Tebogo Msimanga|
One million, two hundred and sixty-three thousand, six hundred and sixty (1 263 660) Gauteng residents are on the housing waiting list. Some have been on this list since 1996 with hopes that the Gauteng Department of Human Settlement will provide them with dignified houses.
The wait will continue as the department can only build 10 000 houses, per financial year.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Mervyn Cirota Gauteng said residents who are desperate for dignified housing will continue to be exposed to terrible living conditions because of this department’s failure to timeously deliver houses.
“The numbers on the housing waiting list will continue to grow instead of being reduced. Some people on the housing waiting list have died while still waiting for houses, and those that are alive have lost hope that they will be allocated houses.”
Cirota said this information was revealed by the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), Lebogang Maile, in a written reply to the DA’s written questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL)
According to MEC Maile, 1 263 660 potential beneficiaries are registered on the housing waiting list. Some of these beneficiaries have been on the housing waiting list since 1996.
Cirota added MEC Maile states that migration, availability of habitable land and budget are among the reasons there has been a slowdown in the delivery of housing. “These are yet again unnecessary excuses from the MEC because poor planning and mismanagement of funds are the main reasons that the beneficiaries who applied for houses 26 years ago have not yet received their houses.”
The DA demands that MEC Maile fast-tracks the allocation of houses as he owes it to the people of Gauteng to fix this mess and reduce the housing backlog.
