The first 705 units of the N2 Gateway project may be ready for occupation, but only 11 families have apparently been told by the City that they qualify to move in.
Seth Maqetuka, the City’s human settlement director, said that of the 200 candidates who had applied for accommodation, only 11 families would be able to afford the R300 to R500 monthly rental.
When contacted on Sunday for confirmation, Maqetuka said: “Yes, those are the facts.”
‘We must remember that everything on the N2 Gateway is a pilot project’
But ANC councillor Xolile Gophe said this figure of 11 families sounded “ridiculous”.
Gophe said the City had already sent out 200 letters to candidates drawn from various housing lists and that 150 had responded.
“We must remember that everything on the N2 Gateway is a pilot project and things are bound to change.”
He said the allocation split of 70 percent for shack dwellers and 30 percent for backyarders “was not set in stone”.
Backyard dweller organisations warned last week that there would be potential chaos when people did eventually move into the units.
They had appealed for a 50/50 allocation split that would give more backyarders an opportunity to qualify for housing.
Gophe said government stakeholders would meet today about the allocation policy.
“This is the first time we will know about the allocation. We have not yet received the report (that refers to the 11 families who qualified).”
Local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi confirmed that a consultative allocation process was taking place in the form of workshops.
“We are also acknowledging the fact that the process is not as fast as we would like it to be. We might not be talking numbers for now, as we still have the majority of families to be taken through the process, but we are committed to speeding up the process in the next two weeks so that we can come to the final stages of allocation.”
Dyantyi said a consortium of independent auditors was working on the City’s housing list.
Gophe said it was a “given” that not everyone on the waiting lists would be able to move into the settlement.
“In Joe Slovo there are more than 6 000 families. The 705 units are just a drop in the ocean and not everyone will benefit.”
An estimated 250 000 families are currently affected by the housing backlog.
The national housing department announced last week that the second phase of the development, which has already started, will be run entirely by Thubelisha Homes.
Existing Joe Slovo residents will be relocated to 1 400 temporary units at Delft during the construction of the next set of units.
o This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on June 05, 2006
Seth Maqetuka, the City’s human settlement director, said that of the 200 candidates who had applied for accommodation, only 11 families would be able to afford the R300 to R500 monthly rental.
When contacted on Sunday for confirmation, Maqetuka said: “Yes, those are the facts.”
‘We must remember that everything on the N2 Gateway is a pilot project’
But ANC councillor Xolile Gophe said this figure of 11 families sounded “ridiculous”.
Gophe said the City had already sent out 200 letters to candidates drawn from various housing lists and that 150 had responded.
“We must remember that everything on the N2 Gateway is a pilot project and things are bound to change.”
He said the allocation split of 70 percent for shack dwellers and 30 percent for backyarders “was not set in stone”.
Backyard dweller organisations warned last week that there would be potential chaos when people did eventually move into the units.
They had appealed for a 50/50 allocation split that would give more backyarders an opportunity to qualify for housing.
Gophe said government stakeholders would meet today about the allocation policy.
“This is the first time we will know about the allocation. We have not yet received the report (that refers to the 11 families who qualified).”
Local government and housing MEC Richard Dyantyi confirmed that a consultative allocation process was taking place in the form of workshops.
“We are also acknowledging the fact that the process is not as fast as we would like it to be. We might not be talking numbers for now, as we still have the majority of families to be taken through the process, but we are committed to speeding up the process in the next two weeks so that we can come to the final stages of allocation.”
Dyantyi said a consortium of independent auditors was working on the City’s housing list.
Gophe said it was a “given” that not everyone on the waiting lists would be able to move into the settlement.
“In Joe Slovo there are more than 6 000 families. The 705 units are just a drop in the ocean and not everyone will benefit.”
An estimated 250 000 families are currently affected by the housing backlog.
The national housing department announced last week that the second phase of the development, which has already started, will be run entirely by Thubelisha Homes.
Existing Joe Slovo residents will be relocated to 1 400 temporary units at Delft during the construction of the next set of units.
o This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Times on June 05, 2006
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