Department to accelerate housing delivery in 2017/2018
The Department of Local Government and Human Settlements is set to deliver over 17 800 housing opportunities, 29 000 title deeds and 205 housing units for military veterans.
This announcement was made today by the MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements, Galaletsang Gaolaolwe during her presentation of the department’s budget speech for the 2017/2018 financial year.
‘’Our commitment to restore the dignity of our people, will remain unshaken until our people lead a better life. To this end, we have successfully managed to create 15 118 housing opportunities across the province and these included service sites and completed structures.
Furthermore, we have transferred 7 347 title deeds to the rightful beneficiaries in the reporting period.
We acknowledge the challenge which the department faced with regard to military veterans housing programme which mainly related to qualification criteria of beneficiaries, however, this challenge has been resolved with the Department of Military Veterans’’, said MEC Gaolaolwe.
She noted challenges relating to town planning which includes township establishment and the provision of infrastructure. Other challenges include slow performance of the contractors which resulted in under-expenditure of 9% of human settlement grant.
We will, in the current financial year provide capacity and continue to tighten contract management to the affected municipalities and emerging contractors so that we turn the situation for the better.
We will in the current financial year, provide capacity to the affected municipalities and emerging contractors so that we turn the situation for the better.
She announced the department’s new human settlements delivery, called the bietjie-bietjie maak meer approach. ‘We will give 50 housing units to small contractors of levels one to four. Bigger contractors will also be tied to a contract to support this initiative.
The approach will further increase the pool of participants in the construction of low cost houses and further break the monopoly of big companies in the construction industry’’, she said.
MEC Gaolaolwe committed the department to deal harshly with contractors who are been found to have been involved in fraudulent activities, as well as officials who have also been involved in unethical behaviour.
Enquiries:
Ben Bole
Cell: 071 566 1399
Email: msbole@nwpg.gov.za
