R13 million budgeted to settle Premier's Office rental dispute

AN AMOUNT of R13 million from the adjustment budget will be used to settle a dispute with Transnet over debts arising from the rental of the JW Sauer building in Quinn Street, Kimberley, by the Office of the Premier.

The Office of the Premier relocated to the Derek Corns building in Memorial Road in July 2023, where a lease agreement was concluded for monthly rentals of R1.3 million.

At the time, Premier Zamani Saul indicated that the Transnet building rentals amounted to R1.6 million per month, with an additional average of R135,000 per month being charged for rates and taxes.

He added that the Office had occupied the nearly 60-year-old Transnet building from 2015 until 2023 without a formal contract.

Saul said they refused to pay annual escalations of 6.5 percent due to the lack of maintenance and the poor condition of the building. Transnet demanded R64 million for the outstanding payments.

The Office of the Premier commissioned a report which found that the rentals were overpriced, while the lifts were constantly out of order and cable theft had left the deteriorating building without electricity.

Saul indicated that R174 million would be needed to repair the structural problems, malfunctioning toilets and air conditioners, and to address occupational health and safety threats at the JW Sauer building.

This week, the MEC for Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Venus Blennies-Magage, said that R13 million would be paid to Transnet.

“We owed Transnet an amount of R48 million following the dispute in relation to the old lease agreement of the JW Sauer building. I presented an amount of R28 million in the adjustment budget, and we are making available an amount of R13 million to conclude the repayment agreement with Transnet,” she said.

She added that the Office of the Premier would be allocated R313 million from the provincial budget for the 2025/26 financial year to deliver on its mandate.

“The Office of the Premier represents the machinery of the provincial administration.”

Blennies-Magage indicated that the National Treasury had formally registered the Parliamentary Village as a public-private partnership (PPP) project.

“We are taking full advantage of this development by making resources available for the appointment of a transactional adviser to conduct a feasibility study. This will enable us to take the project forward to a stage that entails procurement towards the realisation of this project,” she stated.