New housing backlog strategy

HUMAN Settlements Minister Nomaindia Mfeketo, speaking at an induction workshop of the National Rapid Response Task Team (NRRTT) yesterday, has urged the government to be bold and plan differently.

The team is not office-bound, but is set up to enable the department to rapidly respond to housing issues. It is meant to go door-to-door, interact with communities, structures within communities, as well as local and provincial governments to assess community housing needs.

The team comprises the ministers of Human Settlements, Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs, Land and Rural Development and Water and Sanitation and is chaired by Deputy President David Mabuza.

Mfeketo also echoed the president’s sentiments on developing new strategies to help curb the housing backlog.

“With the financial situation of the country, it is unsustainable to continue at the rate at which we are continuing, but there are definitely lots of things that need to happen before we say this is the policy we are going to embark upon.

“When we were activists, we knew what was wrong with governments who shift papers. Once you are in government, you become pre-occupied with policies and, at times, policies that are not in sync with what people are feeling or want,” Mfeketo said.

The national housing backlogstands at 2.1 million, while Western Cape is at approximately 600 000.

Last year, Human Settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said it would be incorrect to assume “that we will ever eradicate informal settlements in our lifetime is a pipe dream”.

He said his department had, between 2009 and the last provincial budget speech, delivered 91 000 title deeds and over 160 000 housing opportunities, but the high influx of people from other provinces made it difficult to eradicate the backlog.

The department could only provide 18 000 housing opportunities a year across the various housing programmes.

However, the gap to access housing has been narrowed with the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme threshold being extended from R15 000 to R22 000 and entry age decreased to 18 to apply for housing.

A Human Settlements Development Bank will also be established to assist first-time buyers access the property market.