Sexwale urges engineers to share ideas on clearing housing backlog

The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) would need to engage with construction companies if it was to meet the challenges faced by the sector and deliver the expected 220,000 housing units a year, by 2014.

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said on Wednesday that there were currently 8,700 human settlement projects under way in South Africa.

"Construction is happening," he reiterated, and added that if the so-called ‘Human Settlements 2030' vision was to be realised, "massive" construction sites would have to be established throughout the country. This would create employment and involve the youth.

Delivering a keynote address to officials gathered at the DHS and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) 'Knowledge Week 2010', Sexwale emphasised that corruption needed to be tackled. He urged delegates to discuss the issues thoroughly and come up with relevant ideas to solve the problems.

"R1,3-billion I have lost, that was used to build houses that are falling apart," said Sexwale, commenting on money lost through shoddy construction, often linked to tender irregularities.

To meet its goal of eradicating the housing backlog in South Africa, the DHS would also need to acquire some 6 250 ha of land, and provide about 600,000 new ‘gap fund' loans for people who did not qualify for subsidies but still needed assistance.

The Department also needed to upgrade some 500,000 informal settlement dwellings a year, and provide people there with water, sanitation and electricity, while they waited for decent housing.

He noted that although the government has provided 2,8-million houses since 1994, the backlog continued to increase and now stood at some 2,2-million homes.

Sexwale said that at the heart of the challenge for human settlements was economic growth.

He emphasised that South Africa would need to grow the economy faster than the population growth rate, if it was to eradicate poverty.

It could take decades to clear the housing backlog, Sexwale said, adding that the DHS needed those involved, particularly engineers, to channel their ideas and advice to the Ministry.

He urged officials to consider how the DHS could: locate, access and acquire more suitable land; use new technologies to assist delivery; create integrated communities to de-racialise South Africa, and ensure that the disposable income of poor people is not spent on transport costs; create new cities; and include renewable energies in developments.

He said that they should consider these challenges while keeping two key issues in mind, namely, avoiding disconnect from those who stood to benefit from their ideas, and developing practical, ‘realiseable' solutions.

DBSA CEO Paul Baloyi said that the role of the DBSA has extended beyond purely providing institutional finance, to more material engagement with governments for example, with engineering capacity to assist on projects.

Baloyi added that globally, development finance institutions were looking more internally after the global financial crisis, and developing countries could no longer rely on capital from these institutions.

"By extension, Africa and South Africa, must rely on their own capital and initiatives. Therefore, we cannot do everything at the same time and we must focus on key priorities that will exact the biggest impact," he said.

Baloyi said that human settlements were one such priority, which could be focused on, with co-ordinated efforts in the form of housing, energy, water and sanitation, health and transport - to create sustainable settlements for people.

- Engineeringnews