Cities, private companies owe public works department millions in rent

Big cities across the country owe the department of public works and infrastructure more than R76m in outstanding rent.

Pretoria and Cape Town are the biggest culprits, owing about R37m and R11m respectively for leased properties.

In a recent written parliamentary response to the DA’s Patricia Kopane, public works and infrastructure minister Patricia De Lille said 11 cities had failed to pay a total of about R76m in rent for buildings leased from the department.

Johannesburg featured prominently on the list, with about R9m in unpaid rent. It was followed by Kimberley with about R6m and Mmabatho, a town outside Mahikeng, which owed about R4m.

The department also leases buildings to private people and entities.

Kopane asked De Lille which private entities regularly failed to pay rental fees on time.

From her response, it appeared Telkom owed the department about R8m in unpaid rent. An entity called Inter Travel Shops owed the department about R2m.

In total, private entities owed the department R4.1m.