MBOMBELA – Human settlements MEC, Mr Speedy Mashilo told councillors during his first MuniMEC meeting at Mbombela City about proper planning to avert such trends.
He emphasised that the department’s mandate was to create integrated human settlements and provide people with proper services such as water, electricity, sanitation, social amenities and housing.
Mashilo met with various human-settlement councillors and executive mayors from across the province to discuss issues pertaining to the rapid growth of informal settlements, availability of land and proper beneficiary management.
The allocation of houses to beneficiaries remains a challenge owing to alleged nepotism, fraud and corruption.
“Informal settlements are a huge problem. Our mandate is not limited to building houses, but also to put in place proper infrastructure, water, accessible roads and sewer systems. However, when people decide to invade the space, such services are difficult to install,” added Mashilo.
He further questioned the method in which beneficiaries were being selected to receive RDP houses, saying that it did not seem to be serving its purpose. “It is embarrassing that in the 22 years of democracy, we still have elderly people living without decent houses. Many of our beneficiaries today are young people who do not qualify for these houses.
Emakhazeni Local Municipality executive mayor, Cllr Thomas Ngwenya called for municipalities to develop and enforce by-laws to ensure that informal settlements were dealt with every time they were erected. There was consensus among the representatives that proper planning, cooperation with traditional leadership and development of strong policies could be solutions to service-delivery challenges, especially in human settlements.
“We have orphans and people living with disabilities, so it is disappointing when the middle-income earners who are capable of building or buying houses for themselves are found in the same controversy of owning government-subsidised houses,” said Mashilo.
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While mentioning that the availability of land should be arranged to benefit such people, he warned against the selling and renting of government houses by people who appeared to have a need but are instead using them as an income-generating scheme.
Mashilo concluded that municipalities should play a role in identifying land and also ensure that areas were proclaimed for the department to fast-track the issuing of title deeds to the beneficiaries.
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