Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing continues to speed up housing delivery to ensure it meets its target of providing people living in informal settlements around the country with formal housing by 2014.
Through alternative building technologies, formalisation and eradication of informal settlements programme is being accelerated. The aim of the programme is to vigorously address the 600 thousand units’ backlog on basic services and infrastructure by 2009, through implementation of the incremental housing approach.
Ten informal settlements will be eradicated in the 2008/09 financial year across the province. The department’s intention is to formalise and eradicate informal settlements by 2009 and 2014 respectively. We have registered 405 informal settlements to be eradicated in 2014. The 122 from the total have to be formalised in 2009.
The integration of hostels into the broader community will foster harmonious co-existence. This will build safe and sustainable communities, ensuring that deserving people with limited disposal income have access to decent housing and shelter.
To date 68 informal settlements have already been formalised, 56 are to be formalised in the following areas:
20 in City of Johannesburg
21 in Ekhurhuleni
10 in Tshwane
three in Sedibeng
two in Metsweding.
Eradication of informal settlement is one of the five key priority programmes which aims to primarily continue creating integrated communities, and do away with the old apartheid system of spatial planning whereby people were segregated according to colour and wealth. All these five programmes will ensure that communities are well integrated (social integration) and are well located for economic development.
The private sector partnerships on infrastructure development have had visible impact on these programmes. The involvement of various banks has resulted in major investment and improvement of infrastructure and ensures that people have access to economic opportunities.
Through these programmes, the department has been able to create jobs as well as de-radicalising human settlements and create those that will accommodate all and sundry irrespective of one's background, financial status or social standing
Issued by: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government
23 July 2009
Issued by: Department of Housing, Gauteng Provincial Government (http://www.housing.gpg.gov.za/)
