Going after 'shoddy' developers
Thabo Mokgola
15 March 2005
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says low-cost houses that were shoddily built between 1994 and 2002 will be assessed and repaired by both developers and the government.
Addressing reporters in Pretoria on Monday, Sisulu said the government had resolved to track down developers involved with building such houses and get them to repair them.
Where the government was responsible for such houses, it would shoulder this responsibility, Sisulu added.
The Department of Housing is working with the National Homebuilders Registration Council (NHBRC) to track down the developers responsible for badly built housing.
The NHBRC uses ID numbers and not names to register companies, making it possible to track developers who dissolved their companies in order to establish new ones under different names.
The department will also be taking steps to address the upgrading of houses built before 15 March 1994, Sisulu said.
To help deal with
waiting lists, the department has asked the Auditor-General to help validate lists across the country. "This would be done to ensure that there are consolidated lists, that there is integrity to the lists and that people have confidence in them", Sisulu said.
Sisulu also announced increased housing subsidies for the poor. People who earn less than R1 500 per annum - classified as "hardcore poor" - will qualify for a subsidy of R31 900, up from R28 279.
Those in the secondary group, earning between R1 500 and R3 500 per annum, will receive R29 400, up from R15 000. However, people in this category will have to contribute R2 479, or provide "sweat equity", themselves.
Source: BuaNews
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