NW Human Settlements induct councillors on its services
In its bit to maximise service delivery the department of Human Settlements IN THE North West, started a process of inducting local councillors in all municipalities to ensure that they are all capacitated on departmental programmes. The gesture began in Madibeng local municipality where over 40 councillors and community leaders were inducted on services rendered by the department and their responsibilities to work closely with the departmental officials.
Addressing councillors on the debut event, the acting head of department, James Mashigo, informed councillors that they play key role between the communities that they are leading and the department.
“We can’t do it alone, we need municipalities and everybody in the human settlements sector to work in a more integrated process, as we are guided by the district development model. The department and you as community leaders, have responsibilities, to ensure that services are rendered within respective communities. It is therefore pivotal to ensure that we both have a clear understanding of each other’s roles and responsibilities. We need to be in the same band wagon,” said Mashigo.
The department further outlined list of services worth millions of rands, to councillors in attendance. The services range from housing delivery, informal settlements upgrade, purchasing of land for housing development, title deed restoration programme, housing development for military veterans and many others. The department has further acknowledged that it has backlogs in the province in delivering services.
However the department further called on municipalities to enforce its bylaws to stop continues mushrooming of informal settlements in their areas. According to the department such actions are prevalent in mining areas like Madibeng, where migrant workers prefer to stay closer to their work place. However the department also took the opportunity to outline some of the Human Settlements Minister’s priority programme of eradicating mud houses as they are prone to recent reoccurring disasters and Asbestos roofs among others.
The acting head of department James Mashigo encouraged councillors to make sure that they understand the challenges within their areas, as it’s their responsibility to refer such to local municipalities and the departments. He further appealed to them to prioritise women, elderly people, child headed households, the youth and other vulnerable groups. Mashigo said that Human Settlements is a caring department and the gesture will also make it to be more responsive to housing challenges experienced by communities on daily basis. “Municipality must have a digital beneficiary register. From that register they should be able to prioritize those that are in dire need, especially the vulnerable groups,” said Mashigo.
Local councillors acknowledging the induction process, where majority of, welcomed the presentations, and further took advantage of the session to raise many human settlements issues they experience in their locality. Speaking on behalf of the councillors the Member of the Mayoral Committee, Buti Makhongela expressed his gratitude towards what he described as the most empowering session by Human Settlements department. Makhongela said that it is through such sessions where clarity is sort as councillors will emerge with plethora of information and that will assist in service delivery.
“It is through such information sharing sessions that we will begin to see service rendered effectively and communities fully understand the plans for their areas. This will further eradicate service delivery protests caused by unfounded allegations, because communities will be having more understanding of the processes and plans. We are humbled and remain optimistic that we will emerge from the session in sync with one another,” said MMC Makhongela.
The department is planning to take such sessions to other municipalities to make sure that all councillors understand departmental programmes and its processes.
Contact person: Director: Media and Communication, Dineo Lolokwane
Tel no: (018) 388 2081
Cell no: 072 542 8444
Email: dlolokwane@nwpg.gov.za
