Latest news with #ReconstructionandDevelopmentProgramme
IOL News
18-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Corruption, capacity and crumbling budgets
Despite more than 30 years of democracy, South Africa's housing crisis remains unresolved, with millions of people still waiting for access to adequate homes. Image: IOL Despite more than 30 years of democracy, South Africa's housing crisis remains unresolved, with millions of people still waiting for access to adequate homes. While the government has successfully provided housing for nearly 3 million households through the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), which was initiated in 1994 to address the socio-economic imbalances created by apartheid The housing backlog continues to grow. According to the National Housing Needs Register, more than 2.4 million households still require suitable housing. 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 ✕ Experts have warned that the number of households in need of housing may increase even further as more people move to urban areas in search of job opportunities and improved living conditions. The country's urbanisation rate is expected to rise to 71% by 2030. The Development Action Group (DAG), a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods, argues that government policies aimed at addressing the housing crisis have often been poorly implemented. "Despite numerous policies and programmes that specifically speak to low-cost housing (i.e. RDP and social housing, etc.) and vulnerable groups (EHP, Special Needs Housing Policy, etc.), the policies and programmes have not always been implemented in the most efficient way. "Some of the gaps include insufficient funding and mismanagement of available resources, inadequate capacity to deliver, poor intergovernmental cooperation, inadequate land management and poor coordination between departments on land decisions, lack of policy certainty." Despite this, the government remains committed to addressing the housing crisis. Human Settlements spokesperson Tsekiso Machike has emphasised that housing remains a priority, with clear targets set in the 2024-2029 Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP): Deliver 237,000 BNG/RDP units. Provide 314,000 serviced sites. Register 80,000 title deeds. Upgrade 4,075 informal settlements. Build 15,000 social housing units (rental stock). Distribute 140,000 subsidies to assist the ' missing middle ' in purchasing or building homes. However, while the government has set clear and ambitious targets for housing, implementation at the municipal level has often been an issue, with reports of corruption and mismanagement hindering progress. Machike explained that the government has a zero-tolerance stance on corruption, emphasising that this commitment is reflected in actions such as dismissing officials, pursuing convictions. "The government's commitment is reflected in measures such as dismissing officials, pursuing convictions, and establishing initiatives like the Fusion Centre to combat corruption,". "The government has adopted a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and has developed a National Anti-Corruption Strategy to guide anti-corruption efforts across various sectors,". Last month, the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said that many housing projects were delayed because contractors went bankrupt, and some faced supply chain issues and irregularities. According to Jens Horber, a researcher at Ndifuna Ukwazi, one of the biggest challenges facing municipalities was decreasing budget allocations and slow administrative and development processes and insufficient state capacity and skills. "Due to decreasing budget allocations, slow administrative and development processes and insufficient state capacity and skills, there has been a steady decrease in housing and serviced site delivery over the past 15 years". "The slow pace of delivery and the lack of support for backyard housing and other genuinely affordable housing options means that housing demand massively exceeds supply, resulting in the continued growth of informal settlements", he said. To address the housing crisis, the Development Action Group (DAG) stresses that the strategic release of well-located land for affordable housing must be prioritised "The strategic release of well-located land for affordable housing must be prioritised, we must proactively plan for informal settlements, we have to be very pragmatic in our approach to site-and-services and establish the mechanisms necessary to ensure its successful implementation. "We must dedicate significant resources towards infrastructure development and maintenance, and most importantly, we have to create spaces for consistent community engagement where beneficiaries of housing assistance have actual decision-making ability, therefore playing a direct role in their own development". IOL News
The Citizen
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The Citizen
Activists, unions welcome SIU's investigation into corruption in the City of Mbombela
DA member of the Mpumalanga legislature James Masango said the province had been 'plagued by heightened service delivery challenges'. Human rights activists and unions have welcomed the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigating allegations of maladministration and corruption in the City of Mbombela, Mpumalanga. It follows an instruction from President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into seven contracts and other related issues in the municipality. 'The SIU will probe any related unauthorised, irregular, fruitless or wasteful expenditure incurred by the municipality or the state about the awarding of tenders,' said the unit. The tenders and issues under scrutiny include: Investigation and legal services; The installation of internal municipal civil engineering services; Construction of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing units; The provision of project management under the integrated residential development programme at Emjindini in Barberton; Engineering services; Construction of the R538 Hazyview to Numbi Gate road; The appointment of professional consultants for the establishment of the strategic programmes and projects support unit for the municipality; The turnkey energy efficiency and demand side management programme; and The implementation of the construction of phase 1 of the Nsikazi North bulk water scheme. The probe will also look at any irregular, unlawful, or improper conduct by officials or employees, their suppliers or service providers, or any other person or entity implicated. The proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between 16 February 2015 and 2 May 2025, as well as any related activities before 16 February 2015 and after the date of the proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities or contracts. SAMWU welcomes investigation The South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) in Mpumalanga welcomed the proclamation and said it confirms its long-standing call to fight corruption and malfeasance in the municipality. 