The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is showing signs of
improvement in delivering sustainable human settlements to communities, as a result
of interventions by the National Human Settlements War Room (NHSWaR) which was
set up to expedite project planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring in
provinces and municipalities.
Compared to the 2021/’22 financial year where about 28 BNG units where built, the metro is well on its way to hit its targeted spending of the Human Settlements
Development Grant (HSDG).
This was revealed during a recent visit to the metro
by Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete, MEC, Siphokazi
Lusithi and MMC Tukela Zumani, where they also handed over more than 270 houses
in Polar Park and Qaqawuli housing projects, respectively.
As part of the intervention since their appointment by Minister Kubayi in
August last year, the NHSWaR began conducting working sessions with the metro to diagnose the root causes of poor performance. This in particular is the metro’s
implementation of grants, namely, the Human Settlements Development Grant
(HSDG), the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) and the Informal
Settlement Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG).
Subsequently, a Ministerial Advisory was approved for the NHSWaR to conduct
monthly technical oversight meetings wherein the 2022/’23 business plans for all
grants were technically assessed, with due consideration to the project scope,
procurement, cost and time management.
“I am happy with the intervention, there’s quite a lot of improvement compared to the
last time we were here and this progress gives hope. There’s improvement of
performance and delivery with regards to our targets,” said Minister Kubayi.
“What brings us together as a collective is to ensure that we do the work we are
contracted to do. Being here is not to tick the box, we are here because there is an
intervention meant to resolve service delivery problems, especially on human
settlements matters, and we must make sure we see the results to avoid making
commitments we cannot deliver to our communities”.
Key findings by the NHSWaR also revealed that delays in the implementation of
projects were caused by, among others, poor contract management, unrealistic
project estimates, perceived higher material costs and disintegrated project plans. Moreover, delays in supply chain management process
were found to be a contributing factor to poor performance in relation to the USDG
and ISUPG.
Considering that the metro is an urban area, Kubayi emphasised a need to
also focus on social housing and First Home Finance, which are two of the flagship
programmes of the Department of Human Settlements, while noting that almost 70%
of the people in informal settlements do not qualify for BNG (previously known as
RDP).
“Working together with the banks, we need to have proper plans with the Social
Housing Regulatory Council and National Housing Finance Corporation to tell us what
can be done with regards to provision of houses for the missing middle,” said the minister.
Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, Pam Tshwete commended the work of the
NHSWaR for tremendous work they are doing in giving life back into projects.
This financial year ending March 2023, government set aside R4 billion for the
upgrading of informal settlements. In the new financial year 2023/’24, the Nelson
Mandela Bay Metro will be allocated R300 million to improve the living conditions of
households in informal settlements.
Speaking on the sidelines of the handover of houses in Qaqawulini, which is expected
to yield more than 780 housing opportunities upon completion, MEC Lusithi indicated
that this added more pressure on the fiscus and the growing needs by communities
needing a roof over their heads.
“It will cost more to build a house that we could have built in 2009. We are, however, encouraged by the progress we’re seeing with the intervention of the NHSWaR, working
together with the municipality. It gives us hope that in this financial year, we will be
able to deliver as we had committed to communities,” she said.
Meanwhile, Zumani
welcomed the intervention by the department to unlock the potential to create
sustainable human settlements. Despite political circumstances, he said, there are
social compacts agreed to in order to safeguard service delivery. “The dedication of
the team will assist us to inspire confidence that there is work done to restore the
functioning of the municipality.”
The day commenced with a technical meeting in which the Ministerial delegation
assessed performance and went further to consider more interventions to speed up
service delivery. This was preceded by in-loco inspections, coupled with
engagements with the community and significantly the handover of newly built fully
subsidised government homes to qualifying beneficiaries, including the elderly and
women.
There are over 270 houses beneficiaries at Polar Park, KwaLanga Township
in Kariega and Qaqawuli in New Brighton, respectively.
