Media Statement by Minister of Human Settlements, Bonginkosi Madikizela
The claim by the ANC that the DA-led government is going backwards with its new policy position that in the future it will only provide serviced sites to the poor is wrong. The poor will still get houses. The provision of basic services first and then houses later is not new, and we have been publicly communicating this for many months.
The strategy is part of the National Housing Policy, and is endorsed by the National Human Settlements Department. Secondly, the National Development Plan, presented by Trevor Manual, stresses that we must spend more money upgrading informal settlements and providing basic services.
We will not only provide serviced sites to the poor; as part of the Western Cape Governments Incremental Housing Delivery Strategy and Access to Basic Services Strategy, we will make sure that people wait for houses with the dignity of basic services. It is clear the ANC Provincial Secretary, Mr Songezo Mjongile, has no idea about human settlements policy, for his response is ignorant of the realities of human settlements delivery.
Let me look at his argument point by point.
"The ANC says the DA-led government in the Western Cape is going backwards with its new policy position to in future only provide serviced sites for the poor."
Nowhere did we ever say we will only provide serviced sites for the poor. Our new strategy is Incremental Housing Development, where people get basic services first and then houses later. The reality is that there are around 500 000 households waiting for houses in the Western Cape, often in settlements with no basic services. With our budget allocation from the National Treasury, we are only able to build around 15 000 houses a year, and at that rate, assuming no increase in demand, it would take 30 years to clear this backlog.