President plans bank for housing projects
A new human settlements development bank is on the cards, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced this week.
Delivering the State of the Nation address in parliament on Thursday night, Ramaphosa said this bank will leverage both public and private sector financing to aid in housing delivery.
He said the housing department had set a target of building 500,000 low-cost houses in the next five years.
The housing backlog in the Eastern Cape stands at an estimated 66,000 units but 14,000 are built each year.
Ramaphosa said R30bn will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates of providing the required network infrastructure.
However, Ramaphosa said they had to do things differently. “If we are to effectively address the substantial housing backlog in our country, we need to develop different models of financing for human settlements.
“It is for this reason that we are establishing a human settlements development bank that will leverage both public and private sector financing to aid in housing delivery,” he said.
Coupled with these are plans to give would be homeowners an opportunity to build their dream homes. This he called the people’s housing programme, with households being allocated serviced stands to build their own houses, either individually or through community-led housing cooperatives.
“We will give effect to our commitment to build human settlements in well-located areas that bring together economic opportunities and all the services and amenities that people need.” he said.
On the land question, he said, alongside the constitutional review process, his deputy, David Mabuza will lead the inter-ministerial committee on land reform to fast-track the process.
An advisory panel of experts headed by Dr Vuyo Mahlatsi was established to advise government on its land reform programme. Ramaphosa said the panel was expected to table its report by the end of March.
Ramaphosa said as part of accelerating land reform, the state has also identified state-owned land parcels for redistribution.
“Strategically located land will be released to address human settlements needs in urban and peri-urban areas.
“We have invested significantly in comprehensive farmer development support to ensure that restituted and communal land is productively utilised. We will continue to prioritise targeted skills development and capacity building programmes.”