A senior government official who has lived nearly two years rent-free in a multimillion-rand state mansion on the slopes of Table Mountain has landed in hot water.
The department of public works and infrastructure is trying to recover the money. It also wants to haul its regional property management director, Nolizwi Hlengwa, to a disciplinary hearing over her occupation of the five-bedroom Newlands house, part of the "prestige" portfolio of properties meant for ministers and their deputies.
The whistle was blown by DA MP James Selfe, who asked public works minister Patricia de Lille about the house. In a parliamentary reply, De Lille said she had asked acting director-general Imtiaz Fazel to investigate.
This week, Fazel said Hlengwa applied to live in the property in January 2018 when she moved to Cape Town from Durban after her appointment. The request was approved in April 2018 for a three-month period. The rent was meant to be set, but never was.
"The process of approving this request in 2018 was irregular and there is no approved policy to allocate vacant ministerial homes to staff members within the department," said Fazel.
"Although government occasionally allocates state-owned properties to government employees, these allocations are for staff involved in maintenance, essential services or critical standby services. In those instances, [properties] are often allocated at a nominal, flat rental rate. In all other instances, state-owned properties are generally allocated at a market rate."
Fazel said the senior officials who approved the request "are no longer in those positions in the department" and that Hlengwa was told to vacate the property last year.
De Lille said the 2018 deal was "absolutely wrong and it is abuse of state resources".
"I support the acting DG and his implementation of consequence management for this situation. Although the officials who approved this request are no longer in those positions, we are under way with investigations and consequence management to recover monies owing," she said.
Selfe called for a review of the prestige portfolio and other residential properties owned by the state, "to establish whether they are being used for the purpose for which they were acquired".
"If this is not the case, an assessment needs to be made whether they ought not to be sold," said Selfe.
Jo Fourie, an estate agent who sells houses in Newlands for Lew Geffen/Sotheby's, estimated the market-related monthly rent would be R22,000 for the 65-year-old property on four plots totalling almost 4,000m².
"Newlands has an air of charm and tranquillity with gracious homes and charming historic cottages," she said.
The Orchard Street house looked deserted on Thursday. The front lights were on and the curtains were drawn. The buzzer did not work, part of the electric fence was broken, one of the electric gates was off its rails, the garden was overgrown and the security camera pointed in the wrong direction.
Hlengwa, 41, told the Sunday Times she was not permitted to "liaise with the media regarding issues that involves the department".
She added: "As you also informed me that the department is planning taking steps regarding the matter, I would also not like to give a statement that might incriminate me in future. I hope you understand the seriousness of the allegations and why I cannot comment."
The official's Facebook profile is awash with pictures of her and her family inside and outside the Newlands home. In her application to occupy it, she said it had been vacant since 2010.
She said she had to vacate her interim accommodation in March 2018 under the department's relocation policy and had eyed the Newlands home in the interim. Hlengwa said the property was prone to vandalism while costing the department more than R77,000 annually in rates and taxes and R650,000 for security.
"It has also become a liability to [the] state," wrote Hlengwa. "It is recommended that the permission to utilise the above-mentioned property at costs determined by prestige on monthly basis until I acquire my permanent accommodation or a need from client arises, whichever comes first."
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.