Picture: One of the unfinished RDP houses Source: Daily Sun
By REGINALD KANYANE
Incomplete RDP houses in the North West province continues to be a “cause for concern.” According to the beneficiaries, the contractors left these houses incomplete and have continuously promised to come back to complete them, but that has never happened.
Some of these houses in Lekgopung and Taung have been left without roofing, plastering, windows, doors and proper floors.
However, the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs in the North West, Mothibedi Kegakilwe he recently met with senior officials in the department to discuss the state of housing delivery in the province.
Kegakilwe further said his department should no longer tolerate poor performance by housing developers and must not hesitate to take action against such developers.
“We should not be lenient with developers because they decided to be in business and they must deliver good products. We, on the other hand, are in the business of delivering houses and we must do just that.
“We must also ensure that proper planning, monitoring, and contract management in the housing delivery chain is essential. Managers must plan, do a review and act to produce good results. Gone are the days when houses were built without internal services,” said Kegakilwe.
He added that the department cannot still be talking about developers who have long been appointed and have not yet occupied the site. Kegakilwe said communities expect nothing from them, but the delivery of quality houses.
“The department needs to address the challenge of water and sanitation in the context of housing delivery too. We also want to denounce the illegal occupation of the Community Residential Units (CRU) in Mahikeng. Most of the people who are occupying those units are government officials who can afford houses and we must, therefore, address this issue once and for all.
“We would request the Minister of Human, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu to convene a meeting with Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) to resolve the issue of the social housing units in Mahikeng – Unit 3,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kegakilwe also appealed for the empowerment of women, youth and emerging housing contractors. He said the government will nurture them so that they do not collapse.
The Guardian 