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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has established that 119 KwaZulu-Natal housing projects have been put on hold as a result of the province’s Human Settlements Department having to reprioritising almost R516 milion for temporary housing for flood victims.

The situation is the result of national government’s failure to allocate additional funding for those who have been made homeless.

This information forms the basis of a reply (view here) to a DA written parliamentary question to Human Settlements MEC, Jomo Sibiya.

It also comes as thousands of people continue to live in community halls across KZN, some three months after the devastating rains took place.

The reply further reveals that the Department’s Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG) has been cut by R367 million under the following programmes:
• R10 million from the financial interventions programme
• R114 million from the incremental interventions programme
• R39 million from the social and rental programme
• R201 million from the rural interventions programme, while
• The Informal Settlement Upgrade Partnership Grant (ISUPG) has also been reduced by R148 million from the incremental interventions programme.

That KZN is being forced to reprioritise half a billion rand away from housing delivery – and deny the many people who have been waiting for years – is an indictment against this ANC government.

That the ANC has also still not provided temporary housing to the thousands of people left homeless by the floods – and proceeds to house them at a snails’ pace – also shows that it does not care.

A caring government would understand KZN’s huge housing budgetary constraints and the enormity of the loss due to floods and adjust its own budget so that the needs of the people come first.

The reality is that many people in KZN are desperate for housing and will seize every opportunity to occupy vacant houses or sites that are available. This is evidenced by the increased number of land grabs and the rise of informal settlements, particularly within eThekwini where there is already a shortage of suitable, available land.

The delay of 119 housing projects will only further deepen KZN’s already severe housing crisis. This while it remains on the back foot with housing projects taking an average of four to five years to complete and a backlog of 742 000 houses.

The MEC is sitting on a powder keg. If he is serious about reducing this backlog, he must urgently engage with Treasury over the reprioritisation of funding from other provincial government departments to Human Settlements, where it is desperately needed.

These 119 housing projects are critical and the impact of putting them on hold cannot be taken lightly. The MEC cannot afford to back down on this. He must fight for the people of our province who are relying on him and his Department to provide them with their right to have access to adequate housing.

Issued by Marlaine Nair, MPL - DA KZN Spokesperson on Human Settlements