Engagement with DPWI, SAPS and City of Ekurhuleni: Brackenhurst and Brackendowns Residents Petition; with Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson said the meeting was a continuation of a previous meeting held to consider the petition of DA Member, Ms T Bodlani, on behalf of the residents of Brackenhurst and Brackendowns.

She again raised a concern that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) was not responsive to the Committee's requests, and had not submitted a presentation seven days prior to the meeting.

Ms M Hicklin (DA) expressed her dissatisfaction with the DPWI. She asked the Department to get their house in order as this was not the only time that they had not submitted a presentation, or had submitted their presentations late. She was of the view that it was a sign of disrespect for the Committee and the work they do.

Ekhuruleni Metro Municipality Response to Petition

Cllr Kgopelo Hollo, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC): Real Estate Management, Ekurhuleni, introduced Dr Rudi Mdima, Senior Business Development Executive: Department of Real Estate Management, to do the presentation on behalf of the municipality.

Dr Mdima said that on 29 August 2022, an in-loco inspection was undertaken by the City of Ekurhuleni’s Real Estate Department to inspect Erf 3231, Brackendowns Ext 5, in response to a query received from the local ward councillor requesting the department to comment on the possibility and viability of disposing the property to the DPWI, to enable the South African Police Service (SAPS) to build a permanent police station on the property.

Upon investigation, the department established that the lease had been terminated on 30 June 2016 due to the non-payment of arrears. The tenant was still in arrears to the sum of R1 804 340, as of May 2023. The department, however, noted the DPWI's claim that they were up to date with their accounts, where they paid all their rentals as a lump sum, and hence the City could not allocate the amounts to this specific lease. The national DPWI had more than one account with the City.

The City had requested the NDPWI to send them a reconciliation of these payments so that they could allocate the rentals to this account. It had suggested that the property could be disposed of by means of a “land exchange” process -- by including it in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) relating to the exchange of various metro-owned and province-owned land parcels identified by both the provincial government and the City of Ekurhuleni municipality for various mutual service delivery purposes.

The City proposed that, if approved by Council, the property would be permanently disposed of by means of a land exchange for a mutually agreeable property with the NDPWI. Furthermore, if a reconciliation of payments was submitted to the City and the NDPWI still owed any outstanding rental arrears, such arrears must be paid before transfer.

In order to facilitate similar issues in the future, the City also recommended that they enter into an MOU with the NPDWI regarding future land swops, disposals and leases. The City requested the NDPWI to allocate a specific person who would regularly liaise with the City regarding their accounts.

The City informed the Committee that although this matter pertained to Alberton only, there were other similar important issues, like KwaThema. The NDPW should also commit to this site so that people in
KwaThema could also get a similar benefit.

In closing, Dr Mdima noted that the City was of the opinion that it was the responsibility of the NDPWI to ensure that they looked for land almost equal to the subject property in size and value. Such a proposal must be signed off by the Director-General (DG), as the Accounting Officer of NDPWI, and be addressed to the City Manager as the Accounting Officer of the City.

The City had indicated that as a token that they were really serious about assisting, they were prepared to also issue them a Permission to Occupy (PTO), which would be valid for three months, to allow them to do all the necessary studies on the property. They were confident that the Council would have decided on the permanent transfer after three months. However, this would depend on how quickly the NDPWI could submit their proposal to the City Manager.

Dr Mdima noted that there had been very good cooperation from the SAPS, but the NDPWI had been non-responsive. He requested that the NDPWI also include properties such as the KwaThema police station in the consideration and assessments.

SAPS's response to petition

Maj Gen Anna Sithole informed the Committee that the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (NDPWI) was mandated in terms of the Government Immovable Asset Management Act (GIAMA) to facilitate the acquisition of accommodation for all departments. The devolution of custodial functions to Departments in terms of the signed MOU excluded the leasing of facilities for any form of accommodation needs, such as office accommodation, residential accommodation and storage facilities.

The NDPWI leased the Brackendowns Police Station from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan City for use by the South African Police Service (SAPS). The first date of occupation of the aforementioned facility was with effect from 1 May 2002. The current lease contract commenced on 1 May 2019, with an expiration date of 31 March 2028. The rental amount paid was R30 059.32 per month. The condition of the facility had deteriorated over the years in occupation due to neglected maintenance by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan City, and this had been raised with the NDPWI in an effort to find an amicable solution to the maintenance challenges at the station.

In 2017, the SAPS submitted a request to the NDPWI to purchase the leased facility from Ekurhuleni Metropolitan City. The request was underpinned by the fact that upon the finalisation of the purchase of the facility, the SAPS would then be in a position to utilise the capital/planned maintenance budget, and bring the station back to its desired condition.

