The Department of Human Settlements is confident of dealing with the housing crisis by 2030 and its targets are "not ambitious".
THE Department of Human Settlements is confident of dealing with the housing crisis by 2030 and its targets are "not ambitious", says its director-general, Thabane Zulu.
The targets are attainable as long as "we start doing business differently" , he said.
The department has estimated that 2,1-million new houses are needed to address the current housing backlog. In 1994 the figure was 1,5-million .
In his budget speech earlier this year, Housing Minister Tokyo Sexwale said it could take decades for the backlog to be cleared considering "continued economic and population growth and the rapid pace of urbanisation". But Mr Zulu said some housing projects had failed largely due to poor co-ordination and slack implementation strategies.
"We have developed some effective policies in the past but the implementation has been a challenge. The backlog is huge and we have to be very tight on implementation strategies…. We will work 24/7 to tighten our implementation strategies."
There is political will to meet the housing targets, Mr Zulu said, and this is illustrated by President Jacob Zuma changing the mandate on housing. It now includes infrastructure and community habitation, rather than simply building a house.
Mr Zuma has also ordered that departments co-operate in the building of human settlements.
Mr Zulu reaffirmed this, saying the department will work closely with other s such as transport, and of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, in order to deal more effectively with the crisis. "The mentality of silos has been there for some time and we have to begin to kill it."
But Richard Pithouse, a housing expert and politics lecturer at Rhodes University, contradicted Mr Zulu, saying it was precisely a lack of political will that compounded the crisis.
"There are all sorts of technical complexities that must be confronted by any project that aims to build housing on a large scale and quickly," Mr Pithouse said.
Lauren Royston of Urban Landmark said the new housing targets are much more realistic and attainable.
- BusinessDay - NEWS WORTH KNOWING
THE Department of Human Settlements is confident of dealing with the housing crisis by 2030 and its targets are "not ambitious", says its director-general, Thabane Zulu.
The targets are attainable as long as "we start doing business differently" , he said.
"We cannot continue to do business the same way as the past 15 years. We are starting to say let’s look at alternative, creative and innovative ways to increase our service delivery."
The department has estimated that 2,1-million new houses are needed to address the current housing backlog. In 1994 the figure was 1,5-million .
In his budget speech earlier this year, Housing Minister Tokyo Sexwale said it could take decades for the backlog to be cleared considering "continued economic and population growth and the rapid pace of urbanisation". But Mr Zulu said some housing projects had failed largely due to poor co-ordination and slack implementation strategies.
"We have developed some effective policies in the past but the implementation has been a challenge. The backlog is huge and we have to be very tight on implementation strategies…. We will work 24/7 to tighten our implementation strategies."
There is political will to meet the housing targets, Mr Zulu said, and this is illustrated by President Jacob Zuma changing the mandate on housing. It now includes infrastructure and community habitation, rather than simply building a house.
Mr Zuma has also ordered that departments co-operate in the building of human settlements.
Mr Zulu reaffirmed this, saying the department will work closely with other s such as transport, and of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, in order to deal more effectively with the crisis. "The mentality of silos has been there for some time and we have to begin to kill it."
But Richard Pithouse, a housing expert and politics lecturer at Rhodes University, contradicted Mr Zulu, saying it was precisely a lack of political will that compounded the crisis.
"There are all sorts of technical complexities that must be confronted by any project that aims to build housing on a large scale and quickly," Mr Pithouse said.
Lauren Royston of Urban Landmark said the new housing targets are much more realistic and attainable.
- BusinessDay - NEWS WORTH KNOWING
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