Written by: Hussein Ahmed

The Ministry of Public Works and Infrastructure announced South Africa 1348 government properties have been identified in preparation for disposal, including 801 properties that have already received the necessary approvals to move to the next stages, either by selling them or transferring them to other government departments.

The ministry explained that the targeted properties mostly include residential assets, such as houses and vacant residential plots, distributed across various provinces of the country.

South Africa is reorganizing its government assets to boost development and public services.

She indicated that the process of disposing of the 801 properties has now entered the field verification stage, which aims to confirm the existence of the properties and their technical and legal condition, in addition to determining their administrative status, in preparation for referring them to the state land disposal committees in the provinces to submit final recommendations regarding them.

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said that after this phase is completed, regional offices will begin conducting feasibility studies and market assessments of properties, before submitting them to the minister for final approval, which will open the door to starting supply chain management procedures, including advertising properties for sale.

The minister confirmed that none of these properties were transferred to municipalities or the private sector during the past two fiscal years, given that the asset disposal program is still in the preparation and approval stages.

McPherson explained that properties approved for disposal will be subject to a number of procedures, including feasibility studies, technical condition assessments, market appraisals, Land Council approval, obtaining national treasury approval when needed, in addition to final ministerial approval.

In a related context, the ministry explained that it is currently working on transferring some properties to other government entities in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act, including properties allocated to the Border Management Authority with the aim of strengthening the infrastructure of border crossings, in addition to lands that will be transferred to local governments in the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces to support housing projects and improve public services.

The South African government also unveiled plans to create a new government-owned company to manage the state's real estate asset portfolio, which is valued at approximately 155 billion rand.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the project during his State of the Nation address, confirming that the new company would manage more than 88,000 buildings and 5 million hectares of government land with the aim of transforming them into engines of economic growth and development.