GOOD statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
02 March 2022
The National Department of Human Settlements presented a report on “blocked” housing projects across the country to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements.
The Provinces were asked to self-declare housing projects that had not made progress for three years. According the Department, a staggering 3522 projects fell into this category.
The Western Cape and Northern Cape reported “nil” blocked projects which, at least in the case of the Western Cape, is a lie.
The problem with a report based on self-reporting is that provinces are prone to under-report poor performance and present rosier pictures than is actually the case.
In the portfolio committee meeting I cited at least one example of a Western Cape project that is “blocked” but was not reported. This is the urgent informal settlement relocation project called “Siyahlala” in Dunoon.
In February 2018 the relocation of this settlement was identified as urgent due to intolerable living conditions and the impact of the settlement on the Transnet freight rail line. In March 2020 the same informal settlement was identified as a “priority project” due to Covid-19 and the unhealthy environment in the community.
Instead of using a piece of publicly-owned on the corner of Potsdam and Blaawberg Roads, which was reserved for housing by the City of Cape Town in 2014, the Province pursued the time-consuming and convoluted path of purchasing land in a private industrial park, zoned for industrial purposes, paying more than double the land value.
Besides being located in an industrial park, large portions of the land are a wetland and therefore not developable.
The use of the industrial park land for the relocation became contested and four years later the informal settlement remains where it was.
The fact that seven of the country’s nine provinces reported 3522 blocked projects, and that the real number is even higher, spits in the faces of tens of thousands of people who might have had the security and dignity of proper housing today.
These people have been denied their rights to decent shelter despite funding having been made available to build their homes.
The National Department of Human Settlements must urgently interrogate the numbers and intervene where provinces are unable or unwilling to deliver on their basic obligations.
Media enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 5183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (whatsapp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za