Housing apartheid 'to end'
2005-05-20 13:45
Nelspruit - Mpumalanga's housing department has welcomed a national programme to build houses for middle-class people in urban areas.
The national housing department will fund housing parastatals to build the houses on available land at the edge of urban areas and integrate traditionally black and white residential areas, said provincial housing spokesperson Arthur Ndlovu on Thursday.
"This project will eliminate the housing separation implemented by apartheid, where you had white people living in urban areas and non-whites outside of these urban areas," he said.
He said the houses were aimed at people who earn more than R5 000 a month.
"The houses will be rented out and those who wish to buy them will be allowed to do so," he said.
He said one project that was already being implemented in Middelburg allowed migrant workers to rent houses.
"These rentals are for migrant workers who already own homes elsewhere and don't want to buy a house where they work," he explained.
Housing projects put on ice
Meanwhile, the department has frozen all housing projects because of shoddy contractors who also failed to meet deadlines.
The department is still considering whether to grant the developers extensions, or to allow legal proceedings to take their course.
"Those contractors are bound by legal and contractual obligations," said Ndlovu. "Failure to comply automatically results in a breach between the contractor and department of housing."
He said some contractors had mismanaged money meant for construction, and then neglected the project.
"Extensions will only be provided to those who have valid reasons," Ndlovu said.
Trying to ease the backlog
He said the department was establishing Bulk Buying Depots in more remote areas, to allow small contractors to purchase South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) approved materials on credit at a single 'one-stop' facilities that are closer to them.
There is already a depot in the Ehlanzeni district, and more will be built in the Gert Sibande and Nkangala districts.
The department's focus is still low-cost housing and we have set aside R276m to build 17 000 this year.
"This will help ease the backlog of more than 200 000 houses in Mpumalanga," said Ndlovu.
The subsidy for low-cost houses has also been increased to R31 000 per unit, which may not be smaller than 50 square metres.