IFP: HUMAN SETTLEMENT PLAN TO ABOLISH HOSTELS DOOMED TO FAIL

The IFP views Minister Lindiwe Sisulu's budget vote speech as an attack on the rights of hostel dwellers and shows the department's desperate attempt to be seen as addressing the needs of hostel dwellers.

"Hostels such as the Dube, Mzimhlope, Kagiso, Jabulani and Diepkloof have been under construction for more than 10 years, yet there have been no allocations. In the Kagiso hostel for example, 11 people have died while living in temporary structures. Since 2005, people have been promised that they would be allocated to their original hostels but up until today, nothing has been done.

In the 90s, there was a clarion call by the ANC to abolish hostels, which was viewed as an insult by the hostel dwellers. Now the minister is rehashing the same failed call and this will also most likely fail" said IFP spokesperson on Human Settlement, MP Petros Sithole

The shifting of responsibility for the construction of hostels to the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) also highlights how out of touch the department is with the reality on the ground.

"The Social Housing Regulatory Authority has its own responsibilities and has to account for them. Yet SHRA has been a dismal failure in its own right with loads of corruption and maladministration claim - even its board is an interim structure"

"Hostels such as Thokoza, Benoni, Springs and Alexander, to name a few, are in a bad state and need the department's urgent attention. The Minister must listen to the people's call for better living conditions and not try to remove them from the cities through apartheid style policies. There must be proper consultation between all those involved so as to ensure that in the drive to pursue development, the department takes into account affordability, accountability and responsibility when dealing with hostel dwellers" said Sithole

Statement issued by IFP spokesperson on Human Settlement, Mr KP Sithole, MP, May 12 2015