Cape Town - Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale has begun meeting with communities in various informal settlements in Cape Town on the second leg of his "fact-finding" mission.
Sexwale made headlines when he spent Monday night in a shack in Diepsloot to experience disgruntled residents' problems firsthand.
Now the former mining magnate is bringing his listening ear to the opposition-led city of Cape Town, and is also reportedly planning visits to informal settlements in Bloemfontein and Durban.
"It's a listening exercise - but we also want to see how government's money is being spent," special advisor to the minister, Chris Vick, told News24.
He noted that R12bn was being spent on provinces.
Sexwale, who himself was born in Orlando West informal settlement in Soweto,
may also spend the night in a shack in Cape Town...
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Walk-aboutOn Thursday morning, he met with Joe Slovo informal settlement community leaders and the local MEC for housing.
A walk-about was planned for the shack areas in Joe Slovo as well as rental flats built by government.
The community has long been protesting their forced removal to make way for government's flagship N2 gateway housing project - which has been beset by problems and protests under former ministers.
Vick said the new model of renting flats may not work because of a lacking "culture of payment for rentals".
He said the department wanted to assess the situation on the ground ahead of budgeting and strategic planning for the next five years of Sexwale's term in office.
The charismatic leader, who starred in South Africa's version of The Apprentice, was also due to visit Delft later on Thursday.
- News24
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