Residents of Fleurhof will remain without RDP housing due to the reduction of the City’s Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG).
According to Herman Mashaba, the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, the City of Johannesburg has exhausted efforts to engage MEC Moiloa, Premier Makhura, Minister Mfeketo and President Ramaphosa about their decision to reduce the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) funding budget by R180 million. “Our efforts have been ignored outright and I am yet to receive a response to any of my letters,” he said.
He also mentioned that, at the start of this financial year, the City was informed that the HSDG funding would be in the region of R248 million, on the basis of the City’s Department of Housing’s business plans, which were adopted by Council and ultimately the Province.
Late last year, without warning or reasons being provided, a Provincial Gazette indicated that the City’s HSDG funding from Provincial Government would only amount to R68 million – a reduction of R180m.
This follows a pattern of Provincial Government intentionally reducing the City’s HSDG funding post the 2016 local government elections in which the ANC lost control of the City’s purse.
Prior to the 2016 elections, the City was allocated R411 million for housing projects; however, soon after the DA won the election, the budget was reduced by R66 million. The following year, the Province reduced the City’s HSDG funding from R411 million to R145 million. What the Province fails to realise is that these irrational decisions hurt our poorest residents the most.
In another act of total bad faith, on 18 December last year, MEC Moiloa hosted a handover ceremony of housing units at the City of Johannesburg’s integrated housing development in Fleurhof.
“Bizarrely, despite the development being spearheaded by the City, the handover ceremony occurred without consultation with the City. In fact, the City’s leadership had no knowledge of this event until it was reported on in the media. According to reports, some 60 units were handed over for allocation. These 60 units formed part of an earmarked 200 units for military veterans,” Mashaba said.
He went on to state that, “Since taking office, I have been committed to creating a credible and accessible housing list for our residents. The City has invested much time and resources into this project. I have on numerous occasions requested MEC Moiloa to assist the City with consolidating our housing lists to ensure that we work off one credible system which cannot be abused. This would help our residents to know exactly where they are on the housing waiting list. This online database will also bring an end to fraud, corruption and queue-jumping in the housing allocation process. These efforts have also been ignored.”
“It is time for MEC Moiloa and the Gauteng Provincial Government to put their personal political interests aside and act in the best interests of our residents,” he concluded.
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