Cape Town - Human Settlements’ MEC Tertuis Simmers says he will be using a two-day visit to the province by Human Settlements’ Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to see how the national department can assist the province in creating more affordable housing.
“We will use this engagement to present some of our plans on how the national department can assist in accelerating our programme.”
Kubayi and her deputy minister, Pamela Tshwete, complete their visit today with visits to housing projects around Cape Town, including Masiphumelele in Fish Hoek, the N2 Gateway Joe Slovo Project Phase 1 in Kwa Langa and Kosovo Farm 694 in Mitchells Plain.
During today’s tour of housing projects in the metro, Simmers will be joined as host by mayco member for Human Settlements Malusi Booi and senior department officials.
The Western Cape is the ninth province the two ministers have visited in their assessment tour of human settlements across the country.
Yesterday the group was shown around human settlements projects on the Garden Route. Among the projects visited was the controversial Qolweni UISP (Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme) project in Bitou Local Municipality, where a bricklaying ceremony was conducted.
Last June the province took over the project following a series of meetings between senior officials from provincial Human Settlements, the Bitou municipal council and community leaders.
The meetings were called after five days of protests by the Qolweni community that led to the N2 highway being blocked by protesters last week, bringing Plettenberg Bay to a near standstill.
Community leaders had demanded that the project be handed over to the department as a condition to call a halt to their road-blocking protests. The project will produce 160 units, with the full completion expected in October this year.
Before winding up their tour the group conducted a walkabout at the Witlokasie emergency project, which aims to redevelop and resettle families from informal structures that were severely damaged by heavy rainfall in 2017.
The floods affected areas such as the Knysna, George and Bitou Municipalities in the Garden Route District.