SIU gunning for housing projects in South Africa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a new proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of maladministration in the Housing Development Agency (HDA), as well as all provincial Departments of Human Settlements.

With a R33.15 billion 2024/25 budget, much granted to provinces, Minister Thembi Simelane cited “systemic corruption and mismanagement” as key challenges in housing project delivery.

Proclamation 265 of 2025, announced on 16 June, authorises the SIU to investigate maladministration in the identification, acquisition, development, and release of state, communal, and private land.

It covers alleged misconduct from 1 April 2016 to 30 May 2025, including related activities before and after those dates involving the same people, entities, or contracts.

The probe will assess whether procurement processes violated fairness, transparency, competitiveness, cost-effectiveness, or relevant laws and treasury rules.

“This includes land designated for residential and community purposes, whether held in the agency’s name, on behalf of provincial departments, or by the provincial departments themselves,” said SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

He said the probe will assess if procurement and contracting violated fairness, transparency, competitiveness, cost-effectiveness, or relevant laws and treasury guidelines.

HDA property sales under investigation include R389.1 million for 2,560 serviced stands in Chris Hani, Ekurhuleni, R279 million in Tshwane, and R213 million for Eagles Nest, Ekurhuleni, amongst others.

These purchases are despite alleged valuations ranging from R285,000 to R13.2 million.

“The probe will also look at… conduct by officials or employees of the agency and provincial departments, its suppliers or service providers, or any other person or entity implicated,” said Kganyago.

Dodgy housing projects

Human Settlements departments in South Africa are government entities responsible for housing, urban development, and related services, aiming to address historical spatial inequalities and provide affordable housing.

However, corruption and maladministration in these departments have led to significant financial losses through mismanagement, fraudulent procurement, and other unethical practices, impacting public trust and service delivery.

Recently, The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found the North West Department of Human Settlements violated the right to adequate housing, citing over 5,500 incomplete RDP houses due to poor oversight, planning failures, and contractual disputes.

The Commission also blamed the provincial Treasury and Office of the Premier for failing to hold the department accountable.

Since 2011, 457 complaints in the province have been lodged, including the case of a 70-year-old woman in Tsetse village who has waited for a house promised to her since 1995.

On top of this, the SAHRC’s Mpumalanga office recently issued a subpoena against the Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements for failing to address complaints about RDP housing and asbestos roofs, violating residents’ rights to adequate, safe housing.

BusinessTech has reported on several abandoned human settlements across Gauteng.

Although not all are implemented by human settlements departments, but rather by the city, the national and provincial department still allocated large amounts of funding to these white elephants.

For example, nearly a decade after being announced, the Daggafontein Mega City in Springs, meant to deliver 18,000 housing units by 2023, remains without a single home built, despite over R313 million spent.

While some internal infrastructure exists, delays, funding issues, and contractor setbacks have stalled progress, with the project’s first phase now pushed to 2029/2030.

Much of the finding came from the Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG), funded by the national government and allocated to provincial departments of human settlements.

Another project is the a R371 million housing mega-project in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni, which promised to deliver 3,510 units for Winnie Mandela informal settlement residents, now stands abandoned.

Despite initial progress and plans for phased completion by 2024, the site, once hailed as transformative, has been stripped bare, with construction halted and buildings left incomplete.

Following the BusinessTech article being published, the Minister and Provincial MEC of Human Settlements had a “site unblocking visit” promising to restart stalled projects.

“The department is prioritising mega projects, such as the Tembisa Ext 25 Mega Housing Project in Ekurhuleni, to address blocked projects and scale up delivery,” said Simelane.

“Simplified delivery models, where developers handle planning, construction, and title deed issuance, are being promoted to expedite processes,” she added.