SO THE promised houses will not be delivered - at least not anytime soon. While this is not surprising, given the pattern of service delivery in this country, it is nonetheless devastating.
If we put ourselves in the shoes of those men, women and children who have been homeless and destitute, yet full of hope and patience, the announcement that they will not be getting their long-awaited homes is sad news indeed.
They have been let down in ways that are indescribable.
The fault, according to the Minister of Human Settlement Tokyo Sexwale, lies with "a lack of proper planning ... and bulk infrastructure".
Another name for this is incompetence, lack of urgency, absence of compassion and playing with people's lives!
Earlier this week, he informed the nation that more than 60,000 families, who are supposed to get houses from the government will not see this dream realised.
He announced that various housing projects in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and in the south of Johannesburg have almost come to a standstill.
And we are told the situation is even worse in rural areas that have virtually no services at all.
In some instances housing units have been built but the roll-out is being hampered by the lack of infrastructure to provide basic services.
"There can be no viable human settlements without the urgent roll-out of large-scale electrification projects and the construction of new water treatment and sewage procession lines, including pipelines," he said.
While the minister also mentioned a lack of integrated planning, he should have gone further and called a spade a spade.
It is the responsibility of municipalities to provide the infrastructure and services and they have failed to do so. Pure and simple.
And this nonsense about a "lack of capacity" must stop. It is another fancy term the government uses so lavishly for incompetence.
Why do they never tell us why there is "no capacity"? I'll tell you why.
There is no capacity because some municipal offices are occupied by people who don't know what they are doing and do not have the grace to admit it.
Sexwale and his department should be commended for being honest and candid.
He could have hidden the facts and continued making promises that cannot be kept.
I guess we are so used to being let down and consistently lied to that when a minister speaks the truth and does not use big words and jargon as smokescreens, we notice.
So, well done Mr Sexwale, on that score. On that score only.
Granted, Sexwale has only been a minister in this portfolio for a year and a half and his predecessor, Lindiwe Sisulu, was said to be doing her best under the circumstances.
It is also evident that providing housing depends on other factors that might be beyond the scope of the housing ministry - like water, electricity, roads and so on.
But I would like to know why promises are made when plans have not been finalised?
Surely the strategy should be to deal with the nuts and bolts first, ensure that the infrastructure is being rolled out, lay the foundation and then make grand promises.
If the promises were made after agreements were reached with all other relevant departments and municipalities and these then subsequently reneged on their part, then heads must roll.
If there are people who did not do what they committed to do, what they are required by law to do, then it is not enough to simply tell the nation "sorry we can't deliver".
This is another example of the fundamental ingredient that is missing in South African politics and society - respect.
Those municipal authorities and government officials who sit at meetings or don't report for duty, steal from the public purse and don't deliver services because they have no respect for South Africans.
They do not care that somewhere a desperate family that has been waiting decades for its turn to live a normal life has now had its dreams crushed.
- Sowetan
If we put ourselves in the shoes of those men, women and children who have been homeless and destitute, yet full of hope and patience, the announcement that they will not be getting their long-awaited homes is sad news indeed.
They have been let down in ways that are indescribable.
The fault, according to the Minister of Human Settlement Tokyo Sexwale, lies with "a lack of proper planning ... and bulk infrastructure".
Another name for this is incompetence, lack of urgency, absence of compassion and playing with people's lives!
Earlier this week, he informed the nation that more than 60,000 families, who are supposed to get houses from the government will not see this dream realised.
He announced that various housing projects in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and in the south of Johannesburg have almost come to a standstill.
And we are told the situation is even worse in rural areas that have virtually no services at all.
In some instances housing units have been built but the roll-out is being hampered by the lack of infrastructure to provide basic services.
"There can be no viable human settlements without the urgent roll-out of large-scale electrification projects and the construction of new water treatment and sewage procession lines, including pipelines," he said.
While the minister also mentioned a lack of integrated planning, he should have gone further and called a spade a spade.
It is the responsibility of municipalities to provide the infrastructure and services and they have failed to do so. Pure and simple.
And this nonsense about a "lack of capacity" must stop. It is another fancy term the government uses so lavishly for incompetence.
Why do they never tell us why there is "no capacity"? I'll tell you why.
There is no capacity because some municipal offices are occupied by people who don't know what they are doing and do not have the grace to admit it.
Sexwale and his department should be commended for being honest and candid.
He could have hidden the facts and continued making promises that cannot be kept.
I guess we are so used to being let down and consistently lied to that when a minister speaks the truth and does not use big words and jargon as smokescreens, we notice.
So, well done Mr Sexwale, on that score. On that score only.
Granted, Sexwale has only been a minister in this portfolio for a year and a half and his predecessor, Lindiwe Sisulu, was said to be doing her best under the circumstances.
It is also evident that providing housing depends on other factors that might be beyond the scope of the housing ministry - like water, electricity, roads and so on.
But I would like to know why promises are made when plans have not been finalised?
Surely the strategy should be to deal with the nuts and bolts first, ensure that the infrastructure is being rolled out, lay the foundation and then make grand promises.
If the promises were made after agreements were reached with all other relevant departments and municipalities and these then subsequently reneged on their part, then heads must roll.
If there are people who did not do what they committed to do, what they are required by law to do, then it is not enough to simply tell the nation "sorry we can't deliver".
This is another example of the fundamental ingredient that is missing in South African politics and society - respect.
Those municipal authorities and government officials who sit at meetings or don't report for duty, steal from the public purse and don't deliver services because they have no respect for South Africans.
They do not care that somewhere a desperate family that has been waiting decades for its turn to live a normal life has now had its dreams crushed.
- Sowetan
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