The North West University public administration professor Kedibone Phago says it will run an uphill battle for the North West Department of Public Works and Roads to evict 1500 government employees who owe the department over R71 million in unpaid rent for state-owned properties.
Phago was a reaction to the recent announcement by the department’s MEC, Oageng Molapisi, that measures were in place to recover all lost funds stretching back as far back as two decades ago.
The financial report from the North West Department of Public Works and Roads highlighted poor performance in revenue collection, because of non-payment of monthly rentals by the tenants for several years.
Molapisi is adamant “the maintenance of state properties, including renovations, and ensuring that the state receives revenue collected from rental and usage of these properties remains our responsibility. We must therefore do this diligently and without fail.
“It is disingenuous for the government employees to have a sense of entitlement to government-owned properties to such an extent that they refuse to pay for rental fees and water and electricity. Due processes should follow and everyone found in breach of their contract, and failing to pay must be evicted” he said.
The department has already issued a notice of eviction to the affected tenants.
Describing it as a ‘complex old case; however, Phago said it looks like the department is struggling to find its feet because some of the people who are occupying the properties have inherited them from family members who used to work for the government
“There is so much that has been invested in those properties, it takes up public resources and the government has to go back to the drawing board to make sure that these matters are resolved as speedily as possible,” he said.
Phago said the process needs to be methodical and by the law yet the government was having difficulty addressing some of the most fundamental issues.
“Perhaps eviction will be one of the solutions, but the government must also find a means to recoup their money. There is also a law that makes it extremely difficult to evict individuals without alternative housing.
“It will be a very difficult decision for the provincial government to evict and/or garnish these individuals, as they have resided there for decades,” he said.