Human Settlements
With regard to his Department’s rental stock:
1. Whether the rental units in Sanddrift and Philip Kgosana Drive (de Waal Drive) that had been allocated to applicants before those allocations were reversed and/or suspended are currently being occupied by security guards; if so, (a) what are the reasons for the reversal or suspension of the allocation of the units and (b) why are these units occupied by security guards;
2. whether the security guards are allocated (a) per unit, (b) per day or (c) per night in the same complex; if not, why not; if so, (i) what are the relevant details and (ii) why is his Department not allocating one or two security guards per complex depending on proximity or distance of those vacant units;
3. what is the detailed breakdown of his Department’s (a) budget and (b) expenditure on security companies for the vacant rental units per month for the (i) 2019/20 and (ii) 2020/21 financial years, including the (aa) number and (bb) details of the rental units that were secured by the security guards per month in those financial years and (cc) details and (dd) duration of the contract to secure these rental units?
11.(1)(a) Vacant units were undergoing routine maintenance and standard upgrades for the new occupants. At the same time, discrepancies in rental allocation processes and rental payment determination was identified. In order to ensure fairness and transparency in allocation as well as recognizing the financial drains of unstable rental collection, I instructed that a Rental Turnaround Strategy be prioritised.
The Head of Department was instructed to undertake an audit of the current allocation processes and certain discrepancies were picked up, hence all allocations were placed on hold until a revised allocation policy is developed and agreed to. All public officials who are claiming entitlement to allocation based on unverified or undocumented statements are being placed on hold pending the outcomes of this investigation. At the same time, revised policies which ensures transparency and systems have been designed and a delegated, independent Allocations Committee has been established.
11.(b) The vacant units are not being occupied by security guards but are being protected from invasion and vandalism as per their shift work rotation.
11.(2) Security officers are allocated per unit, day and night in order to secure it against vandalism and illegal occupation until the next tenant is placed in the unit. These units are not all in proximity of each other and not all rental stock are apartment blocks e.g. Sanddrift has free-standing units.
11.(3)(a) The budget for Financial Year 2019/20 is R2.4 million (estimated R200 000.00 per month)
The budget for Financial Year 2019/20 is R1.8 million up to 31 December 2020 (estimated R200 000.00 per month)
11.(3)(b) Monthly expenditure for respective Financial Years are as follows:
FY19/20 | FY20/12 | ||
Apr-19 | 0 | Apr-20 | R275,137.50 |
May-19 | 0 | May-20 | R338,387.50 |
Jun-19 | 0 | Jun-20 | R375,705.00 |
Jul-19 | 0 | Jul-20 | R423,775.00 |
Aug-19 | 0 | Aug-20 | R440,220.00 |
Sep-19 | 0 | Sep-20 | R417,450.00 |
Oct-19 | R39,215.00 | Oct-20 | R466,785.00 |
Nov-19 | R70,207.50 | Nov-20 |
|
Dec-19 | R78,430.00 | Dec-20 |
|
Jan-20 | R98,670.00 | Jan-21 |
|
Feb-20 | R227,700.00 | Feb-21 |
|
Mar-20 | R671,715.00 | Mar-21 |
|
Total | R1,185,937.50 | Total | R2,737,460.00 |
11.(3) (aa) 13 Vacant rental units are guarded by security in the following areas;
11.(3) (bb) Sanddrift, Plumstead, De Waal Drive, Worcester and Stellenbosch.
11.(3)(cc) The following service providers were appointed:
Delta Corporate Security Services CC
- Secureforce Cape (Pty) Ltd.
11.(3) (dd) The service provider is appointed for the period 0I October 2019 to 31 December 2020.
