Eastern Cape Human Settlements MEC, Nonceba Kontsiwe, has called on all stakeholders in the human settlements sector to partner with the department in achieving its strategic mission of providing quality, integrated and sustainable human settlements.
Kontsiwe had delivered an address at the department’s post policy speech stakeholder engagement session in East London recently, where she emphasised speeding up housing delivery.
“Our Minister, Mmamokolo Kubayi, has charged us to speed up housing delivery in this province, as it is urgent business.
“It is urgent business when there are still elderly people living in mud structures, when there are still disabled people who are displaced, when there are still homeless military veterans and children who are homeless. We must work hard not to fail them,” said Kontsiwe.
Among the attendees was the Human Settlements Deputy Minister, Pam Tshwete, who emphasised speeding up the issuing of title deeds as part of restoring the dignity of the homeowners.
“We need to fast track the issue of title deeds. We even give out grants to provinces but to my surprise most of the provinces when I entered this department were not using that grant. What is the problem? We are now saying, if you don’t use the money, we take it from you,” said Tshwete.
Head of the Centre for Trans-disciplinary Studies at the University of Fort Hare, Dr Luvuyo Dondolo, has commended the department on the work it is doing, saying there’s room for innovative ways to improve its service delivery model.
“In my view, the department needs to improve the quality, not just the quantity, of housing. It cannot be that there is a budget for rectification because that gives space for errors.
“Also, I submit that there’s a need to revisit the spatial planning so that it can humanise the previously dehumanised because of apartheid spatial planning,” said Dondolo.
Kontsiwe said the department needed to strengthen partnerships and collaboration with stakeholders.
