Rise in staff complement drives govt. to rent expensive offices

GOVERNMENT has defended its position to rent some of the private space for office use although it comes at a high cost to the tax payer.

This comes after government moved some of its offices to the new Central Business District (CBD), an area with higher rental rates in town.

Government has in the past been scrutinised for occupying offices at the new CBD with the Finance Minister, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, also condemning the practice in parliament recently.

Currently, ministry headquarters such as Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development are currently occupying buildings at the CBD.

Other ministries headquarters renting private buildings are Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Transport and Communication and Ministry of Tertiary Education.

Besides headquarters, various departments from various ministries are also occupying rented office spaces.

Officials from Department of Lands told The Voice newspaper this week that the reason behind government choosing to move some of the ministries headquarters to privatelyowned buildings is because of unavailability of space often caused by increase in staff complement.

Establishment of new ministries and departments is also said to have contributed to government occupying private buildings.

It would seem government will continue to occupy these privately-owned office spaces as government has not catered for building of new offices in the National Development Plan (NDP) 11.

Occupying of privatelyowned businesses by government, especially in high-end areas like the CBD, has come under serious scrutiny as the place does not come cheap.

Although analysts say there is an oversupply of office space in the area leading to price decrease, it is reported that government is made to pay at higher rates.