The DA in uMgungundlovu District has written to the Council Speaker, Councillor Nomathemba Gabela to request an in-depth report that outlines the district’s plan to get more than 10 low-cost housing projects , back on track.
These projects have come to a standstill with some of them having business plans that were commissioned years ago and have become outdated thus amounting to fruitless and wasteful expenditure. Some of these projects are over 10 years old.
For those that have been built, residents are not able to move in due to no running water and others have not been completed due to the non-availability of water needed to build.
The current budget drafted by the contemporary administration makes no provision for these projects and there seem to be no plan in place to attend to them. These include the Ekujabuleni and Cragieburn housing project at Mpofana LM; the Hillside, Lions river, St Josephs, Luchmans, Tumbleweed, Cedara, and Khayelitsha housing projects at uMngeni LM.
This is a violation of Section 26 of the South African constitution which safeguards everyone’s right to adequate housing. The district is equally contravening various clauses under section 11 of the water services act of 1997 as well as chapter 2 of the South African constitution which mandates it to provide clean and safe water to its residents.
We will continue to fight for the rights of these beneficiaries by exhausting all possible avenues to ensure that this matter is rectified speedily.