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The DA congratulates the City of Cape Town on spending 99% of its Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership (ISUP) grant, despite the myriad of challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The City has also spent 95% of its Urban Settlements Development (USD) grant.

The USD grant is spent by Municipalities on the provision of basic services and certain categories of housing for vulnerable communities.

Despite national government’s on-going cuts to grants intended to eradicate the housing backlog, the City has maintained its commitment to vulnerable citizens, delivering more than 60 000 housing opportunities since 2012. It has also assisted thousands of people with affordable rental accommodation.

With R3.3 billion allocated to human settlements between the current financial year and 2023/2024, Cape Town is proving that neither an international pandemic, nor restrictive regulations and budget cuts will stand in its way of getting things done.

At the moment, 6 500 social housing units are in development. This includes the 2 000 units in Central Cape Town and the 2 500 units being constructed along the Voortrekker corridor – some of which are nearing completion.

The ANC government’s recent policy shift away from formal housing provision, and their increased cuts to basic service and human settlement grants will simply not detract from the DA-led City’s commitments to vulnerable residents.

On the national stage, the DA will continue applying pressure on Cabinet to finally release the 14 000 hectares of State-owned land that have long been identified for future housing development in Metro's such as the City of Cape Town.

Issued by DA