Pretoria – Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Jacob Mamabolo, has called on stakeholders involved in repairing houses damaged in a hailstorm last year to expedite their work.
About 71 000 houses were affected by the hailstorm and nearly 29 000 were severely damaged. The Gauteng government undertook to replace the damaged asbestos roofs with tiles.
The MEC visited Mamelodi and Soshanguve on Monday afternoon as part of finding ways to speed up the ongoing repairs. Some residents have complained that the repairs were being delayed.
MEC Mamabolo said stakeholders needed to prioritise the replacement of roofing for the residents.
“Almost 15 000 houses have been prioritised for the first phase programme and nine contractors were appointed in Soshanguve, Mamelodi and Hammanskraal with each township given three service providers.”
He said while he was happy to see work had already started - and completed in other areas - he wanted to provide ways to improve service delivery and to work faster and better.
“We are coming here again to get a progress report from our appointed construction companies and other stakeholders involved,” he said.
He said there was a need to review the plans in order to determine accurate timelines for the completion of the project.
“It is important to have accurate information about project timelines in order for government to be able to report back to residents and explain when we will repair citizens’ homes.”
MEC Mamabolo also met families whose houses are currently being repaired and was happy about work being done in Soshanguve. – SAnews.gov.za
