Speaking recently at the National Council of Provinces on the occasion of the debate on housing inadequacy in South Africa and the prevalence of informal settlements, MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in the North West Province, Gaoage Oageng Molapisi has acknowledged that his department is currently facing serious housing backlog, mainly because of municipal system which are not operating effectively, and thus preventing the department to provide adequate housing to the people.
MEC Molapisi said the department is aware of the municipal infrastructure units’ shortcomings. According to Molapisi the systems are not operating as effectively as they should, pointing out neglect and infrastructure deterioration to having a significant effect in housing delivery.
MEC Molapisi also highlighted budget cuts and increase in population as other factors impacting the delivery of houses in the North West Province. For instance, the province used to get R2 billion in grant funding nearly ten years ago, but like many provinces that has since changed. The targeted delivery of homes and serviced sites decreased as a result of budget cuts that cut off R400 million just two fiscal years ago.
With regards to the increasing number of informal settlements in the province, MEC Molapisi said the department continues to observe the expansion of informal settlements, especially at the mining towns due to potential employment opportunities. He said municipalities are also inundated with constant land invasions putting pressure to the department to respond expeditiously to provide basic services thereby disrupting normal planning cycle and processes.
“We cannot shy away from the fact that informal settlements are increasing. It is for this reason that the National Department of Human Settlements has adopted the White Paper for Human Settlements (2024) which provides for a tacit approach to address challenges arising from informal settlements. To align and play our part, the North West Department of Human Settlements has just completed an informal settlement upgrading strategy after which it will commence with informal settlements upgrading projects”.
“The housing delivery machinery is also confronted with a challenge of high mobility of beneficiaries. This is mainly because some people move around a lot in the interest of securing better opportunities, resulting in the Department being unable to track beneficiaries; leaving completed housing units unoccupied,” said MEC Molapisi.
In addition, MEC Molapisi pointed out that the Department of Human Settlements is working closely with the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in the province to resolve challenges of bulk infrastructure at affected municipalities. Through the COGTA Bulk Infrastructure Committee (BIC) we have taken advantage of the Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) bid window to apply for bulk infrastructure projects. We are working around the clock to try source available funding to alleviate the situation.
“We remain committed to creating sustainable human settlements. It is our considered view that the restoration of our people’s dignity rests in housing them in habitable homes with basic amenities. The Department of Human Settlements is putting a spotlight on issues of lack of bulk infrastructure for human settlements projects, as well as promoting integration of social and economic aspects thereby yielding dividends in terms of spatial planning, community services and broader quality of life for our citizens,” added MEC Molapisi.
Through the District Development Model we are encouraging our municipalities to consider using bylaws to address land invasions coupled with planning to formalise old settlements on available vacant state land.
Ends#
Issued by the Department of Human Settlements (North West)
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