The Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs
has noted with satisfaction the progress registered in unblocking blocked projects around
KagisanoMolopo Local Municipality. Speaking during an oversight visit to the municipality recently,
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee Hon. Kgalalelo Makgokgowa said she is pleased with
the pace the contractor is moving at in completing the houses.
According to Hon.Makgokgowa, the housing projects that the department has unblocked are on the
verge of completion and that showed commitment on the side of the department. “I am very happy
with what we saw during our oversight visit, this shows that if the department continues to work
together with reliable contractors, our citizens will get access to proper and decent houses’’, she
said.
Hon. Makgokgowa also urged the department to prioritise other housing projects as far as Tosca
and Bray as the people in those areas have been complaining for many years and not receiving any
assistance. She also noted that there were many challenges with delivering projects in those areas
due to terrible road conditions which become more costly and are affecting the delivery of building
materials.
The KagisanoMolopo Local Municipality housing projects were blocked for over a decade ago until
the department took a decision to unblock the projects by appointing a contractor in 2023 to
complete 73 incomplete houses. The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
together with the Council for Geoscience conducted structural technical assessments in these
houses where several defects were found hence the department appointed a service provider. The
project is envisaged to be completed by end of March 2026.
The department’s Regional Director responsible for Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Neo
Mokoma said the project is part of the initial phase of unblocking about 800 unfinished RDP houses
within the municipality that were left unattended during the period when the department used to
provide tranche payments to municipalities to build houses. “The contractor is performing well as he
most of the houses are almost done, including a donation of a tribal community hall and offices and
6 houses in Dipudi village. We have been in contact with the National Department of Human
Settlements and other government stakeholders to unblock other critical projects, especially in
Tosca, Bray and Tseoge where we experience challenges due to bad road conditions and
contractors do not want to work there’’, said Mokoma.
He also added that some of the challenges experienced include the fact that the project is scattered
across the municipality and there are no proper internal roads which makes the transportation of the
material and plant access to site difficult.
Ends#
Issued by the Department of Human Settlements (North West)
