The Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that the Northern Cape Department of Roads and Public Works urgently releases the long-withheld skills audit that exposed a critical 48% vacancy rate in July 2025, as its continued lack of technical capacity has severely undermined infrastructure planning, oversight, and delivery across the province.
The vacancy crisis has had real consequences for service delivery. Without sufficient engineers, inspectors and technical managers, the department’s ability to properly maintain provincial roads, oversee the upkeep of government buildings, and manage other critical public infrastructure has been severely compromised. This not only delays essential maintenance but also increases the risk of infrastructure deterioration and costly emergency repairs.
While we welcome the advertisement of 17 posts, including critical posts such as engineers, inspectors and financial middle-management positions, we are concerned that they present a cost estimation of only R6.6 million, after receiving a R10 million allocation from the Office of the Premier for these new positions to be filled. This raises questions about whether the full allocation will be used to address the department’s severe capacity shortages.
In addition to the release of the skills audit, the DA wants to know whether the advertised positions will meaningfully address the challenges experienced in governance and operations within the department, and how they will strengthen infrastructure development while limiting wasteful expenditure on consultancy fees.
We also demand that the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Roads and Public Works hold the department accountable for its failure to release the skills audit to the Public Service Commissioner (PSC) since its completion in December 2023. We will therefore request that the PSC appears before the legislature to advise on disciplinary steps to take against the department for its failure to report on critical governance issues.
The DA will not allow this culture of secrecy and neglect to continue unchecked, and will persist in holding the department accountable until the necessary skills are in place and infrastructure delivery is restored for the people of the Northern Cape.