By Johnathan Paoli
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has laid out an ambitious housing delivery and reform agenda, pledging to transform South Africa’s human settlements landscape through innovation, resilience, and social justice.
Simelane’s budget speech, themed “Leveraging technologies for resilient, sustainable human settlements”, set targets for the 2024–2029 Medium-Term Development Plan, including housing units, serviced stands upgrades and title deeds among other services.
For the current fiscal year alone, Simelane promised over 41000 housing units, more than 32000 serviced sites, and the eradication of 8000 mud houses. She also emphasised the department’s focus on spatial transformation, digital innovation and community engagement.
Simelane said the R101.2 billion medium-term budget, with R30.8 billion (90.7%) allocated to provinces and metros, was a critical tool in achieving these goals despite acknowledging that allocations like the R336 million for emergency housing were insufficient in light of recent climate disasters.
“Excellence is never an accident. It
You’ve reached your free article limit
Subscribe to enjoy unlimited access to trusted journalism. Cancel anytime.
Subscribe nowNeed help? molokom@insidepolitic.co.za
