Macpherson wants government offices back in the city centres
Public works minister Dean Macpherson says he plans to stop government departments from renting offices in swanky areas such as Sandton and Umhlanga Rocks while leaving state-owned buildings empty in city centres.
Macpherson said in an interview this week that he does not need President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval for this as the cabinet’s ministerial handbook gives him the executive authority to determine policy on offices and other accommodation for departments and state entities as well as cabinet ministers.
The government owns almost 5-million hectares of land and almost 90,000 properties, with a market value of almost R155bn.
But the newly appointed minister, who served for 10 years as DA shadow minister of trade and industry, has cast doubt on that property value, saying it should be significantly higher.
“That doesn’t make sense. I am not sure how you can have nearly 88,000 buildings and nearly 5-million hectares of land that is worth that. We need to look at what are these assets ... and how they are being valued.”
Macpherson, appointed by Ramaphosa as part of a power-sharing agreement between the DA and the ANC under the auspices of the government of national unity, said his early engagements with industry experts suggested to him government properties were undervalued.
“My discussions with the department about this are ongoing ... how to ensure that we are being given accurate information because ... these assets belong to the public and must be used for public good.” Their value needed to be fairly reflected, he said.
Macpherson, from Durban, criticised government departments and other public entities for choosing to rent offices in expensive areas while deserting government buildings, vowing this would come to an end under his watch.
“There are entities that are renting office space in Sandton for R150 per square metre when we’ve got office space that [can be occupied]. My own entities are not even using government buildings and that’s not okay. I am not going to say which entities because I am going to see them.
“If we are the managers of government assets and buildings, then our entities need to lead by example … the problem is departments want to have offices in Umhlanga Rocks because of sea views but our offices are in Durban central and are a fifth of the cost per square metre. It can’t be that way, we’ve got to decide in terms of what to prioritise, sea view or infrastructure.”
Shortly after his appointment, Macpherson made headlines when he announced that the government would no longer procure new houses for ministers and their deputies. This marked a departure from previous government practice, where the public works department shopped for ministerial homes in Cape Town and Pretoria, paying around R10m per house in some instances.
Macpherson said he had already communicated his spending cuts to his cabinet colleagues and did not need to consult them first.
He said the government had enough stock in its property portfolio to accommodate all 75 members of the expanded cabinet.
“The executive power I have being given, I can use. I don’t need cabinet approval to exercise that,” he said.
The department would continue carrying the costs of maintaining existing ministerial homes.
That area of government has been controversial, as it emerged that public works spent R750m on the maintenance and renovation of ministerial homes shortly after the election of the Ramaphosa administration in 2019.
“Where there are maintenance issues, we will attend to that because those are the properties of the state. But when it comes to furnishings, fittings and all that sort of thing, we’re not carrying that cost anymore. If a department wants to add a 60-inch [TV] into the house of minister, they can do that but we’re not going to be doing that anymore.”
Macpherson said he would chase down other government departments that owe public works R18bn in unpaid leases.
He would also closely monitor the management of the rebuilding of parliament, to ensure costs do not run out of control and that it’s completed on time.