'The relevant authorities assigned to oversee these institutions seem to turn a blind eye to such a state of affairs, with no initiative to confront this scourge of systemic corruption,' said Samwu provincial secretary Sam Lekhuleni. 'We, therefore, thank our president in advance for coming to rescue the situation and reiterate our call to sponsor the noble idea by extending the investigation to the various municipalities in the Mpumalanga province to root out corruption once and for all. ALSO READ: SIU recovers R58 million from SABC and Sita irregular contracts 'Good news' Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse said much of the deterioration in municipalities was linked to financial mismanagement and procurement irregularities. 'These in turn give rise to corruption and losses of billions of rands to nefarious activities,' he said. 'We welcome this proclamation. However, there is so much work that is now finding its way into the ambit of the SIU that one wonders if the Treasury will be increasing the budget allocations to this entity, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority to fulfil their respective mandates and hold the many people to account for this misdeed.' Corruption Watch attorney Nkululeko Conco said the proclamation shows the key roles played by whistleblowers and the need to ensure law enforcement agencies are supported and resourced. 'Once again, it is clear that corruption affects the most vulnerable in society as the proclamation also authorises an investigation into the construction of RDP housing units.' Mpumalanga's problems DA member of the Mpumalanga legislature James Masango said the province had been 'plagued by heightened service delivery challenges'. 'We find it concerning that tenders relating to the provision of water and housing development were flagged by the SIU,' he added. NOW READ: SIU dismisses claims it's conducting audit of marriage certificates of foreigners
The Citizen
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
City of Mbombela in hot water for alleged corruption
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has been authorised to probe the allegations of maladministration in seven tenders by the City of Mbombela (CoM). President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the new Proclamation 257 of 2025 authorising SIU to investigate these allegations. The proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between February 16, 2015, and May 2, 2025, as well as any related activities before this period and after the date of the proclamation that are pertinent to the matters under investigation or involve the same persons, entities or contracts. The tenders in question include: The SIU will probe any related unauthorised, irregular, wasteful expenditure incurred by CoM or the state in relation to the following: 1. Tender number PRE/040/14/MP for investigation and legal services. 2. Tender number DHS/112/15/MP relating to the installation of internal municipal civil engineering services, construction of low-cost Reconstruction and Development Programme housing units, and the provision of project management under the Integrated Residential Development Programme at Emjindini extensions 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. ALSO READ: City of Mbombela's CFO ousted 3. Tender number NLM-TS-003/2015/16 relating to engineering services 4. Construction-related goods and services in respect of the R538 Hazyview to Numbi Gate Turn-off Project. 5. Bid number 26/2015 relating to the appointment of professional consultants for the establishment of the Strategic Programmes and Projects Support Unit for the municipality. 6. Bid number 72/2017 relating to the Turnkey Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Programme. 7. Tender number 116/2018 relating to the implementation of the construction of Phase 1 of the Nsikazi North Bulk Water Scheme. The SIU investigation will examine whether the procurement and contracting were made in a manner that was not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective, or in violation of applicable legislation, guidelines or instructions from the national or provincial treasury. ALSO READ: Suspended CFO forces her way inside City of Mbombela building City of Mbombela responds The CoM's spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality learnt about this investigation through the media statement issued on Monday, May 5. 'However, if you look at the tenders being investigated, only two of the seven were issued by the municipality (six and seven). We won't comment now except to indicate that we take note of the proclamation and will co-operate with the unit charged with this responsibility. The SIU is better placed to expand on this investigation,' he said. Further details of the investigation Furthermore, the SIU will seek to establish if there was any misappropriation of unidentified payments received by the municipality. It will also look at any irregular, unlawful or improper conduct by CoM officials and employees; its suppliers and service providers; or any other person or entity implicated. In line with the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act 74 of 1996 (SIU Act), the unit will refer any evidence of criminal conduct uncovered during its investigation to the National Prosecuting Authority for further action. The unit is also authorised to initiate a civil action in the high court or a special tribunal in its name to address any wrongdoing identified during its investigation resulting from acts of corruption, fraud or maladministration. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Zero progress — two Limpopo families approved for RDP homes in 2002 are still waiting
