Construction of the second phase of the N2 Gateway project, that will include 2,500 units in Joe Slovo, must be fast-tracked, says Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.
She said the first 46 units should be completed within the next three months.
Speaking at the launch of the next phase, which had been delayed by several months, Sisulu apologised to residents for the late start of the project.
For the second time in as many days, Sisulu pointed fingers at the City of Cape Town for contributing to the delays in the national flagship housing project.
She repeated her assertion, made in replies to questions in the National Assembly, that the DA-led city council had dragged its heels in the signing of a land availability agreement for more than a year.
But Butch Steyn, DA MP and housing spokesperson, said Sisulu needed to apologise to parliament for “misleading” the house.
“It is unfortunate that the minister is playing politics with a project that could make a significant difference to poverty levels and social dislocation in Cape Town, and it is unacceptable that she should misuse parliament to find scapegoats for her own department’s failures in this regard.”
He said the delays were not because of the unsigned land availability agreement, but were a result of a dispute between the contractor and the developers about the cost of the houses being built.
‘It is unfortunate that the minister is playing politics with a project’
The contractor, however, had access to the land before the agreement was signed, Steyn said.
Community conflict in Boystown and New Rest were to blame for delays in these projects while in Joe Slovo, the community had contributed to construction delays.
Steyn said the delay in the signing of the land availability agreement was because of negotiations between the city and the province over land that would be given to the city in exchange for the N2 site.
Despite this renewed spat between the city and national government about responsibility for the project, Sisulu was confident that “the controversy is behind us”.
In an official ceremony that was markedly less flashy than the launch of the first phase last year, Sisulu said the department had been “fighting” banks to get them to contribute to the bonded housing market.
She said First National Bank had been the first bank to accept the offer.
The next struggle was to convince developers that building bonded houses near to free-breaking new ground units or rental stock would not affect property values. “This is a shift from being a township to being a suburb called Langa.” - Cape Times
She said the first 46 units should be completed within the next three months.
Speaking at the launch of the next phase, which had been delayed by several months, Sisulu apologised to residents for the late start of the project.
For the second time in as many days, Sisulu pointed fingers at the City of Cape Town for contributing to the delays in the national flagship housing project.
She repeated her assertion, made in replies to questions in the National Assembly, that the DA-led city council had dragged its heels in the signing of a land availability agreement for more than a year.
But Butch Steyn, DA MP and housing spokesperson, said Sisulu needed to apologise to parliament for “misleading” the house.
“It is unfortunate that the minister is playing politics with a project that could make a significant difference to poverty levels and social dislocation in Cape Town, and it is unacceptable that she should misuse parliament to find scapegoats for her own department’s failures in this regard.”
He said the delays were not because of the unsigned land availability agreement, but were a result of a dispute between the contractor and the developers about the cost of the houses being built.
‘It is unfortunate that the minister is playing politics with a project’
The contractor, however, had access to the land before the agreement was signed, Steyn said.
Community conflict in Boystown and New Rest were to blame for delays in these projects while in Joe Slovo, the community had contributed to construction delays.
Steyn said the delay in the signing of the land availability agreement was because of negotiations between the city and the province over land that would be given to the city in exchange for the N2 site.
Despite this renewed spat between the city and national government about responsibility for the project, Sisulu was confident that “the controversy is behind us”.
In an official ceremony that was markedly less flashy than the launch of the first phase last year, Sisulu said the department had been “fighting” banks to get them to contribute to the bonded housing market.
She said First National Bank had been the first bank to accept the offer.
The next struggle was to convince developers that building bonded houses near to free-breaking new ground units or rental stock would not affect property values. “This is a shift from being a township to being a suburb called Langa.” - Cape Times
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