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City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba and MMC of Housing, Councillor Meshack van Wyk conducted an oversight visit to the Riverside Housing Project near Diepsloot on Thursday.
The Riverside Housing Project is just one of the numerous housing developments across Johannesburg which will now come to a grinding halt as a result of the Gauteng Provincial Government’s abuse of power in unlawfully cutting the City’s Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) funding by R180m.
The completion of 1 485 RDP houses at this specific project will be stalled due to the Gauteng Provincial Government’s irrational.
After exhausting efforts to resolve this dispute with the Department of Human Settlements and the Provincial Government, the City Manager this past week subsequently wrote to the Director-General of National Treasury, in terms of section 44 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, to seek their urgent intervention in this dispute. The City Manager will be seeking a meeting with the Director-General of National Treasury as a matter of urgency.
By exercising its powers, it is hoped that National Treasury will be able to promptly intervene in this dispute and assist the City in receiving funding which will result in the construction of thousands of housing units for Johannesburg’s most needy residents.
Mayor Mashaba said it was clear from his oversight visit that foundational work had already been completed and developers were ready to come on sight to continue the construction of the houses. He said this clearly showed the lies being peddled by the MEC of Human Settlements, Uhuru Moiloa, when he alleges that funding was reduced as a result of contractors not been appointed or paid.
The decision to reduce Johannesburg’s HSDG funding comes on the back of the City spending 98% of its Housing Capital Budget last year, and having contractors on the ground busy with construction. The decision is clearly irrational and informed by political considerations rather than the interests of our residents who are suffering as a result of the 300 000 housing unit backlog inherited by the multi-party government in Johannesburg.
