Parliamentary Villages: briefing

Meeting report

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
30 May 2006
PARLIAMENTARY VILLAGES: BRIEFING

Chairperson: Mr F Bhengu (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Parliamentary Villages presentation

SUMMARY
The Department of Public Works briefed the Committee on the status report and plans for parliamentary villages. The Committee expressed concern about payment to the Graaf Trust to remove restrictive title conditions from the deeds of land owned by the Department. The Committee said Members of Parliament were dissatisfied with the services provided in Parliamentary Villages and the length of time they had had to wait for new furniture. The Department would investigate poor service delivery and said they were subject to severe budgetary constraints. The Committee was concerned about the limitations of the budget for new furniture.

MINUTES
Mr T Camane (Deputy Director-General of the Department of Public Works) briefed the Committee on the parliamentary villages. Burglar bars had been installed on windows in Acacia Park, Block C and Block D. This was completed in June 2005. Burglar gates were installed at Laboria Park in April 2006. The South African Police Service (SAPS) had increased staff at the main gates of the parks. Access cards would be issued to dependents residing in the village to improve security.

A two year contract was awarded in November 2005 until October 2007 for the transportation of school learners and officials. The tender for transportation of Members of Parliament (MPs) closed on 19 May 2006 and was under review. R2 million was made available for furniture upgrades at the approximately 1000 units in the parks for the current financial year. Five show houses would be furnished, after which a three year plan, depending on fund availability, would be compiled to replace existing furniture. This would have to be aligned to the renovation of residences.

The Parliamentary Villages Management Board had held three meetings during 2005/2006. The next meeting was scheduled for 21 June 2006. A Workshop was planned by the Board on the 13 June 2006 where the roles of different stakeholders would be clarified. The amendments of the Parliamentary Board Act would be discussed at the next Board meeting.

Expenditure for 2005/2006 was R14 824 678 for maintenance and R2 026 814 for municipal services.

Annual building plans compiled by WSP Sidibene (a contractor) would be ratified and a priority plan would be compiled to do interim maintenance. Priority would be given to structures that did not uphold health and safety standards followed by general conditions of the units.

The restrictive conditions on the title deed to Acacia Park by the Graaf Trust was removed for R110 million. This consolidated ownership of the land by the Department. A feasibility study was done to weigh up the benefit of removing the restrictions or of moving the residences elsewhere. Consolidation of the three parks at Acacia Park was being investigated. This would consolidate them into one boundary and reduce transport time and costs. Consultants were investigating the independent supply of water and electricity to Acacia Park. A feasibility study of upgrading all prefabricated units was being investigated.

Discussion
The Chairperson asked what the R110 million payment meant and if the land belonged the Department.

Mr F Johnson (Cape Town Regional Manager of the Department of Public Works) said the land had always belonged to the Department, but the use of the land was restricted. The payment removed these restrictions.

Mr B Radebe (ANC) questioned the payment of R110 million for land that already belonged to the department. He asked that the Committee be given a copy of the study.

Ms T Nwamitwa-Silubana (ANC) enquired if the R110 million was only to remove restrictions. She asked, if it had been paid, why the transfer was taking so long.

Mr Camane said it was not the intention of the Department to exclude the Committee on the removal of the restrictions. The Department had had briefings with the Committee on the issue. The title deed gave the option for the acquisition of the property with a formula. Two independent valuations of the property were done. The Department would provide details of the study and a copy of the title deed.

Mr Radebe asked for clarity regarding office hours at the Parks. Previously the office hours were longer but the service slower. Now office hours were shorter but the service was very efficient.

Mr Camane said he had taken note of the problem regarding office hours and said the Department needed to work out what would be feasible for each Park.

Mr Radebe said the transportation for children did not wait for the children’s childminder or parent and had even dropped them off outside the gates. He requested that they be taken to their child minder or parent.

Mr Camane said it was not acceptable for children to be dropped off outside Parks. He said it needed to be discovered if that was an isolated incident, why it happened or whether it was part of the contract.

Ms Nwamitwa-Silubana asked for clarity regarding the size and borders of Acacia park and how all three Parks could be consolidated into one.

Mr Camane said Acacia Park was about 25 hectares. Mr Johnson said the Department had consulted with a town planner and was awaiting its report.

Ms Nwamitwa-Silubana said the R2 million budget for furniture was not enough and asked what the requirements were for obtaining the budget.

Mr Maduma asked if the furniture process would be completed in three years.

Mr Johnson said the requested budget was R14 million to replace all the furniture for all the houses but Treasury had only made R2 million available. The Department was continually asking for more funds to ensure that the process would happen within three weeks.

