Latest news with #KwaZulu-NatalHumanSettlements
IOL News
6 days ago
- General
- IOL News
Report reveals stalled housing projects in KwaZulu-Natal
A report on blocked and stalled projects was presented to the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, highlighting the nature of the challenges, proposed interventions, and progress on houses Image: KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements A 62-page summarised report by the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) in KwaZulu-Natal depicted the dire straits of housing projects in the province. The report on blocked and stalled projects was presented to the KZN Legislature's Human Settlements Portfolio Committee recently. It highlighted the nature of the challenges, proposed interventions, and progress to date on the implementation of the development interventions. There are several blocked projects in the report, with the most being eight in the Ilembe District Municipality. Charlestown Housing, a R62 million project with a contract date from December 20, 2019, to April 30, 2025; sites approved 1,200, with houses delivered 295. The project is blocked due to the lack of a bulk water supply. Initially, the project area was connected to Pixley ka Seme Municipality (Mpumalanga Province) for bulk water supply, which was later cut off due to high demand. The Newcastle Municipality is currently acquiring funds for the provision of bulk water supply. The Mbazwana Rectification 426 unit housing scheme has not broken soil as yet. The department cannot proceed with the Supply Chain Management processes to appoint a service provider before beneficiary verification has been concluded. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Cedera Housing project, worth R44 million, started in July 2016 with a contract end date of March 2018. However, only 100 units were built out of 623. The targeted beneficiaries are residents at Khanye Village, which is the staff accommodation for the workers of Cedara College. However, over the years, these families have grown, and some workers have retired but remained in the village. The project was stalled because of insufficient bulk services and the school site encroaching. The Umgungundlovu District has no funds to complete the bulk services. No funding in the Umgungundlovu Municipality for bulk services led to the stalling of 500 homes for the Kheyalisha Housing Project from December 2007. The Chief Albert Luthuli Housing Project, a R43 million project for 1,000 homes, was contracted between February 2005 to October 2010. Only 394 houses were built. The implementing agent abandoned the project due to financial challenges and left units incomplete. There was also poor workmanship and non-performance noted before the municipality terminated the service provider. The department has repackaged the project as a rectification and rehabilitation project to address the assessment's findings. Umzinto Slum Clearance Housing Project worth R269 million contracted from April 1, 2012, to December 2017. Of the 1,925 sites, only 500 units were built. The project was identified by uMdoni Municipality to clear six informal settlements, but due to the non-availability of bulk sanitation infrastructure, it was stalled. Riona Gokool, MPL and DA KZN spokesperson on Human Settlements, said the 4th Quarter performance reports have revealed a litany of issues. Gokool stated that the DHS failed to resolve dozens of blocked projects, many of which have been stagnant for more than a decade. 'These projects represent billions of rand in public funds and affect thousands of intended beneficiaries, yet the department has provided no clear roadmap for completion. There should be a comprehensive action plan for all blocked projects, with district-specific timeframes. A moratorium should be placed on new projects until current backlogs are resolved,' Gokool said. Two weeks ago, during a discussion over his 400 days in office as the MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma expressed his commitment to tackling delays in housing construction. He stated that his department had reduced blocked housing projects from 68 to 15.
IOL News
06-08-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
ANC to take on DA in hotly contested eThekwini by-election
The eThekwini Municipality's ward 64 by-election is expected to be hotly contested between the DA and the ANC. Image: Supplied The newly-appointed ANC's eThekwini regional task team is set to pass its first political test if its wins the ward 64 by-election and takes the ward from the DA. The ward which incorporates parts of Montclair, Clairwood and Yellowwood Park, south of Durban is up for grabs following the resignation of the DA councillor who went into business according to his party. The demographic of the ward has changed over the years, added to by the relocation of students from tertiary institutions. There are also few informal settlements and the recent relocation of flood victims for whom KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements purchased a R33 million flat, which was viewed as an ANC strategy to diversify the ward more with the hope of reducing the DA's influence. The ANC eThekwini task team spokesperson Thinta Cibane said the party always contests all wards with the intention to win. He said the area is now diverse and no longer classified as a suburb for one particular race group, which means any party can win it. 'We are putting more effort to win the ward and even if we do not win we will make serious inroads. We will put up a good fight so it's going to be a hotly contested by-election," said Cibane. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading In response, the DA spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Sithembiso Ngema dismissed the ANC's claim to win the ward as wishful thinking, vowing that his party will retain the ward. Ngema who is also a councillor in eThekwini said the party has noted that whenever there was an opportunity to relocate people, the ANC led-eThekwini targeted areas populated by the DA supporters for political reasons. However, he said his party was not scared and it received positive feedback from all the residents of the ward during its voter registration drive last week. The ward election will be held next month. With the new regional task team in place, the ANC is hoping to regain the lost ground following the humiliating defeat by Umkhonto weSizwe Party in last year's elections in the city. Jacob Zuma's party won the majority of votes followed by the DA, shoving the ANC to third place for the first time in the history of local government elections. With its sizable budget, the only metro in the province is expected to be a battleground for parties in next year's local government elections.
