Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will write to the Public Service Commission (PSC) to request a full investigation into possible financial mismanagement and tender manipulation at the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Pretoria. The project has already cost taxpayers over R280 million and climbing, yet remains closed to the public more than a decade after it was announced. See photo here.
We will also request that the Chairperson of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture Portfolio Committee summon officials to account for ongoing delays, escalating costs and the lack of transparency surrounding this project.
This follows the DA once again being denied access to the Women’s Living Heritage Monument in Pretoria. During the unannounced oversight visit by myself as DA Spokesperson on Sport, Arts and Culture, the Portfolio Chairperson Joe McGluwa MP and DA Gauteng MPL Leanne De Jager officials on site claimed that prior permission from the project manager was required. The project manager later confirmed telephonically that he did not recognise the right of Members of Parliament to conduct unannounced oversight visits.
Officials gave contradictory explanations and appeared evasive when asked about safety protocols.
Despite claims that “work is still ongoing,” there was no evidence of active construction, no workers in PPE, machinery, materials, or visible progress. Officials blamed the City of Tshwane for not issuing an occupancy certificate, citing “updated fire regulations since 2014”, an excuse that rings hollow after a decade of delays and over R280 million spent.
This marks the eighth time MPL De Jager has been denied access. The pattern of refusals and lack of transparency raises serious questions about what is being hidden from the public.
Even Sophia Williams-De Bruyn, the last surviving leader of the 1956 Women’s March, has publicly lamented that a monument meant to honour South Africa’s women has instead become a symbol of government failure.
Taxpayers deserve full transparency on how R280 million has been spent on a project that remains closed, unfinished, and shrouded in secrecy.
Regards
Leah Potgieter MP
DA Spokesperson on Sport, Arts and Culture