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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is disappointed to learn that the Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) has once again failed to meet its targets set for the first quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year.

This information was revealed in the department’s first quarter report, which indicated that only 50% of the targets were fully met, despite 97% of the budget being spent.

Some of the targets that were not met include BEE targets, the appointment of candidates in learnerships, the completion of projects, maintenance, statutory inspection of hospital boilers, lifts and fire-fighting equipment as well as the number of unemployed people placed on EPWP programmes.

In addition, the department has extreme difficulty in completing its projects within the stipulated time frame and within budget. Furthermore, there is no expertise or resources available to manage the R43 billion property portfolio.

According to the department some of these targets were not met due to poor performance by contractors, community protests and IT connectivity problems.

This shocking performance by the department under the new MEC, Tasneem Motara, indicates that there is no political will to turn around a department that has had consistent poor performance over the last five years.

It is high-time that the MEC takes the bull by the horns and holds her officials to account and takes action where needed. If this is not done then we will be saddled with five more years of poor performance.

I will be tabling questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to ascertain exactly what measures are being put in place to ensure that this department meets all its targets set for the 2019/2020 financial year.

Issued by DA