The Western Cape government has provided more than 167 000 Western Cape families with homes of their own since the start of the housing subsidy system, premier Marthinus van Schalkwyk said on Monday.
There were few areas of delivery in that had a more direct impact on communities than housing, Van Schalkwyk told the launch of a provincial government imbizo focus week in Brown’s Farm in Philippi.
Van Schalkwyk said his government was ”particularly pleased” that some 25 000 state housing subsidies had been approved last year. Each year, the rate of new homes built in the province grows by 3 000 units.
The premier said the housing backlog in the province now stood in excess of 320 000, and it was growing at a rate of about 20 000 per year as a result of normal population growth and through migration to the Western Cape.
The aim of the Imbizo campaign is for the provincial government to listen to communities and understand what the government must still do to improve the quality of life of the province’s citizens.
Imbizo meetings will also be held this week in Paarl, George, Laingsburg, Caledon, Piketberg, Mitchell’s Plain, Swellendam, Pacaltsdorp and Grabouw. – Sapa