[Finally, the chicken s come home to roost… and Government buildings are falling apart. Now let’s put this in perspective. This is a Government which for 11 years has collected far more taxes than any White Govt ever did, and which also received money from overseas. So how come, buildings are now falling apart? It must be a combination of: Mismanagement, Socialism wasting the money, internal theft and corruption. Jan]

Government buildings are in danger of falling apart (in fact, some already have) and a massive R12,5-billion is needed to address the maintenance backlog.

Public Works Minister Stella Sigcau said in her budget vote speech on Wednesday that the backlog was due to decades of under-funding, and that an additional R2,5-billion was needed annually to prevent it growing.

The total public works department budget for 2005-2006 is R7,5-billion, with just R927-million of this earmarked for maintenance.

‘The maintenance backlog is another animal we must deal with before all our properties disappear’
“The maintenance budget is insufficient to meet ongoing maintenance needs, let alone address the backlogs,” the minister said.

She noted that it would allow for just R10 000 to be spent per building every year.

Democratic Alliance MP Sydney Opperman echoed calls for a larger maintenance budget.

“The maintenance backlog is another animal we must deal with before all our properties disappear into the depreciation crevasse,” he said. “To maintain 100 972 facilities with this budget is not feasible. It is just speeding up the coming plunge.”

Last year, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang complained that the functioning of her department was being severely affected by the run-down state of the Civitas building in Pretoria.

Burst waterpipes, telecommunications problems and fire threats were some of the problems that eventually drove the department out of the building.

Ntopile Kganyago, deputy minister of public works on Wednesday said that R175-million had been identified to repair Civitas.

Opperman also pointed to problems at an old army base at Jozini near Swaziland. “During our last provincial visit we were shocked to see our properties, apart from being vandalised, just being used by whosoever for whatsoever. It has become a free-for-all,” he said.

The problems around maintaining government buildings have been exacerbated by the fact that there has been no comprehensive register of immovable assets.

Sigcau told MPs that the register was now in place.

“What we are busy with now is to update the information on the register and we have certified R10-million a year for the next three years to improve the register,” she said.

This article was originally published on page 4 of Pretoria News on April 14, 2005

Source: Independent Online (IOL)
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click…/p>