The DA caucus in Johannesburg has rejected council speaker Colleen Makhubele's plans to spend “billions” of ratepayers’ funds on a wholesale refurbishment of the council precinct and offices.

The official opposition party said it would not stand for the “illegal and immoral splurging of city resources on the ego trips of politicians and lifestyles of tenderpreneur cadres” at the expense of residents.

The party said these plans, beyond merely “opening the troughs of public money for cadres and cronies to gorge at”, were already facing severe funding constraints.

Caucus deputy leader Bongani Nkomo said the entire precinct should be evacuated and renovated in totality, but the DA believes the “dishonest and opportunistic alarmism is blatant posturing to grease the tender wheels and cadre palms ready to catalyse the looting part” of the ANC/EFF/PA alliance.

“While the precinct is in a sorry state with risks to the public, staff and councillors with a genuine concern, multibillion-rand spending is simply not the solution to the years of decay brought about by the failure of the JPC [Joburg Property Company] to ensure diligent and consistent maintenance of facilities,” said Nkomo.

TimesLIVE has seen item 9 of the 17th extraordinary council meeting that approved the recommendations by JPC for refurbishment, estimated to take three to five years depending on budget availability. The report states renovations cannot take place while occupied, so a decanting plan has to start after mayoral and council approval.

The document further reveals that should the city opt for self-funding, the project will cost up to R800m over five years. The alternative is for a redevelopment of the metro centre to be done through a public-private partnership, which requires approval from the National Treasury.

The deputy caucus leader said the unfunded mandate not only contravened sections 19, 61, 65 and 109 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, it would burden the people of Joburg with even more costs.

“The public will be forced to pick up the bill of the largesse of the speaker and her allies. This will run over several years and cost more than R135m per year,” he said.

The opposition party questioned the integrity and competence of JPC, saying it had been tainted by the suspension of its CEO pending investigations of fraud and corruption.

The party also alleged that by the entity’s own board recommending it be placed under administration, it had shown itself incapable of looking after the infrastructure. “Yet this is the entity that now wants to take responsibility for a construction project vastly more complex and more expensive than mere maintenance,” said Nkomo.

The deputy caucus leader vowed his party would not allow the ANC/EFF/PA coalition of “cadres and corruption to loot and leech off” residents suffering failures of service delivery.

“Ratepayers' contributions to the finances of the city are not for the vanity projects of vainglorious politicians and their greedy allies,” he said.

The opposition party announced it would be taking the matter up with the National Treasury as a matter of priority.

TimesLIVE