Failing government printing works divide parliament

Opinions within parliament are divided over the Government Printing Works (GPW).

- Jarryd Westerdale

ActionSA has referred to the GPW as a collapsing entity, while the department of home affairs believes the entity is on the up.

Issues with the department could perhaps be best represented by a piece of equipment the ministry admits has gone unused in 10 years.

ActionSA performed a site visit to the printing works recently and raised concerns about a possible national security threat posed by the outsourcing of critical jobs and "underused staff" in a poor work environment.

Home affairs said the GPW was a revenue-generating entity that had not received an allocation from the fiscus since 2013.

"National Treasury has to date, taken over R1.7 billion from GPW's surplus, and these funds had been transferred to the National Revenue Fund to support other ailing entities," it said.