January 24, 2005
By Bafana Nzimande
PEOPLE living in corrugated shacks in Johannesburg's informal settlements will soon be provided with brick-and-mortar houses.
Construction of houses in the identified settlements will start in March, according to the Gauteng housing MEC, Nomvula Mokonyane. She visited five informal settlements around Johannesburg on Thursday 20 January.
"We have moved from the planning stage and now it's time to deliver all our promises to our people by providing them with proper houses and better housing developments," said Mokonyane.
The MEC - accompanied by provincial housing officials and Johannesburg councillors, including the mayoral committee member responsible for housing, Strike Ralegoma - braved the cloudy weather to tour the Chris Hani, Lawley, Thembelihle, Weilers Farm and Thulamtwana informal settlements. All are in the southern regions of the city.
"This tour is mainly meant to assess progress made within these identified areas with regards to the formalisation of informal settlements, but more importantly to also share ideas with its dwellers about ways of developing some of these areas," said Mongezi Mnyani of the Gauteng housing department.
Last year the City of Johannesburg approved a consolidated list of 189 informal settlements and housing projects around the city, the first step towards achieving its target of formalising informal settlements within the next three years.
Mokonyane - wearing a blue tracksuit emblazed with the slogan "Building Sustainable Communities" - stopped off at the Chris Hani informal settlement on the outskirts of Kliptown. She walked through the muddy streets, surrounded by tiny shacks.
Development has already begun in Chris Hani, which has been included in the City's plan to eradicate all informal areas surrounding Kliptown.
According to the Gauteng government's website, construction had already begun at 8 000 stands and more than 1 112 stands had already been fully serviced.
The department of housing is expected to spend R201,8-million completing the development process. By May, more than 5 700 stands will have services.
Mokonyane's visit to the settlements was unannounced, catching residents by surprise. The MEC stopped at a tiny house, finding resident Abram Adonns having lunch.
"It really shows that they really care about us," Adonns said.
He went on to tell Mokonyane: "My only wish is to see our government providing us with brick houses and relocating us away from these shacks."
The entourage then moved on to Lawley informal settlement to "send the message of hope" to its residents.
Preliminary engineering and design work has already been completed in Lawley Extensions 3 and 4, and the department of housing has approved a budget of R90,7-million to upgrade services in the area.
Mokonyane stood on a soccer field and spoke to residents about the importance of registering title deeds. She urged them to report any corruption.
"Please report any house-administration corruption that might be present in this area and also register for your house title deeds so that the government can assist you further," she said.
An anti-corruption unit had been set up to deal with any corruption in the administration department, Mnyani said.
"We are aware that people have been complaining about nepotism and corruption with regards to the issuing of houses and title deeds, but those involved in such activities should know that their days are numbered."
The visit was met with mixed emotions: some residents appeared to be looking forward to the promised developments; others complained about the slow pace of delivery.
"I have not seen any service delivery in this area," said Nhlanhla Masuku.
"From last year we were promised better water services for each household, better toilets instead of buckets, but I have not seen any of that happening."
Mokonyane also made short stops at Weilers Farm, where 871 stands will receive water and 1 345 stands will receive sewage services, and at Thulamtwana. She then visited Thembelihle, where she met more than 100 residents - also on a soccer field.
Most of those gathered to hear the MEC were women - some with babies on their hips; some carrying umbrellas to cope with sun or rain.
They greeted her visit with songs and clapping, and responded to her address with shouts of "viva".
Thembelihle informal settlement has been identified as an area whose residents will be allocated Reconstruction and Development Project (RDP) houses - part of a citywide programme, according to Mnyani. The housing department plans to move the residents of Thembelihle to Vlakfontein, where more than 3 000 houses will be built.
Residents were informed they would be moved to houses elsewhere. Mokonyane said: "We want to build factories in this area and you will all be relocated from these shacks into RDP house that will be erected on better, safe land."
But not everyone was pleased to hear this. "We are not moving from this area," shouted one of the residents.
Mokonyane, however, urged residents not to stand in the way: "If you oppose development, please don't influence others that willingly wish to cooperate with government to create better housing and job opportunities for all."
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
