Question NW3803 to the Minister of Public Works
20 December 2018 - NW3803
Figg, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Public Works
What was the (a) address, (b) value, (c) size, (d) reason for not being utilised, (e) amount of rates and taxes paid on and (f) amount spent on the maintenance of each under-utilised and unutilised property owned by his department (i) in the (aa) 2015-16, (bb) 2016-17 and (cc) 2017-18 financial years and (iii) since 1 April 2018
Reply:
The estimated value of all vacant properties under the custodianship of the Department, based on the property use, type, condition and zoning amongst other valuable characteristics is R7,4 billion.
State-owned properties are vacant due to various reasons including the following:
- Residential properties no longer required by Clients of the Department of Public Works;
- Lack of demand for the utilisation of specific properties either by Government or the private sector; and
- Lack of funds by the Department to rebuild, refurbish or develop the property for utilisation.
The Department pays rates and taxes to municipalities annually for all properties within a certain municipality and not on individual properties.
The Department commissions maintenance projects on utilised properties in line with the available funds. There is no maintenance budget for vacant properties.