27 November 2009

Cape Town — Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has taken a swipe at her successor in human settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, over the value of theatre productions as a way of communicating with stakeholders, accusing him of not having launched a single new housing project since his appointment earlier this year.

The spat came after it emerged from a written reply by Sexwale to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance MP Butch Steyn that the Department of Human Settlements under Sisulu had spent R22m on a theatre production to promote awareness of housing issues.

Steyn likened this to the controversial AIDs play Sarafina II, funded to the tune of R14m by the Department of Health in the 1990s.

Sexwale's reply was followed by a radio comment that he had no time "for plays and theatre that have nothing to do with the building of houses". His spokesman, Chris Vick, said Sexwale put a stop to the play as soon as he heard about it in June and had also imposed a severe clampdown on unnecessary expenditure on corporate gifts, advertising, marketing, travel and accommodation.

Sexwale's comments prompted cutting remarks from Sisulu's spokesman, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, who said that "since his appointment, the minister has not launched a single project and we have not seen his plan for human settlements, which differs from the one approved and launched in 2004".

He said: "We are convinced that when the minister starts building houses or finalising his priorities he will realise that community participation and consumer education is central to housing delivery."

Sisulu also made cutting remarks about Sexwale's statement that 40000 poorly built houses would have to be demolished at a cost of more than R1,3bn, noting that this programme was initiated by the housing ministers and members of executive councils meeting in 2005 while she was housing minister.

"It is necessary to encourage the honourable minister of human settlements to spend some time in the office reading reports and Cabinet memos from 2004. These reports will help him to discover that a new concept of human settlement was approved by Cabinet in September 2004," said Mabaya.


"He will also discover that when you implement a new plan and a housing project, you need to communicate with all stakeholders. Beneficiaries of government housing programmes must be educated on their responsibilities, how they can economically benefit from the project, how to report fraud and corruption and how to ensure that contractors do not take advantage of them. This two-way communication can be done using many methods, including the theatre play."

Mabaya contested the R22m price tag for the theatre production, saying it had cost only R5,5m, with the balance being spent on other elements of the multimedia awareness campaign.

In any event, Mabaya said, it was not the responsibility of a minister to implement communication campaigns and approve the budgets for them. "To call on the former minister of housing to explain the costs and the play is sensational and politicking that is not necessary."

allafrica