Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A third of RDP houses are 'sub-standard'

A THIRD of all the people who were allocated RDP houses are unhappy with their quality

This is according to Statistics South Africa's General Household Survey conducted between 2002 and and last year.

The survey revealed that 31 percent of 1,8 million people who received the houses regarded them "as very weak".

The most complaints were in the Western Cape at 66,7 percent, Eastern Cape at 62,5 percent and Northern Cape at 35 percent.

MAKING MONEY OFF THE HOUSES

The study also showed that 71,6 percent owned their RDP houses while 7,8 percent were renting.

RDP house rentals were more common in Western Cape at 20,4 percent, Eastern Cape at 10,4 percent, and KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo at 7,9 percent.

ON THE WAITING LIST

More than 1,8 million people nationally were still on the waiting list for RDP houses last year, with Gauteng leading the pack at 661,000 followed by (the Western Cape with around 550,000) then KwaZulu-Natal at 301,000.With 29,000 people on the list, the Northern Cape has the least number in need of houses.

MORE ARE LIVING IN BETTER HOMES

The number of households living in formal dwellings increased from 8,1 million in 2002 to 10,4 million in last year.

Despite these advances, 1,9 million households were still living in shacks and another 1,4 million were still living in traditional dwellings such as rondavels and huts by last year.

The most significant strides in housing were made for black people as the proportion of households living in formal dwellings increased from 65,8 percent in 2002 to 69,5 percent last year.

MUNICIPAL SERVICES DECLINE

A survey recorded a steep decline in the provision of regular refuse removal for informal dwellings and for the population in general.

Statistics SA head of social analysis Isabelle Schmidt, said access to regular refuse removal increased significantly for residents of informal settlement between 2002 and 2006. "However, this was followed by a significant decline to the extent that 2009 levels were below the figures reported in 2002," she said.

- Sowetan

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