Large setback for the City’s housing plans
"This decision hurts the residents of our city, who have suffered the indignity of government failure for too long, especially those most vulnerable to the crushing weight of poverty”
The City is facing a major set-back as National Treasury and the National Department of Human Settlements have taken a decision to cut Joburg’s Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) by R363 million.
According to Member of the Mayoral Committee for Finance, councillor Funzela Ngobeni, this will directly impact the City’s ability to address infrastructure backlogs, as well as revitalise the inner city and create affordable housing for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
The USDG is a supplementary grant used to support local government’s efforts to install and upgrade infrastructure. Ngobeni said the City suffers from an inherited infrastructure backlog in the region of a 10-year, unfunded R170 billion, as a result of the historical neglect by previous administrations.
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“What is most disappointing is the fact that a large portion of USDG is geared towards improving the living conditions of residents, with the housing department receiving the biggest chunk of the allocation to provide suitable housing for the 150 000 poor residents on the waiting list. The demand for housing, especially considering the missing middle of the housing market, is larger than any other city in the country, with an estimated demand of 300 000 units.
“Despite the City providing an extensive motivation for the projected spend for the 2017/ 18 financial year, both Human Settlements and National Treasury moved to drastically cut the USDG funding to the City. These representations included critical information about projects within our service delivery pipeline that would drive expenditure in USDG,” said Ngobeni.
Apparently, in the last two financial years, quarter-three performance has improved from the 23 per cent spend in 2015/ 16 up to 36 per cent in the 2017/ 18 financial year. The City has acknowledged that several chronic challenges have hampered spending within the City and it has put in place new monitoring tools to improve performance.
“It is disappointing that this crucial grant has now been taken away before the City could fully realise its full roll-out plan. It begs the question as to why Johannesburg has been targeted in this manner, while metros that spend similar amounts are left untouched. This concern is amplified by the fact that the decision to cut funding to Johannesburg seemed to have been made long before any submission from the City was called for or considered.
“This decision hurts the residents of our city, who have suffered the indignity of government failure for too long, especially those most vulnerable to the crushing weight of poverty,” said Ngobeni.
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