President Cyril Ramaphosa has, together with Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane, conducted a site visit to the Dark and Silver City Community Residential Units at the Mangaung Metro Municipality in the Free State.
The project – which is aimed at providing low-income housing for thousands of citizens – has been faced with vandalism and challenges with contractors since it broke ground a little over 10 years ago.
Once construction is completed, the provincial government is expected to hand over the project to the municipality.
“This is the full process of renewal, reforms that we are instituting right across the disciplines and platforms across the country in the seventh administration.
“The determination and the rigour is there. You sense it. We are now entering a new phase of delivering human settlements in our country and we are now definitely on the move to eradicate the corruption that has dogged the construction of houses for our people and I can see it.
“What has been done in the past is completely unacceptable, but we are where we are. We are now changing approach,” President Ramaphosa said during a walkabout of the site on Thursday.
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The President acknowledged the challenges that the project has faced but assured that government is working to resolve them.
“[We’ve] got the officials, the Ministers and the MECs and Premiers who are now showing greater determination to…getting to the root of the problems, have consequence management, the SIU [Special Investigating Unit] is investigating all the abandoned projects and we are moving unit by unit, block by block to ensure that we deliver housing to our people.
“Being here, at this site that was abandoned, is actually an abomination…and a complete neglect to the interests and rights of our people. With this, we ought to hang our heads in shame. But we are where we are now and we want to raise our gaze and make sure that we address the challenges and the problems and begin to deliver these houses to our people.
“Our people have been living for too long under…unacceptable accommodation and now we are opening a new window, a new chapter for them here. I’m glad to hear [that] there are almost 5 000 units [that] will now be occupied, and people will move in phase by phase until it’s fully occupied,” he added.
Provincial response
Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae told SAnews.gov.za that a facilitator has been appointed to oversee some parts of the project.
“These flats have been built for some time now, but I’m happy that this seventh administration is starting to engage with the department [and] with the municipality in making sure that this year, we hand over this project to the municipality.
“There is a facilitator that has been appointed here so we are urging our communities…to come and utilise this place [when occupancy is opened],” she said.
As a crowd gathered, some in protest and others seeking more information about the units, Mangaung Mayor Gregory Nthatisi, acknowledged that communication with community members on the completion of the construction has not always been up to par.
He told SAnews that authorities are hard at work to make sure that the construction is satisfactory before occupations can begin.
“In the past, when people were promised that they would come here, the communication level was not up to scratch. As a result, together with the province, we are now engaging the people around to explain how we can best utilise the properties here.
“We need to make sure that the contractors that do the work and were appointed by government stick to the specifications with regard to what has to happen so that by the time that the houses are handed over to the people, [the homes] are up to the level and expectation,” Nthatisi said. – SAnews.gov.za
