Housing in Southern Africa July 2016

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News
President Jacob Zumamade the
declaration recently during a
visit to the Vulindlela Rural
Enhanced People’s Housing Process
(EPHP) in Taylors Halt, near Pieter-
maritzburg.
He said, “We have delivered 4,3
million houses and decent accom-
modation since 1994 and this has
benefited about 20 million people,”
adding that the current administra-
tion will continue working towards
improving the lives of rural com-
munities.
“We will continue to build houses
that are beautiful, which have water
and electricity.” He encouraged those
who had not yet received homes to
remain patient.
The R2,1 billion Vulindlela EPHP
aims to deliver 25 000 better human
settlements. The project is based on
community contributions, partner-
ships and leveraging of additional
resources.
Almost 13 community owned co-
operatives have been established so
far. The cooperatives own concrete
block-making facilities, quarry and
construction supply chain manufac-
turing firms. On the quarry site, the
South African Bureau of Standards
approved concrete block-making
facility produces approximately 6 000
blocks per day.
The mega project has created
2 000 full-time jobs and includes a
skills construction programme.
The President and KwaZulu-Natal
Human Settlements MEC, Ravi Pillay,
said that the flagship mega project
was made possible through assis-
tance from government, the Amak-
hosi and the community all working
together.
Pillay said that 12 300 houses had
already been completed and a further
3 700 were under construction. He
added that ordinary people had be-
come skilled inmanufacturing bricks,
doors and windows.
During the construction phase,
local communitymembers employed
on the project generated R6 million
per month and this would improve
the local economy. Government, Pil-
lay said, was already thinking of ways
to sustain skills and capacity, as well
as to provide economic development
when the project ends in 2018.
The Vulindlela EPHPwas approved
in the 2011/12 financial year. The
Department of Human Settlements
says the project covers nine wards
spread over 24 455 ha of land and
accommodated 136 615 residents. ■
A moving target of 1,7 million houses by 2019
Government has set itself a target of six million houses and housing
opportunities by 2019, building on from the 4,3 million already built
since the new democracy.