By Anel Lewis
The N2 Gateway housing project has been fraught with political, rather than administrative, challenges, the national Department of Housing has said.
And the City of Cape Town - three years after it was removed from the project because of political differences with the provincial and national governments - has again been included in discussions about the management of the N2 Gateway.
A new intergovernmental agreement for the project could be on the table by September.
"After the 2006 local elections, there were issues around the project," housing director-general Itumeleng Kotsoane said.
"The (city's DA) leadership indicated they were not interested in the project. The political atmosphere affected the functioning of the project.
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"Thubelisha Homes (a Section 21 company) was asked (to take over management of the N2 Gateway) more because of the political challenges than administrative challenges."
Kotsoane said work was being done to revise the original agreement signed in 2005 by the three spheres of government, and a final agreement would be ready in two months.
The acknowledgement of political influence came during yesterday's parliamentary hearing on the Auditor-General's blistering report on mismanagement and irregularities in the N2 Gateway project.
Former MEC for housing and local government Richard Dyantyi was present, but not as a member of the provincial delegation.
The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) grilled the delegation about the decision to appoint Cyberia Technologies to manage the housing project.
The Auditor-General's office reported that the city council had begun a forensic investigation of Cyberia's contract when it came into power in 2006, but the investigation had not been completed because of a lack of documentation.
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