The Gauteng provincial government will be selling all residential properties it owns, including the premier’s official residence. This announcement was made today by Premier David Makhura, while responding to written questions at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.   

In March this year, Makhura made a commitment to the legislature that the future of the official residence would be considered once the Department of the Infrastructure Development has done an audit of all assets including non-core assets of the Gauteng Provincial Government. To this end, the asset register and valuation of all government fixed property has now been completed.

The majority of these properties are occupied by public servants.  Thirty one properties will be disposed of at the first online auction to take place towards the end of October 2016.

Premier Makhura said he was confident that this decision will not only save the provincial government money from maintenance but it would help raise additional resources to fund the provincial government’s programme of transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation (TMR) priorities such as student bursaries and rollout of Tshepo 500 000.

 “We will only keep the property portfolio and land assets which add value to service delivery, infrastructure development and our overall TMR agenda,” he said.

On the question about installing electricity at the Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement, Makhura said the electrification of informal settlements is a priority programme in all municipalities in Gauteng.

Departments of Human Settlements and COGTA are providing the necessary support by ensuring that the relevant national government departments and State-Owned Enterprises are drawn in.

Makhura said municipalities were responsible for identifying the areas and undertake planning for the electrification programme, adding that where Eskom is responsible for the supply of electricity, the municipality works with Eskom to plan the rollout.

“Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality prioritised Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement for the provision of electricity as part of creating liveable settlements under the Informal Settlement Re-blocking Programme,” he said.

The Premier was also asked a question whether he was aware of the allegations in relation to recruitment processes at the AIDC. He said the board of the AIDC was dealing with the matter. 

“MEC for Economic Development, Lebogang Maile has kept me updated on the matter. Also, the board of the AIDC resolved to appoint an independent law firm to investigate the allegations. Once the investigation is completed, the findings will be submitted to the AIDC board,” said Makhura.