The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements today informed the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) responsible for the development of mining towns and eradication of informal settlements to always ensure that it tabled quarterly reports in order for MPs to be able track progress made in the implementation of this project.
Committee Chairperson, Ms Nocawe Mafu, said it was important for the Committee to hold those tasked with the implementation of the Special Presidential Package for Distressed Mining Towns accountable, saying that this project is critical for the wellbeing of the mine workers and their families.
“We want to see concrete progress in the implementation of this project. When you come before us, in the next three months, we want to know how much work have you done. We do not want a stagnant project”, said Ms Mafu.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee which comprises Departments of Human Settlements, Mineral Resources, Presidency and Labour came to brief the Committee on their plans to implement a commitment made by President Jacob Zuma his recent State of the Nation Addresses where he highlighted that government undertook to revitalise distressed mining communities and eradicate informal settlements.
Mr Mbulelo Tshangana of the Department of Human Settlements said the scope of this project included 15 towns that were earmarked as part of the revitalisation of distressed mining communities and these towns were found in Limpopo, Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Free State. Mr Tshangana added that their work also focused on revitalising 12 priorities labour sending areas in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The estimated budget for this project, according to the IMC, is over R9 billion with government putting forward just over R6 billion and mining companies contributing in excess of R3 billion. Despite the contribution mining companies made towards this project, Committee members demanded that there be guidelines indicating a criterion on how much should mining companies contribute to this project and other relevant projects.
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