White Paper on human settlements to be discussed
According to recent statistics, less than 50% of prevalent informal dwellings between 2007 and 2012 in the province were reduced, leading to the delivery of thousands of quality houses and sustainable settlements. Developing on this milestone, Human Settlements and its stakeholders will converge in East London this week to discuss the development of a White Paper on Human Settlements.
The intention in developing a new national policy and strategy for human settlements is to re-examine the response to the mandate of the department. Since 1994, the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements has provided quality houses to an excess of 368 000 beneficiaries, impacting on the lives of almost 1,3 million people of the 6, 5 million provincial population.
Between 2007 and 2012, the Province has seen to a reduction of informal dwellings from an 11, 5% prevalence to 7, 2%. There has been a shift in policy and programme from 2004 with an emphasis from quantity to quality and sustainability.
However, housing delivery in the Province has not gone without challenges and constraints, such as unavailability of suitable and well-located land and dispersed settlement patterns in rural areas including difficult access to construction sites.
South Africa’s current housing policy is rooted in the 1994 Housing White Paper, that waspublished in December and sets out Government’s broad housing policy and strategy. The housing vision is the establishment of viable, socially and economically integrated communities, situated in areas allowing convenient access to economic opportunities, as well as to health, educational and social amenities in which all South Africans will have access to.
Members of the media are invited to the Policy Workshop to be held as follows:
Date: 19-20 November 2015
Venue: East London ICC
Time: 8h30
Enquiries:
Lwandile Sicwetsha
Cell: 0716711770
