

Members of Parliament were astounded this week as they listened to the result of an SA Police Service audit of buildings leased on their behalf by the Department of Public Works.

The exercise – conducted in the wake of the discovery in 2010 that there was no such record – revealed that the chaotic administration at Public Works has left the SAPS high and dry.

In short, it showed a complete breakdown of the department’s ability to deliver on its mandate to procure and maintain premises for the police.

SAPS chief operations officer Bonang Mgwenya noted that police had faced eviction for unpaid rentals on some premises, that water and electricity arrears had meant that these services were cut at others, and that where bills were being paid, this was often at inflated rates.

Additionally, there appears to be a complete breakdown of communication between the SAPS management and Public Works – with the SAPS claiming that until landlords arrived with eviction orders, it was unaware of the looming problem.

The squalor of police barracks described by the DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard is a further reflection of Public Works’s failure.

It should be no surprise that Parliament has also been told of staggering absenteeism figures, with average annual sick leave at some police stations reaching more than 30 working days.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi has admitted his department is in chaos, with no system for spotting irregular expenditure, and much unaccounted-for spending. He has asked for tolerance for a period of “stabilisation” to fix systems.

This may be necessary, but without a parallel – and aggressive – process of criminal prosecution of wrongdoers, and the immediate introduction of a system which ensures that service providers are paid, it will not be enough to stem the crisis.