Chairperson, the ACDP welcomes the Ad Hoc Committee’s report on Parliamentary Villages, but we must be frank—the conditions at Pelican Park and Acacia Park expose serious and long-standing failures of governance, accountability and oversight.
The report rightfully identifies interconnected failures in security, infrastructure maintenance, occupational health and safety, governance, and living conditions.
Asbestos-contaminated prefabricated housing, inadequate security, recurring sewage failures in Acacia Park, and the unacceptable conditions endured by domestic workers, are not minor administrative shortcomings. In fact, they represent failures of the state to protect people living and working on parliamentary premises.
Additionally, the ACDP asserts that the report does not go far enough in confronting accountability. How is it that the latest security assessments date back to 2020 while recommendations remain outstanding? How can domestic workers remain unregistered for UIF despite a labour inspection going as far back as 2009?
These failures demand more than recommendations. They demand answers, responsible officials, and consequences for non-performance.
The proposed coordination between SAPS, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Parliament, and the City of Cape Town is necessary. But coordination without deadlines, budgets, measurable targets, and consequences risks producing yet another report without meaningful change.
As Kingdom Builders, the ACDP maintains that Parliament must lead by example, and oversight must result in action, accountability, and measurable improvement.
Thank you, Chair.
