Johnathan Paoli
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has promised to eradicate the province’s 700 informal settlements, saying the provincial government has bought land to address the issue.
The Premier was speaking during his 2024 State of the Province Address in Nasrec, Johannesburg on Monday and said the government has started the process in order to ensure that its utilities such as water, electricity, and sewage are available to smooth the move out of informal settlements, especially for the youth.
“Informal settlements must come to an end. We can’t have so many informal settlements in our province, there are 700 informal settlements,” Lesufi said.
Lesufi said that plans were in consideration to upgrade approximately 68 informal settlements into more habitable housing and that the department has accelerated its plans to decongest and relocate people to more adequate land.
“This includes the placement of people in complete mega projects and other housing developments,” the premier said.
In addition, Lesufi confirmed that his administration provided over 2000 households from 20 informal settlements, with the security of tenure though relocation into completed projects and that 64 settlements have been provided with rudimentary services, while 16 settlements have been provided with bulk services.
Lesufi said upgrading and formalising settlements into “townships of the future” remained one of the fundamental priorities for the province in order to ensure that the people have better places to inhabit.
Meanwhile, opposition party ActionSA has referred to the commitments made by the Premier as nothing more than a desperate political re-election campaign, with the provincial chairperson Funzi Ngobeni saying that the damage and theft of economic infrastructure should be declared economic treason with appropriate sanctions.
Ngobeni said that in Johannesburg alone there were over 188 hijacked buildings which an ActionSA government would reclaim, renovate and bring back into operation for the people.
“This would enable us to address the housing crisis in the province while also bringing people closer to centres of employment,” the chair said.
DA Executive mayor of the Midvaal Local Municipality Peter Teixeira said that the address ended up being a rose-tinted view of the state of the province, with promises to get Gauteng back on track and rhetoric highlighting the ruling party’s struggle credentials during apartheid.
Teixeira said that his municipality required the involvement of the provincial government to address the backlog in housing allocation within their areas, that the provincial roads were frequently in a state of disrepair, and that residents complained about the lack of adequate healthcare facilities, including clinics and hospitals.
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