Opposition parties slam public works budget amid claims of dysfunction

Opposition parties pulled no punches when they criticised the 2025/26 budget of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in the National Assembly on Thursday.

So brutal were the EFF, the MK Party, the EFF, Rise Mzansi and Build One South Africa that the presiding officer called to order Minister Dean Macpherson at some point during the debate for him to refrain from making signs and signaling to an MP.

The MK Party’s Nkosinathi Nxumalo said the department’s budget was not pro-poor but protected the politically connected.

“It shields the failing institutions such as the IDT (Independent Development Trust) and CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) to mention a few, Nxumalo said.

He said the department’s digitisation programme remained empty promises and asked where its' immovable asset register was.

Nxumalo accused the department of parading Expanded Public Works Programme as job creation success.

“The Prestige Management Trade Entity received R71m to maintain VIP residences and elite comfort. A lot of money makes sure the Government of National Unity is well taken care of. This is spitting in the face of the poor,” he added.

The EFF’s Sharon Letlape said the department was wired with dysfunction, underspending and policy stagnation.

“Each year the department is rehashing previous commitments with no one ever taking accountability for implementation. Digitisation of the asset register and a clean audit are permanent features of the department’s annual plan, yet nothing ever gets done,” she said.

ActionSA MP Malebo Patricia Kobe said Macpherson had shared his vision of South Africa being a construction site but a year later, economic growth remained below 1% and youth unemployment remained at its highest.

“The department fails to maintain infrastructure and allows assets to deteriorate and erode economic value instead of leveraging assets for financial sustenance. The Property Management Trading Entity relies on growing overdraft while struggling to collect user-charges owed by client departments,” Kobe said.

Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana said the department was failing in its mandate.

“Infrastructure is collapsing, regulatory bodies don’t speak to one another on vital projects and almost all projects this department embarks on are delayed and have cost overruns,” Gana said.

He said when the department fails to deliver, no one marches to its offices.

“They don’t know you are the cause of failure. The reason there is no service delivery is because of you,” Gana said.

BOSA deputy leader Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster accused the department of splashing an estimated R5 billion on renting private offices.

“With over R150 billion in properties under control Department of Public works, we expect better and, in fact, we demand better. Until the department stops withholding land, wasting public money on rental instead of fixing state assets and return unspent funds while infrastructure crumbles, it will remain part of the problem. As my colleague said, you are the problem,” Hlazo-Webster said.

In response, Macpherson thanked all those who spoke in support of the budget.

He said the MK Party and EFF claimed there was no plan to fix and stabilise the IDT yet they fought him at every single turn when he wanted to fix the entity.

Macpherosn dismissed their complaints about payment and lack of training in the EPWP, saying they were seeking to reform the programme.

“They can't have a cake and eat it... there is one thing I would agree with them. Maybe, it is time to look at the cost around prestige and there is a good place we can start and it is called Nkandla which cost millions of rands to maintain.”

He accused the EFF of breaking its promises that led to it losing voter support last year in the elections.

Turning to ActionSA, Macpherson said the party was distracting the public from its terminal decline and accused Kobe of previously reposting fake news about the IDT.

He also said it was hard to find a voter who voted for Rise Mzansi, and that both Rise Mzansi and BOSA did not know what the mandate of his department was, saying it is not responsible for erecting parliamentary buildings.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za