Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has committed government to building 1.5-million low-cost houses over the next five years,
telling the Human Settlements Indaba in Johannesburg on Wednesday that the State would achieve this target by means of 50 megaprojects that would each construct a minimum of 10,000 dwellings.
This would include the construction of 200,000 housing units in mining towns over the next three years.
Sisulu said government had delivered 1.2-million dwellings between 2009 and 2014, more than its target of one-million houses.
She acknowledged the banking sector’s role in this success and outlined planned interventions to facilitate the process.
Moreover, to leverage employment creation of the megaprojects, Sisulu said the department would harness South Africa’s unemployed youth by testing the Cuban model of a ‘youth brigade’ at each site.
Sisulu cautioned against a sense of entitlement for free housing. The department would prioritise the elderly, child-headed households, military veterans and the indigent. “Anyone under 40 will not be on our list,” Sisulu advised.
By: Natalie Greve
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/govt-megaprojects-to-see-construction-of-15m-houses-in-5-years-sisulu-2014-10-16
