The Department of Housing has eight years left to meet its objective of having “a nation free of slums by 2014” and it is a deadline it intends to meet. In his state of the nation address President Thabo Mbeki said government remained committed in intensifying the housing programme.
President Mbeki said government needed to speed up the eradication and upgrading of informal settlements in SA, in line with the Millenium Development Goals of 2015. He added that this fast tracking must integrate communities and build a non racial society.
In September 2006 the Department of Housing recorded having delivered over 2, 2 million houses housing an estimated 8, 4 million people. The department has also managed to have 300,000 new subsidies allocated in the past two years.
This however has not made enough of an impact on the 2,4 million backlog, of which 800 000 people are said to be already on the approved housing subsidy waiting list.
Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said urbanization in South Africa which is said to have grown to 58 % in the last 10 years and contributes an annual 200 000 more people into the backlog, was one of the challenges the department faced. Increasingly people are following the money, and are migrating to provinces with better job opportunities and add to the burden of accommodation.
The Comprehensive Plan for the Creation of Sustainable Human Settlements introduces a new paradigm in the development of settlements and focuses on the development of integrated delivery of housing opportunities. The progressive realisation of the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan will ensure that SA is a country that lives and works together – sharing benefits of freedom through access to economic and social advantages.
There is a need to double the number of houses built per financial year in order to eradicate informal settlements by 2014. To respond to this challenge the Department of Housing is investigating ways to accelerate delivery through a Housing Development Agency. The agency will develop, manage and co-ordinate the development of housing across the country, including identification and purchase of suitable land for integrated housing development.
The Department is also exploring other sources of funding for accelerated housing delivery and the restructuring of the current funding mechanism for purposes of consolidating all housing related subsidies.
“As we finalise legislation to prevent further squatting and invasions, we are also prioritising metropolitan areas and large cities for interventions (funding and capacitation) that seek to fast-track upgrading of informal settlements and ensure national spatial restructuring. The establishment of a Land Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to acquire and package prime land for housing and human settlements purposes is at an advanced stage,” said Minister.
She said companies such as Anglo Platinum had demonstrated that employers could contribute effectively to the provision of affordable rental and ownership homes for their employees. Through the Social Contract, we will continue to engage more employers in order to work with them to provide decent affordable homes for their employees.
“Whilst we celebrate the current delivery rate, the phenomenon of rapid urbanization is one of the most challenging social developments of our time. This is because none had anticipated the huge consequences that would flow from the process. Its biggest impact was that it resulted in increased poverty (a process called the urbanization of poverty) and the proliferation of slums in the urban areas. Clearly, despite the impressive delivery we have not made a significant dent into homelessness. And the truth of the matter is that the backlog keeps increasing in the meanwhile,” said Minister.
Minister Sisulu said the eradication of informal settlements meant that government and the private sector would have to now, more than ever, make a reality of the Social Contract commitments to aid the removal of slums in SA. The Department of Housing plans to increase the current annual churn of houses from 250,000 per annum to 500,000.
Nearly two years ago the Department of Housing agreed on a “fluid formula” for low cost housing quotas with the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) that would see a policy being set by the department ensuring that a percentage of all commercial developments not intended for low cost housing would have a percentage allocated.
“The department is still engaging with stakeholders to have a policy on inclusionary housing drafted, and we plan to have the process complete before the end of this year. It would initially have a percentage of between 10% to 20%. After five years it would become law that all developments have a fixed percentage of inclusionary housing as part of their developments,” said Minister. - Housing.gov.za
President Mbeki said government needed to speed up the eradication and upgrading of informal settlements in SA, in line with the Millenium Development Goals of 2015. He added that this fast tracking must integrate communities and build a non racial society.
In September 2006 the Department of Housing recorded having delivered over 2, 2 million houses housing an estimated 8, 4 million people. The department has also managed to have 300,000 new subsidies allocated in the past two years.
This however has not made enough of an impact on the 2,4 million backlog, of which 800 000 people are said to be already on the approved housing subsidy waiting list.
Minister of Housing Lindiwe Sisulu said urbanization in South Africa which is said to have grown to 58 % in the last 10 years and contributes an annual 200 000 more people into the backlog, was one of the challenges the department faced. Increasingly people are following the money, and are migrating to provinces with better job opportunities and add to the burden of accommodation.
The Comprehensive Plan for the Creation of Sustainable Human Settlements introduces a new paradigm in the development of settlements and focuses on the development of integrated delivery of housing opportunities. The progressive realisation of the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan will ensure that SA is a country that lives and works together – sharing benefits of freedom through access to economic and social advantages.
There is a need to double the number of houses built per financial year in order to eradicate informal settlements by 2014. To respond to this challenge the Department of Housing is investigating ways to accelerate delivery through a Housing Development Agency. The agency will develop, manage and co-ordinate the development of housing across the country, including identification and purchase of suitable land for integrated housing development.
The Department is also exploring other sources of funding for accelerated housing delivery and the restructuring of the current funding mechanism for purposes of consolidating all housing related subsidies.
“As we finalise legislation to prevent further squatting and invasions, we are also prioritising metropolitan areas and large cities for interventions (funding and capacitation) that seek to fast-track upgrading of informal settlements and ensure national spatial restructuring. The establishment of a Land Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to acquire and package prime land for housing and human settlements purposes is at an advanced stage,” said Minister.
She said companies such as Anglo Platinum had demonstrated that employers could contribute effectively to the provision of affordable rental and ownership homes for their employees. Through the Social Contract, we will continue to engage more employers in order to work with them to provide decent affordable homes for their employees.
“Whilst we celebrate the current delivery rate, the phenomenon of rapid urbanization is one of the most challenging social developments of our time. This is because none had anticipated the huge consequences that would flow from the process. Its biggest impact was that it resulted in increased poverty (a process called the urbanization of poverty) and the proliferation of slums in the urban areas. Clearly, despite the impressive delivery we have not made a significant dent into homelessness. And the truth of the matter is that the backlog keeps increasing in the meanwhile,” said Minister.
Minister Sisulu said the eradication of informal settlements meant that government and the private sector would have to now, more than ever, make a reality of the Social Contract commitments to aid the removal of slums in SA. The Department of Housing plans to increase the current annual churn of houses from 250,000 per annum to 500,000.
Nearly two years ago the Department of Housing agreed on a “fluid formula” for low cost housing quotas with the South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) that would see a policy being set by the department ensuring that a percentage of all commercial developments not intended for low cost housing would have a percentage allocated.
“The department is still engaging with stakeholders to have a policy on inclusionary housing drafted, and we plan to have the process complete before the end of this year. It would initially have a percentage of between 10% to 20%. After five years it would become law that all developments have a fixed percentage of inclusionary housing as part of their developments,” said Minister. - Housing.gov.za