Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu answers readers' questions following her announcement that no one younger than 40 will receive a free RDP house from the government.
Here are the questions put to the minister and her responses through her spokesman Ndivhuwo Mabaya.
Q: Was the idea of putting a threshold of 40 years your department, ANC or cabinet decision?
A: The Housing Act and all policies, including social welfare policies of the Republic, instruct the Minister to prioritise indigent people. It is not instructive when it comes to age. However, as a Department, considering the limited financial resources we have and other competing responsibilities of Government, we are saying under 40 they will benefit from other programmes of Government other than full ownership of houses built by the state.
Q: As you want to exclude people under the age of 40 from benefiting from RDP houses, what will happen to single parents who are unemployed and under the age of 40?
A: We are not excluding people who are under 40, we are saying we are prioritizing for the full title house those who are above 40. We have other programmes like subsidized rental, community housing and serviced stands that they can access. Our approach is that young people cannot be passive recipients of houses, they must be involved in the building of houses.
Q: How are you planning to address the issue of foreigners who benefit from RDP houses?
A: Our policy does not allocate houses to foreigners. You have to be South African.
Q: Is this how you thank the youth of South Africa under the age of 40 who have voted for the ANC in all the elections since 1994?
A: Many South Africans we spoke to say they are looking for jobs to build their own houses. They say 'Minister give us stands and jobs, we will build for ourselves'. They also understand that Government has limited funds and they agree that we must prioritise the elders but we must also address their challenges.
We have a Summit with young people on December 1 to discuss how they can access the other programmes of housing and also participate in the building of houses.
Q: Would you consider a programme of granting adults from age of 23, free land with basic services like water and electricity and allow them to build their own houses?
A: Yes, we have a programme like that. It is of low scale. We will increase our delivery of serviced stands for young people.
- Timeslive
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