By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
25 March 2025 – The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements has raised concern about the management of the housing beneficiary lists for the Hillside View project in Mangaung in the Free State and called on all levels of government to work together to find urgent solutions. The committee yesterday concluded the first day of its week-long oversight visit to the Free State.
The Chairperson of Portfolio Committee, Nocks Seabi said it is concerning that the committee was informed that due to a contractual impasse, a contractor was responsible for the management of the list of beneficiaries, which has left the Department of Human Settlements with dual beneficiaries. Seabi said the committee has always maintained that an electronic list is critical to ensure that the right beneficiaries receive houses.
“It is completely unacceptable that the title deed registration was a contractor-driven process, which has led to discrepancies. The current challenges identified in Hillside View are the reason why the department must streamline its systems to ensure that the correct beneficiaries receive houses.
“The committee has, meanwhile, also raised concerns about the conflicting reports between the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality and the provincial Department of Human Settlements about the Caleb Motshabi informal settlement,” he said.
Seabi further said, while the committee welcomed the assurance that an audit will be done to assess the project’s progress, it is concerned that the municipality says the project is at 66% completion while the province says the project is complete. He added that the fact that there is this disparity highlights a somewhat smell of corruption, but they will have to wait for a full audit report to reach a conclusive finding.
“We urged the provincial department to improve its project management and monitoring to ensure that such disparities do not develop in the future.
“The committee finds it extremely unacceptable that two spheres of government could have such disparities on project implementation. What worries us more is the working relationship between the two spheres, post the oversight visit by the committee,” he said.
Seabi said they also remain worried about the reported infrastructure vandalism and illegal connections in Mangaung, which destroys infrastructure and leads to additional expenses. He said the committee emphasised the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies and the provincial Department of Human Settlements to prosecute those that are at fault and are destroying critical infrastructure.
“Meanwhile, we also raised concerns about the challenges military veterans face in accessing quality houses in the province. While we acknowledge that the current departmental leadership has made great strides in strengthening relations with military veterans, it remains concerning that the department largely ignored the veterans’ concerns about the types and quality of the houses.
“The current leadership must ensure accountability because officials are hired to serve the people and not to stonewall them. The committee also reiterated its concerns about the appointment of inadequate and incompetent contractors to deliver projects,” said Seabi.
He said the committee’s concerns are based on the fact that these appointments lead to substandard housing and delays, as well as subsequent challenges like vandalism, financial loss due to rectifications and unauthorised occupation of the units.
“It remains important that the department appoints competent contractors that are able to deliver projects on time and to the requisite standards. The continued appointment of incapable contractors is tantamount to dereliction of duty.
“The committee will today continue with site visits in the Greater Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality,” said Seabi.
The Guardian 