A new proclamation by President Cyril Ramaphosa has given the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) the green light to probe all nine provincial Departments of Human Settlements after reports of corruption.

The investigation will also cover the Housing Development Agency, an entity of the national Department of Human Settlements that acquires and prepares land, as well as develops the land and project-manage the development of housing and human settlements. The agency carried out the activities in partnership with a range of stakeholders, including national, provincial, and local government and municipalities, as well as communities, developers, financiers, and other affected parties.

In the main, the proclamation by Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to investigate serious maladministration regarding the identification, acquisition, holding, development, and release of state, communal, and privately owned land.

This includes land designated for residential and community purposes, whether held in the name of the Housing Development Agency, on behalf of provincial departments, or by the provincial departments themselves.

“The SIU probe will examine whether the procurement and contracting were made in a manner that was not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable, or cost-effective or in violation of applicable legislation, guidelines, or instructions from the National or Provincial Treasury.

“This includes the agency, provincial departments or the State’s unauthorised, irregular, or wasteful expenditure. Furthermore, the SIU will seek to establish if there was any misappropriation of unidentified payments received by the agency, departments or the State” the SIU said in a statement about the proclamation.

Furthermore, it said that the probe will also look at any irregular, unlawful, or improper conduct by officials or employees of the agency and provincial departments, its suppliers or service providers, or any other person or entity implicated.

“The Proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 1 April 2016 and 30 May 2025, as well as any related activities before 1 April 2016 and after the date of the Proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities, or contracts,” the SIU added.