Govt providing decent shelter

Local government

About 70 000 people from the Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng will receive decent houses as part of government’s drive to provide integrated human settlements.

Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements Paul Mashatile handed over houses worth R24 billion at the Savanna City Housing project in the Sedibeng District Municipality.

“We are here at Savanna City to witness the handover of phase 1 of Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses, an integrated human settlement development which will finally consist of more than 18 000 BNG houses, providing decent shelter to more than 70 000 people once completed,” said Minister Sisulu.

As part of phase 1, the Department of Human Settlements handed over 497 fully-subsidised houses which will pave the way for the construction of phase 2, which is expected to deliver more than 1 600 houses by the end of March 2017.

Minister Sisulu said Gauteng has a target to deliver 50 000 housing units by the end of this financial year.

“These families here today join more than 600 community members who have already made Savanna City their home, thanks to the government Financed Linked Individual Subsidy Programme.”

The minister said over 1 500 job opportunities were created during the construction of phase 1 and more opportunities are expected to be created as the construction continues.

Savanna City is one of the Department of Human Settlements’ integrated projects and it includes at least three municipalities, the District of Sedibeng, Midvaal and Johannesburg.

The minister applauded the private sector for their support throughout the years.

“Without the private sector’s much-needed support we would not have provided decent shelter to more than 20 million South Africans. We thank individual South Africans for their financial support through their tax payments that continue to enable us to restore dignity through human settlements.”

She said to this end, government has launched a number of pilot projects since 2005 across all major cities, including Cosmo City and Fleurhof in Johannesburg and Olievenhoutbosch in Tshwane. Of the 4,3 million houses and subsidies delivered since 1994, Gauteng has contributed over a million houses and subsidies, providing adequate shelter to over 4 million people.