Serious defects in low-cost housing

2008-05-09 09:10

Abigail Isaacs

Cape Town - More than three-quarters of low-cost housing recently investigated in six provinces by the Auditor General (AG) had serious defects.

This was one of the shocking findings in the AG's report on housing which was presented to Parliament on Thursday.

DA MP Eddie Trent said he would raise questions next week over the costs involved in the repair of these houses, after the AG found defects in 76% of the 970 house he investigated.

The defects included cracks in the walls and foundations, roofs and toilets that leaked, and outside doors which did not close properly.

"For many who moved from informal settlements to low-cost housing, the houses that were provided to them were no better than the houses from which they had moved," Trent said.

The AG also found that many of the houses' residents were not yet in possession of the houses' title deeds.

"This means that the residents can't use their homes as security for loans.

"The provincial departments of housing and local councils' inefficiency holds them prisoner," Trent added.

Trent did say that it was commendable that the number of houses which state officials obtained illegally had decreased; housing subsidies to state employees decreased from over R300m between January 1999 and March 2004 to just under R3m in November 2005.

- Beeld