ECape builds houses for poor
Lucky Khumalo
16 November 2004
The Eastern Cape Department of Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs has confirmed that 17 841 new houses have been completed or were under construction to date at a cost of R368-million.
Departmental spokesperson Thandi Cebe, said on Monday that more than 17 000 new houses had been built in the current financial year, from April 2004 to end of October 2004.
Delivering his policy speech to the provincial legislature, Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Gugile Nkwinti, said the target was the construction of 23 149 housing units at a budget of R600-million in rural as well as urban areas throughout the province, with greater concentration in the eastern and north eastern areas.
Nkwinti said the eradication of the bucket system will also continue to receive primary focus with the implementation of various projects throughout the province.
"This is one of the programmes aimed at restoring the people's
dignity and ensuring that the poorest of the poor enjoy access to appropriate housing with waterborne sewerage," he said.
He said that the bucket system backlog currently stood at 64 768 and an estimated R226.7-million was required to address this.
For the current financial year, R38.2-million had been provided with R26.5-million coming from the provincial government and R11.6-million from national government.
Nkwinti said the provision of "habitable shelter in a sustainable manner" remained the primary focus of the department over the next five years.
"While we have achieved major successes in our quest for efficiency in executing our housing development programme especially in relation to the involvement of the previously disadvantaged construction companies, including women and the youth, there are still enormous challenges ahead of us."
Nkwinti said the R1.1-billion housing development strategy had yielded a lot of "good" results and lessons
especially in helping to unlock various administrative logjams that had delayed delivery.
"The municipalities have in the process started to understand and appreciate their developmental roles," he said.
He added that the key to the strategy was the role that will be played by emerging contractors, the streamlining of the payment regime, partnerships with the commercial banks and training institutions, tightening of quality control and internal reorganisation.
The provincial Growth and Development Plan highlights job creation and poverty alleviation as key provincial priorities.
"Through housing development, the department will ensure that the frontiers of poverty and joblessness are pushed further and further away," he said.
At the same time, the province has come to the rescue of 10 needy schools in the province, donating R150 000 for each to build proper structures.
The mud schools that will benefit from the grant are: the junior secondary
schools of Bomvini, Lukholweni in Mzimkhulu, Thembani and Tshikita in Mount Fletcher, Hardenberg and Nkaulweni in Maluti, Ndum-Ndum and Cadu in Mt Ayliff, as well as Linotsing and Masianokeng in Matatiele.
The premier Nosimo Balindlela has also ordered that five temporary classrooms for each school be erected by January 2005.
Speaking at Bomvini junior secondary school at the weekend, Balindlela said she will return in April next year with another R150 000 for each of the schools, to ensure that the schools building process was completed.
Principal Monde Mahlathi thanked the government and said the parents, learners, and school governing bodies' prayers had been answered.
Source: BuaNews
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