Pretoria - About 82 informal settlements are currently being assessed and categorised for upgrading as part of the National Upgrading Support Programme in the priority mining towns.
This emerged during a media briefing of government’s Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster in Pretoria on Thursday, which gave a progress report on its priority programmes.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, who led the cluster briefing, announced that a total of 62 human settlement projects are at various stages of development in the priority mining towns.
About 20 of these projects are informal settlement upgrading, she said.
The upgrading forms part of the National Mining Towns Intervention by government aimed at stabilising the mining industry, which remains a major contributor to economic growth and employment.
This follows violent labour unrest in the mining sector, which prompted President Jacob Zuma to delegate then Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe to intervene.
The intervention, which included mining companies and unions, gave birth to the Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry. The agreement identified the need for the provision of quality housing for people residing and working in mining towns.
In his State of the Nation Address, President Zuma committed to helping revitalise mining towns and identified the mining areas of Motlosana, Emalahleni, Sekhukhune, Lephalale, West Rand and Matjhabeng as targets.
Turning to other housing projects, Minister Motshekga said provinces and municipalities have submitted approximately 120 potential projects that are being considered and assessed for the catalytic projects (projects that deliver over 10 000 houses) programme.
Assessment criteria, she said, have been developed for these projects against the principles and requirements of the Master Spatial Plan to ensure “impact and integration” outcomes from the projects.
The mobilisation of private sector involvement in this programme is also underway.
The cluster also reported that the Department of Human Settlements has acknowledged the challenge of a growing number of beneficiaries of state-subsidised housing who do not have title deeds.
Research shows that over a million beneficiaries do not have title deeds.
But according to the cluster, the Department of Human Settlements is committed to addressing this challenge.
“The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) has been tasked with the responsibility of framing a strategy that will ensure the transfer of deeds in a realistic and systematic way,” the cluster said, adding that the EAAB will initiate more rigorous and independent audits by provinces of both pre- and post-1994 outstanding transfers.
This exercise of transferring title deeds to beneficiaries of state-subsidised housing has to be completed by 2019. - SAnews.gov.za
