The FF Plus has asked the chairperson of the Gauteng Legislature's Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Machwene Semenya, to report on the housing crisis in Gauteng.
This Committee together with Members of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is currently conducting oversight visits to Lanseria, Diepsloot, Mamelodi, Khutsong and the Savannah mega-city project.
In 2020, Semenya indicated to Parliament that there is an influx of approximately 300 000 people into Gauteng annually and that 1,2 million applications for housing have been received.
According to Semenya, the budget and allocations received from the Treasury are enough for building only 20 000 houses per year.
The Department of Human settlements is facing numerous problems concerning housing. These include illegal occupations, half-completed housing projects that are abandoned, municipalities that fail to fulfil their oversight role, construction projects that are embarked upon without first establishing extensive infrastructure, housing projects erected on dolomite-rich land, foreigners who unlawfully occupy houses, service providers that have to wait for more than 50 days for payment, and fraud and corruption.
The FF Plus is not convinced that the Department will be able to resolve the crisis any time soon and has, thus, requested a comprehensive report on the matter to determine whether any targets have been met and if progress has been made since 2020.
The party will examine the report to determine whether the Department's performance has improved at all since 2020.
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