Gen Sithole said that note should be taken that the objective was also an effort to circumvent the rapid dilapidation of the facility, as the metro was not in a financially viable position to fund the required maintenance due to the low rental amount paid. The SAPS, in turn, could not execute any maintenance requirements due to the limitations of the Public Financial Management Act (PMFA), which prohibits government departments from utilising state funding on leased facilities.

The purchase of the facility had stalled, and the SAPS was therefore left with no option but to activate a process for the procurement of alternative accommodation in 2021, but no tangible progress on the matter had been achieved. The relocation of the existing police station to a new site was not prioritised in the User Asset Management Plan (UAMP) plan by the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner. It was thus not catered for in the current medium term expenditure framework (MTEF).

She indicated that a number of challenges existed. The police station consisted of a small two-room brick-and-mortar building accommodating the community service centre (CSC), with inadequate ablution and detention facilities. The lack of proper detention facilities (cells) necessitated detainees being transported to neighbouring stations for detention. This impacted on service delivery and the availability of resources.

The rest of the station consisted of six park homes and prefabricated structures to accommodate the different functions performed by the SAPS. Two of the park homes were rented from Kwikspace and were maintained, but the remaining four state-owned park homes were in a poor state. There were no shelters or awnings in front of the park home office doors, resulting in flooding of the offices during rainy periods.

The police station did not cater for disabled members of the community due to the steps accessing the park home offices, as well as size and layout of the CSC.

The NDPWI could not do repairs and renovations, as the premises were owned by the Metro Municipality. During April 2019, part of the building in front of the police station, which was not attached to the police station, had burnt. Although reported to the Metro, no action had been taken to repair or demolish the structure. Current infrastructure, the condition of the station and inadequate office space impacted the morale of the members stationed at Brackendowns negatively.

It was therefore recommended that the acquisition of the property by NDPWI be accelerated, to allow for the necessary repair and renovations.

Discussion

Ms A Siwisa (EFF) expressed her dissatisfaction at the late submission of presentations to the Committee, as well as the obvious unpreparedness of the presenters. She asked why there was no presentation on the investigation and actions of the DPWI. Both the Ekurhuleni Metro and the SAPS had come with recommendations, but the DPWI was silent.

Ms M Hicklin (DA) quoted from her notes of the previous meeting on the Brackendowns Police Station, when the then Acting Director-General had said that the Department was committed to finding a permanent solution to the problem. He had requested the Ekurhuleni Municipality to come to the party and admitted that a temporary solution or alternative accommodation may take up to two years to be in place. He also said that the land belonged to Ekurhuleni Municipality, and the DPWI was fully paid up.

Ms Hicklin informed the Committee that she had information presented in an ordinary Council meeting, which showed that the DPWI owed the City over R1.6 million at that stage. She reiterated that the Portfolio Committee would hold the DPWI to its mandate to pay the bills and ensure an accurate and up-to-date immovable asset register.

She added that the Metro refused to lease land to the Department due to the outstanding amounts. To date, the Department has not provided any evidence contrary to this evidence provided by the Metro.

Mr I Seitlholo (DA) said it was very disappointing that the SAPS presentation had not provided any new information, but had merely repeated the information previously presented to the Committee. What the Committee wanted clarity on was the question of debt. The Ekurhuleni Municipality had stated that there was debt, but the Department had refuted these allegations as well as the allegations that they had been taken to court for debt. They would have wasted the Portfolio Committee’s time if there had been no presentation by the DPWI.

Mr W Thring (ACDP) said that this situation was concerning, as it impacted the rights of people. All parties involved must do everything to ensure that the people’s rights are protected.

Mr T Mashele (ANC) expressed concern that the presenters were giving the impression that this was the first meeting on this issue. The technocrats had to meet and find a solution. He asked the Minister to instruct officials to meet with the Ekurhuleni officials to resolve the matter. This was not where a political solution was required.

Ms Nyeleti Makhubele, Acting DG, DPWI, said that she had e-mailed the Department’s presentation on 5 May, and would forward the e-mail as proof thereof to the Committee.

Ms Siwisa indicated that it was unacceptable that the Department, if they had e-mailed the presentation, did not follow up to confirm that it was delivered. It showed disrespect to the Committee and set a precedent if they allowed the Department to present to the Committee.

The Committee agreed that the Department should not be granted an opportunity to make its presentation.

The Chairperson said that all stakeholders must meet and resolve the matter, and bring clear answers to the Committee.

Sihle Zikalala, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, apologised to the Committee, and agreed with the proposed process. He indicated that he had signed off on the report, but would look into the submission and what had gone wrong.

He said the interaction between the DPWI and its client departments must improve.

Adoption of minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 May were adopted.

The meeting was adjourned.