The former Chief Executive Officer of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), Sipho Mashinini, has been found guilty of three charges of corruption and financial misconduct and has been removed from his post. This was confirmed in a reply to a DA parliamentary question received on Tuesday.

The NHBRC is an entity under the custodianship of the Department of Human Settlements mandated to protect housing consumers from unscrupulous contractors and to ensure that contractors who deliver sub-standard housing projects are blacklisted and prevented from entering into further contracts.

The investigation into Mashinini’s management of the NHBRC was launched in June last year. He faced nine charges of alleged misconduct which involved, among others:

• the contravention of procurement policies by awarding key contracts to inspect low cost housing without putting the projects out to tender;

• signing contracts with service providers before concluding service level agreements;

• paying service providers for inspections that have not been completed; and

• recruiting the official from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) assigned to investigate him to a lucrative position in the NHBRC.

Some important question relating to Mr Mashinini’s missteps remain unanswered.

I will today be submitting parliamentary questions to Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, to ascertain:

• What conclusion has been reached in each of the nine charges against Mr Mashinini that was initially investigated;

• how much money has been lost or misspent as a result of Mr Mashinini’s misconduct;

• what steps will the Minister be taking to ensure that funds are recovered from Mr Mashinini; and

• how did Mr Mashinini’s mismanagement affect the efficacy of the NHBRC in its role as a housing quality watchdog

I will also be requesting that a full copy of the findings from both the investigation and the disciplinary hearings concerning Mr Mashinini be released to the public.

Over the last three months the DA has questioned the ability of the NHBRC to deliver on its mandate, as a series of site visits revealed that poor workmanship remains a defining characteristic of low cost housing developments. We are also concerned about the fact that the NHBRC appears to currently be functioning with only three of the seven member Executive Management team. Surely this impedes the council’s ability to exercise its mandate and carry out its functions? The Minister Sexwale must tell us what is being done to fill these vacancies.

The Minister must clear the murky waters around this critical entity and take decisive action to restore the integrity of the NHBRC. This entity must now rid itself of the legacy of poor management left by Sipho Mashinini and get back on track to carry out its duties in monitoring the construction and development of housing and ensuring that quality housing is being provided to South Africa’s poor.

Stevens Mokgalapa, Shadow Minister of Human Settlement

Source: allAfrica.com