Metro has R335m shortfall for housing projects

The Herald Online

Metro has R335m shortfall for housing projects2009/08/26 POLITICAL EDITOR

NELSON Mandela Bay has a shortfall of R335-million for the housing projects it wishes to implement in the current financial year, the housing and land committee was told yesterday.
Briefing the committee on the performance of the past financial year and looking ahead, executive director Seth Maqetuka said the metro had received R376-million but needed R711-million with the provincial department having requested motivation for the projects it wished to pursue and “realistic cash flows for the additional funding”.
Maqetuka said the metro had been promised additional funds that would come from the local authorities, whose performance to date had “not been very positive”.
He said the target for the past financial year ending in June had been 5 000 units and the directorate had delivered 8301.
With regard to the accreditation process, Maqetuka said the metro had level two and would submit a business plan by the end of next month.
An assessment of the municipality’s compliance with level one would be conducted by the province on September 9.
As far as social housing was concerned that sought to address apartheid residential patterns, Maqetuka said four land parcels had been identified and two social housing partners identified. Pipeline projects included the Walmer Gold site, Mount Croix and John Street, Uitenhage.
He said a workshop of social housing would be held on Friday when details of all projects would be released.
The committee was also told yesterday that informal settlements “will remain a reality for decades”.
A lengthy presentation on the subject listing the challenges in areas such as land invasions did not, however, satisfy some councillors.
Andile Mfunda (ANC) said he did not want to know about operational issues and administrative details but “time- frames in terms of which the people in shacks will be relocated. We want a programme of action”.
Mfunda warned that shacks were “a big issue”, adding that by 2014 “we must have dealt with shacks not only here but in the whole of South Africa”.
The committee was told that currently there were 105 informal settlements in the metro occupied by about 26950 households, of which 95 were on municipal land and 10 on private land. Of these, 13950 will have houses built where they are with the balance being relocated.
The housing backlog currently stands at 80 000.
With regard to land invasions, the committee was informed that during the three months to June this year, the land invasion sub-directorate patrolled 117 areas across all wards seven days a week.
During this period 963 illegal structures were demolished in Schauderville, Booysen Park, Tiryville, Kleinskool, Motherwell and KwaNobuhle.
In addition, 12 house invasion cases were investigated at Langa, Chatty, Walmer and Motherwell.
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