Housing crisis grows

THE BACKLOG of housing in the Province has grown from 48 000 in 2011 to over 53 000 in 2013.

Andrew Louw, from the DA, pointed out during yesterday’s debate on the budget of the Department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), that the department only had the funds to construct about 3 500 housing units this year.

“At the same time, the housing grant for the Northern Cape is set to decrease significantly over the remainder of the MTEF, meaning that output in the years ahead can be expected to dwindle.”

Louw added that this was proof that the current housing delivery model could not address the current and future need for housing because the growing demand continues to exceed supply.

“It is further worrying that Coghsta has chosen to remain quiet about its role in the provision of accommodation for people earning between R3 500 and R12 800. It is also worrying that all hopes of this department providing affordable rental delivery appear to rest on the completion of a single development, namely Lerato Park.”

Louw called on the department to stop fighting the losing battle of merely trying to keep up with the growing housing backlog and in- stead give more attention to the upgrading and provision of services, such as clean water, sanitation, electricity and refuse removal, as well as security of tenure, of already established informal settlements.

“In this way Coghsta can increase the living standards of more people, in a shorter period of time, as well as inculcate in our people a sense of ownership.”

Regarding the state of local government, Louw pointed out that the most recent local government audit outcomes saw as many as 21 of the Province’s 32 local municipalities falling into the disclaimer or qualified category.

“At the end of January this year, municipalities in the Northern Cape were owed R1.5 billion by government departments and other entities. To put this amount into perspective, this is enough to build approximately 19 000 RDP houses.

“Municipal debt is a major problem for municipalities and directly affects their ability to render services to their clients”

He pointed out that many municipalities were unable to perform basic services and an effective and workable plan was needed to improve and create this capacity.

“There is also the matter of consequences, or rather the lack thereof.”

He said incompetent officials needed to be taken on for poor performance.