City of Johannesburg Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Human Settlements, Mlungisi Mabaso, has lashed out at Joburg residents who are beneficiaries of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and social housing, to protect and care for their properties.

Mabaso criticised South Africans who refuse to pay for government services and those who damage and disrupt infrastructure during a site handover ceremony at the Riverside View Social Housing project, located north of Johannesburg near Fourways.

“We have thousands of our people who want to be accommodated. If we can’t collect rent and services, we cannot build new spaces. Everyone needs to be accommodated, and I do not agree with the notion that we should only focus on the RDP social housing programme. We need various housing solutions to cater to the needs of everyone.

“Some need to be fully subsidised, and some are first-time home owners who are in the GAP market. They must be accommodated. Everyone must be accommodated according to their circumstances, and those who are called on to pay for services must do so to ensure that we can provide services in the future,” he stated.

The GAP market consists of workers who do not qualify for a full bond. They are subsidised by the government to buy their first home.

On the City of Joburg’s decision to find alternative accommodation outside of the CBD, Mabaso said this has been a conscious decision which ensures that everyone benefits from government social housing initiatives, including those who stay far from the city centre.

“What we ought to do is to account for every cent spent on implementing our project, as this is a moving target and taxpayers’ money. We can’t squeeze everyone in the inner city, which is why we have decided to implement these projects outside the inner city. Some do not want to reside in the inner city. There have been quite some developments outside the inner city, and all of those are performing very well,” Mabaso stated.

Mabaso, alongside speaker Rufus Maswazi and CoJ Speaker, Margaret Arnolds, and Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) representatives, commended the residents of Diepsloot for not plundering and destroying a range of social housing projects, which have been launched to ensure dignity to low- and middle-class income earners.

Arnolds commended Joshco and its partners for ensuring dignity to those who need it the most, adding that not everyone in the city enjoys a dignified home due to the limited government funding, which is unable to deal with the human settlement challenges in real time.

“It’s a great honour to be here for this groundbreaking project. Human Settlement is not only about housing, but also addressing special planning that keeps our people on the periphery. We must work hard in translating policy into progress to ensure vision for housing for all is not spoken of but implemented and realised.

“This is a powerful example of the city’s commitment to bringing safety and dignity to our people. It is very important that we reach out and integrate our people into spaces such as this one,” she said.

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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