Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille has given Parliament the assurance that upgrades of parliamentary villages which accommodate Members of Parliament (MPs) in Cape Town will go ahead at a cost of R110 million.
De Lille was leading a delegation from her department, alongside the National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole. She briefed Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on the state of the villages on Tuesday.
There are three parliamentary villages in Cape Town.
De Lille told Members of Parliament that the upgrades were halted last year when the multi-party Chief Whips forum in Parliament said the money should instead go to housing allowances for MPs.
However, she says the upgrades will now go ahead. “If MPs want a housing allowance, they must go to the Remuneration Allowance Commission and ask for such allowance; subsequently we instructed projects to proceed, in Acacia Park especially. There is a number of asbestos units there. They are not safe for any person to live in them.”
