Coghsta budget declines by 15%

Two hundred 60 m² houses for military veterans will be built in the province this year.
This announcement formed part of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) MEC, Makoma Makhurupetje’s budget speech tabled before the Legislature recently.
“In this financial year the department is more than prepared to deliver 9 242 houses of which 7 934 will be rural housing,” she said.
The 2016/17 budget vote allocated to Coghsta amounts to R2,286 billion, a decline of 15% from 2015/16, attributable to a decrease in conditional grants. The final allocation is R307 million for administration, R1,320 billion for human settlements, R263 million for cooperative governance and R369 million for traditional affairs. Compensation of employees constitutes R878 262 000.
The department had some serious challenges relating to the human settlements delivery in the last two financial years. During that period Coghsta’s delivery decreased to an extent that housing delivery in the province over the past two years yielded zero houses in 2013/14 and only 2 065 housing units in 2014/15 financial year.
Stringent contract management with enforceable punitive clauses in the event of poor performance was introduced by the department and contractors’ performance will be assessed on a weekly basis and those who chronically fall short of their promised contracted delivery schedules will on a monthly basis, lose their units which will immediately be reallocated to performing contractors, Makhurupetje warned.
In worse case scenarios, contractors will forthrightly be terminated for non-performance and their entire allocation will be immediately re-allocated to other contractors in the database which is at its final stages of conclusion.
She said Bendor Extension 100 has been given a new impetus. A total of 19 units are completed and will be ready for occupation by not later than June this year. R12 million was also budgeted for the Ga-Rena housing project Phase 2 in Polokwane.

Story: NELIE ERASMUS
>>nelie.observer@gmail.com

Photo: MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settllement and Traditional Affairs, Makoma Makhurupetje.