Although Anna Selahle's application was approved in 2002, records show that no payments were made for a contractor to actually build her RDP house. Her own family, and the Napjane family of her deceased sister Josephina, have been in RDP limbo ever since. 'We can't sleep during the night when it rains,' said 65-year-old Anna Selahle, who hails from Praktiseer outside the mining town of Burgersfort, situated in Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality, Limpopo. Selahle's application for a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house from the government was approved in 2002. More than two decades later, the promise has not been fulfilled and she continues to live in a dilapidated home that the family believes could collapse at any moment. Selahle and her younger sister, Josephina, both completed RDP application forms at the same time. Both were approved, but neither has received their homes. Josephina died in 2019. Daily Maverick has seen documentary evidence of their RDP applications and approval from the Limpopo government, including their names, identity numbers, residential address and approval status. Provincial and municipal authorities have, however, failed to explain why they are still waiting. Despite former president Thabo Mbeki in 2000 describing the platinum-rich area as poverty-stricken, and committing to allocating resources to improve the lives of residents, many continue to live below the poverty line, while no visible improvements have been made in the area. 'We all survive using my social grant' 'I am staying in a dilapidated block brick build house. I stay with my 45-year-old son. They are under my care [as well as] my 24-year-old daughter and two grandchildren. We all survive using my social grant, not enough to meet our daily needs,' said Selahle. 'To my surprise, every time when I register for an RDP low-cost house, they reject my application and claim I have benefited [from having] a house. I am wondering where and when did they build me a house?' Selahle's biggest fear is that one day their house may collapse and kill or injure her family. 'When it rains, we don't sleep during the night. The house is leaking. We fear for our safety with many deep, visible cracks all over the walls. This house may fall apart anytime. I can see outside the house [by] peeping through the holes or cracks in the wall.' Selahle's daughter, Dimakatso, 35, said, 'I wish to get a stable, better, well-paying job so I can build a better, proper house for my mother, and my little son and daughter.' 'Together with my brother Freddy, we are taking care of my mother, a pensioner who's now suffering from… Alzheimer's. What is worse and worrying us is that she must eat a well-balanced meal and not take her medication on an empty stomach,' Dimakatso said. Dimakatso said the family has no option but to spend sleepless nights when it rains, having to wake up her school-going son and young daughter when the roof leaks. Only progress is a pit toilet While the government has not provided the family with an RDP house, in 2013, builders came and built them a pit toilet. 'The constructor built us a pit toilet in 2013. It was part of the RDP beneficiary's house package plan. We have never seen them again, but every year they continue to build houses for other families that have applied recently. This is unfair discrimination to our family that applied before,' said Dimakatso. Selahle said, 'It is our undying wish and dream to be built a house, to restore our dignity and have a better place to stay like anyone. Our plea fell on deaf ears.' Dimakatso added, 'Yet, we continue to cast our vote for the same ANC government, hoping for change and a better life.' The Selahle family feels that they are being overlooked and unfairly discriminated against. Without answers, they're only left with questions. Napjane family also waiting Anna Selahle's younger sister, Josephina, lived next door in a house that her family also worry could collapse. They want an RDP house to help restore their dignity. Life has been a struggle for Josephina's family since she passed away in 2019. Their mother's house was approved around the same time as Anna Selahle's, but they continue to wait. Josephina's son, 23-year-old Aaron Napjane, is desperate to receive the house the family was approved for, so their mother's dream can be fulfilled. 'Since our mother's death, life has never been the same again. We were relying on her government disability social grant for survival.' 'I am trying to get a better job opportunity, so we can put bread on the table,' said Napjane. He is a caregiver to his eldest brother, Kenneth, 37, who suffers from a mental illness. 'We survive using his disability social grant, which is not sufficient for the family's basics such as food, clothes, toiletries, water and electricity.' There is no running tap water in Napjane's yard and the block brick house building is dilapidated. Current home a 'death trap' 'This is a death trap, [a] ticking time bomb that may collapse anytime soon. The roof is leaking all over.' The 33-year-old Tebalelo Napjane, Aaron's elder brother, is a carpenter without formal training and qualifications. 'Sometimes in a good week, I get part-time odd jobs to make a living for the family,' he said. 'We are surprised [about] what criteria they are using to allocate RDP houses. Every year, the government continues building houses for their own comrades in our neighbourhood,' Aaron Napjane said. According to the Limpopo Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs Department's records, Anna and Josephine's RDP houses were indeed approved to be built in 2002. Approved, no payments made When pressed for comment, the department's spokesperson, Tsakani Baloyi, said, '[The] Selahles' houses were captured and approved by Limpopo Provincial Human Settlements during [the] financial year period 2001/2002. The system shows no payment has been made to [the] contractor.' She did not respond to questions about what happens when an application is approved but no payment is made to a contractor. She also didn't explain how the allocating RDP houses process works and whether there's a 'first-come, first-served' policy. The Selahles live in Ward 30 in Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality. Their councillor, Sara Magabe, said their situation was strange. He said their names remained on the RDP waiting list, yet they were not built houses as promised. 'I will escalate this to the relevant provincial department for urgent intervention and see how best we can try to help unlock the housing backlog,' he told Daily Maverick. Daily Maverick tried repeatedly for comment from Thabiso Mokoena, spokesperson for the Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality Mayor Eddie Maila, and Mahlako Kome, the acting municipal manager. They did not respond to requests by the time of publication. DM
Zawya
13-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa's housing crisis: Why 2.2 million homes are needed immediately?
