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Gauteng residents continue to struggle to make ends meet, and the unemployment rate is constantly increasing, yet heritage sites such as the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Tshwane which has the potential of attracting tourists and creating employment opportunities still incomplete and R24 million worth of statues are gathering dust and are being stored in the kitchen.

It is deeply concerning that the Gauteng Department of Sports, Arts, Culture, and Recreation (SACR) has spent R24 million on four female heroin statues to be erected at the Women’s Living Heritage Monument. These statues are gathering dust and are being stored in the kitchen because the monument is still incomplete and not fully functional.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR), Morakane Mosupyoe, in a written reply to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).

According to MEC Mosupyoe, Koketso Growth was appointed by the department in 2014 to deliver five statues of female heroin at the monument. They only delivered four statues because the installation site was not ready by the time of the delivery agreement which resulted in cost escalation for the production cost of statues.

The DA has for the longest time warned the department that delays in the completion of infrastructure projects result in projects running over budget. The longer these statues remain stored in the kitchen they are at risk of being damaged and defaced. This will require the department to fork out more money to restore them.

The construction of the Women’s Heritage Living Monument cost the department over R200 million and was completed in 2018 and, almost R80 million has been spent on getting this facility operational. To date, this monument is still not fully operational due to shoddy work.

The DA demands that the MEC must prioritise fixing the shoddy work and ensure that this facility is fully operational. This is one of many monuments that are still not operational and not benefiting our residents.

The DA will also be directly engaging with the MEC to ascertain when the defects will be fixed and when the facility will be fully operational. We will not allow resources meant to uplift the livelihoods of our people to be wasted by this incompetent department.

Issued by Kingsol Chabalala MPL - DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Sports, Arts, Culture and Recreation (SACR)