OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Wednesday 10.45am.
GOVERNMENT has facilitated the delivery of some 600000 low-cost houses since 1994, a move which is starting to get South Africans housed “in earnest”, Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele said on Tuesday night.
Speaking at a Gauteng housing awards dinner, Mthembi-Mahanyele called for even more innovation in building homes for the poor. “We are now producing densification to accommodate the low-income market [and] rental stock is now a form of housing which will be extended to the poor,” she said. She described the low-cost housing industry as the Cinderella of the home-building industry.
Mthembi-Mahanyele added, however, that she is concerned about corruption in the sector and is aware that some conveyancers have embezzled money earmarked for low-cost housing. She said that the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Bill currently moving through Parliament will provide consumers with a measure of protection against poor workmanship and inadequate structures.
Speaking at the same dinner, Gauteng housing and land affairs MEC Dan Mofokeng said his department has facilitated the delivery of more than 80000 houses and 148000 stands since the 1994 elections. The housing backlog in Gauteng alone was up to 760000 families in 1994, he said. The figure is increasing almost daily, he added, as an estimated 20000 people move into the province every month.