South Africa has a housing supply backlog of at least 2.2 million units, with a significant shortage in the affordable housing or 'gap market', according to a recent study by the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance (CAHF). The gap housing market is generally considered to be households earning too much to qualify for Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing but too little to obtain traditional bank-financed homes in the open market. Renier Kriek, managing director at Sentinel Homes, says 40% of consumers fall into the RDP housing category (household incomes below R3,500 per month) and the wealthiest 30% of households are well-served by the open housing market. Massive demand The gap market is the middle 30% of consumers where the supply of housing stock is extremely low and even declining despite massive demand. Kriek argues that a market design error is to blame for this high demand going unmet. Adverse market design disincentivises the holders of capital to invest in affordable housing. The biggest hurdle relates to the unnecessarily lengthy, cumbersome, and expensive processes associated with evictions and foreclosures. The cost of restarting the transaction (eviction or foreclosure) is prohibitive in South Africa and does not align with market circumstances. South Africa should adjust their regulatory environment to favour private-sector investment and the expansion of supply. 'We need to reduce the transaction cost for the holders of capital to take their chances on consumers who are not acceptable risks in the unduly high tenure security environment. In this way, some people will move into the formal housing market and fall out again, and perhaps more than once in their lifetime. If we go through enough of these cycles eventually everyone will be housed.' Kriek admits that this solution may sound slightly callous and counterintuitive to the casual listener. 'The alternative, retaining our restrictive policy environment, is even more callous and is currently barring people from ever getting the opportunity to enter the formal housing market. What use is being born free if you will never realise that constitutionally mandated right of access to adequate housing?' Unintended consequences Another prevalent and reasonably fixable market design problem relates to government subsidies. The Department of Human Settlements has been offering the First Home Finance (FHF) subsidy, previously called FliSP to households in the gap housing market. It aims to subsidise affordable first-time home-ownership opportunities for households with income from R3,501 up to R22,000 per month. It is an inverse means-tested subsidy, meaning that the cash grant is lower the higher the household income becomes. 'Millions of rands earmarked for this subsidy have remained unclaimed in the past and continue to remain unclaimed. This is not because people do not know about the incentive or do not desire it. The first challenge is the relative scarcity of gap housing stock, which is driven by poor demand due to incentives that are adverse to the deployment of capital in this segment, whether by landlords or home-loan providers.' Kriek argues that the subsidy design has unintended consequences resulting in market participants, such as estate agents, being unwilling to sell to subsidy recipients. 'Due to overzealous fraud-prevention measures and perhaps also an unwillingness to integrate into the existing market infrastructure, government has traditionally insisted that the registered title deed contains the name of the subsidy recipient before it releases the subsidy amount.' This means that the subsidy portion is usually received months after the transfer, unlike all other funds in a property transaction which are secured by third party payment functionaries such as banks or attorneys. This makes each property transfer involving a subsidy inordinately complex, and everyone involved prefers doing the same transaction with a consumer who does not rely on a subsidy. Usually, it's the estate agent waiting for the subsidy payment to receive their commission, and that is simply an unacceptable adverse incentive if government's intention is to have the subsidy reach its intended recipients.' Subsidy system chaos Though recent developments seem to favour fixing the market design shortcomings of FHF, the administration of the subsidy remains positively byzantine. There is a national subsidy authority, that can approve and pay subsidies, and a separate subsidy authority for each of the provinces, each with a unique set of rules and procedures and a separate application procedure. This is a quagmire for lower income consumers to navigate successfully, especially where those who rely on subsidies are already viewed negatively by market intermediaries such as estate agents and transferring attorneys. It will take significant political capital to implement market design solutions that can solve the problems facing the gap housing market. If we do nothing it may even get worse, says Kriek, who fears that the current government may not have the ability to adequately diagnose the problem, and much less the political will to affect the necessary policy and regulatory changes. If successful, finding solutions to the housing supply problem could significantly contribute to job creation, supporting the government's recent efforts outlined in the President's State of the Nation Address. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
