SA government blowing millions every month on empty buildings

 ·30 May 2016
Goverment wasting money

The department of public works is spending millions of rands on the rates and taxes of 2,000 empty and underutilised buildings – 200 of which are listed as being at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.

According to a Parliamentary reply to the DA, public works minister Thulas Nxesi said that the department was the custodian of 95,587 buildings and 31,310 pieces of land.

Of the buildings, 1,939 are either unused or unoccupied – and of the land, 13,043 pieces are unused or unoccupied.

The GPS co-ordinates of at least 200 of these buildings points to the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, the DA pointed out.

Department of Public Works

In the reply, Nxesi said that advance invoices are sent to 26 national government departments for rent, amounting to R324.5 million a month, or around R3 billion a year.

The minister added that on average, R3.9-million a month was paid for municipal rates and taxes on unused buildings, while a further R1 million is spent on municipal services.

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