Telkom Towers: R695m Police Headquarters Bought in 2016, Eight of Nine Buildings Never Occupied, R592m Wasted, Evacuated as Unfit

R592 million (cost while vacant, AGSA material irregularity; R695m purchase)

documented loss

After the Shabangu lease scandal the state bought the Telkom Towers complex in Pretoria in April 2016 for about R700 million as a permanent SAPS headquarters. Only one of its nine buildings was ever occupied, and that one deteriorated into sewage leaks, dead lifts and fire breaches until the Department of Employment and Labour declared it unfit and it was evacuated on 26 February 2024. The Auditor-General recorded R592 million in cost while the buildings stood vacant as a material irregularity; SAPS abandoned the complex in October 2024. Each department blames the other.

The Record The Evidence The Named What Was Lost Implicated Institutions The Paper Trail

The Record

The lesson the state drew from the R1.6 billion Shabangu leases was to buy rather than rent. In April 2016 the Department of Public Works purchased the Telkom Towers complex in central Pretoria — nine buildings — for about R695 million as the permanent headquarters of the South African Police Service.

Eight of the nine buildings were never occupied. The one that was, deteriorated: sewage leaking through ceilings, lifts dead, fire-safety systems non-compliant. On 26 February 2024 the Department of Employment and Labour declared it unfit for use and the police moved out. The Auditor-General told Parliament in March 2024 that the cost of the vacant buildings — R592 million — constituted a material irregularity. SAPS said the buildings "were never handed over"; Public Works said the police never delivered the Project Execution Plan required to fit them out. In October 2024 the SAPS withdrew from the complex altogether. Lt-Gen Francinah Vuma has put the total cost above R1.5 billion (unverified). The record is the sequel to the lease scandal: after paying R1.6 billion to rent, the state paid R700 million to own — and still has no police headquarters.

The Evidence

Named

Institutions

Sources

Sector: Police & Law Enforcement (SAPS, Hawks, IPID) · Scope: national (GP)

Alleged & Implicated

People documented as perpetrators, enablers, beneficiaries, orchestrators, political protectors, accused, or convicted in this case. Unless the case status is Convicted, allegations remain untested.