Mr Camane said in certain cases the replacement of furniture would depend on the budget and whether the funds were available.

The Chairperson asked if the furniture would only come after renovations were complete and asked why the two were linked. Mr Camane said the renovations were a separate fund from the furniture and both were dependent on funds. He said renovations and new furniture did not have to be linked.

Mr L Maduma (ANC) said that members complained about the services rendered to them at their residences.
The Chairperson reiterated that service problems were taking too long to sort out.

Mr Camane said the Deparment had taken note of the problems relating to services and the issue would be discussed within the Department. He said the Department would appreciate comments through the offices at the parks.

Ms Nwamitwa-Silubana said she would like the Committee to be taken on board regarding the show houses. She noted that the request for new furniture had happened ten years before. Furniture was so old it was breaking. This was frustrating and it seemed that MPs were not taken seriously. She asked why only R2 million had been granted.

Ms N Mdaka (ANC) noted that it was painful to stay in Acacia Park and that complaints have been made since 2004. She said things were broken, for example her dining room table and toilet, there was no hot water after 5am.

The Chairperson said these were clear reflections of the situation.

Ms Nwamitwa-Shilubana expressed concern over the criteria for buying furniture, considering the limited budget.

Mr Camane said the problems regarding service could not be explained but needed to be fixed. There were serious budgetary constraints regarding new furniture and renovations, noting that only R2 million out of the R14 million requested had been made available. The Department’s approach would not be to defend the indefensible but to do its best to deal with the problem of service delivery. The show houses would show what was proposed in terms of standards and fittings. The workshop would discuss acceptable standards and costs, and expenditure priorities.

The Chairperson said that the SAPS could not accompany workers to houses and that members needed to be present but this was difficult during the week. He asked if workers could come at weekends.

Mr H Cupido (ACDP) noted that most of the problems stemmed from Acacia Park. He asked what the role of the manager was during the day and suggested that the manager accompanied maintenance teams to houses.

Mr Camane said a system should be devised to redefine the roles of the SAPS and the manager and see where capacity needed to be added.

Mr Johnson said he would ask the Board to include the Committee at the Workshop on 13 June 2006. They needed to clarify who the stakeholders were and what their duties were.

The Chairperson said that Parliament and SAPS should be included on the Board. The Committee could go to the Workshop but any amendments would have to be reviewed by the Committee anyway.

Mr B Dhlamini (IFP) asked if there was a document that described the standards for MP’s houses because standards were currently determined by "who knows who at the Department."

Mr Camane said the Parks had been inherited and they were using what was there, therefore there were no standards specifications.

Mr S Huang (ANC) asked about the increase of SAPS staff at the gate, noting that he had seen them barbecue outside. The gates were not opened quickly for MPs and they were not given the dignity they deserved. He noted that deliveries could not always get through the gate.

Mr Camane said the problem of lack of service from SAPS highlighted the need for the SAPS to be represented on the Board.

Mr Huang asked why burglar bars were put on doors and not windows in some places.

Mr R Sidumo (Park Manager) said they prioritised putting burglar bars on houses that had been burgled. Burglar bars were a priority but they could not continue due to budgetary constraints and more funds had been requested. The Chairperson said this issue needed further deliberation within the Department.

Mr Huang noted dissatisfaction with the bus service. Mr Sidumo said there had been occasions where non-MPs were asked to get off a bus to accommodate MPs. There was no ticketing system but it was a problem to remove a person from a bus who was not meant to be there. The Chairperson said firm regulations were needed to govern the system.

The Chairperson asked if the Department’s budgetary submission to Treasury was convincing. He noted that MPs were not looking for luxury, but habitable, normal living conditions. He said that it seemed like officials did not take MPs seriously. He asked who came first regarding allocations, noting that it seemed like it was senior members of the Department. He noted that there were MPs who had been living in prefabricated constructs since 1994; this was not acceptable.

Mr Sidumo said officials who occupied better accommodation had been requested to move. In the E Block, no officials were occupying 2 or 3 bedroom units. He suggested a register be provided to prevent inconsistencies. The Chairperson noted that allegations often pointed to the manager and things he had allowed to happen.

Mr Camane said the submissions to Treasury were comprehensive and offered to provide copies of them to the Chairperson.

Mr Cupido suggested a survey be conducted.

Mr Johnson said a survey had been requested and would be conducted in the next few weeks.

Mr Camane said the show houses would be used to determine standards. The Department had taken note of what needed to be done to move forward and took the issues seriously. The Department would report back to the Committee.

The meeting was adjourned.