City to launch investigation into housing department

City of Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell has promised to lodge an investigation into the Department of Housing to root out corruption and unacceptable behaviour.

Campbell was responding to questions by the residents of Chief Albert Luthuli and Daveyton at the city’s service fair and community imbizo held at Cloverdene sports grounds on November 18.

“It’s time that department is investigated. It’s time we see where the problem is,” she said.

Along with deputy ministers Pinky Kekana (presidency), Thembi Nkadimeng (Cogta) and Dr Nobuhle Nkabane (DMRE) and other government representatives, Campbell paid a monitoring visit to the Chief Albert Luthuli clinic to assess the state of service delivery.

At the imbizo, community members raised a range of issues affecting them.

Among them were allegations of corruption against ward councillors accused of allocating government housing to foreign nationals.

The residents said they were concerned about illegal mining, crime and the safety of patrons in the Benoni CBD.

They also accused the police of taking no action on rape cases.

Addressing some of these issues, Campbell urged residents to work with the municipality to find solutions to these problems.

“Work together and not against one another. If we start breaking down things meant to work for the community, where is the money to come from to rebuild it?”

She announced the city will be rolling out a township revitalisation programme to stimulate the local economy.

Nkabane pleaded with the community to help the government find solutions to illegal mining.

“Illegal mining creates a problem for us because we now have to budget for the rehabilitation of the mines,” said said.

“We have a joint operation where several government departments meet and decide how best to address this problem. But we can’t solve it without the help of the community.”

The deputy minister announced that residents in mining communities, especially women and youth, will drive the government’s small-scale and junior mining programme.

“It hurts to see our fellow Africans come to South Africa and exploit our mineral resources when it’s us who should benefit. We need to work together to drive the small-scale and junior mining programme to address all these problems.”

She urged residents to think beyond mining as the main economic activity in the area.

“We are busy with a regional approach to identify key areas we have to focus on. We need to revitalise distressed mining towns. We believe Ekurhuleni will be affected in the near future if we don’t come up with clear programmes that will address all problems related to the economy,” she said.

Nkadimeng said all concerns were noted and will send a report to all departments to find solutions to address these issues.

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