The eThekwini Municipality is planning to build 7000 social housing units in the Durban inner-city over the next few years to accommodate 450000 people, in an effort to address population growth and the demand for affordable housing.
The City said that the with rapid urbanisation, cities were bursting at the seams and compelled to reinvent the urban core to accommodate the growth in population.
According to the City, eThekwini is already feeling the impact of this rise in population in the urban centres.
“The inner-city regeneration strategy aims to accommodate approximately 450000 people in the inner city, at least 40% of the accommodation provided will be a mix of affordable, gap and social housing.”
Deputy head of Formal Housing in the City’s Human Settlements Department, Sma Moloi, said social housing referred to housing in which the government partnered with the private sector, to provide affordable housing for those earning a certain income who can enter into a lease agreement with the owner of the property.
“Government provides a partial subsidisation and disburses funding for infrastructure development. The City facilitates a robust land release strategy to accelerate the development of affordable housing,” he said.
Moloi said approximately 2210 social housing units will be released throughout eThekwini in the new year, of which approximately 1578 are gap housing units.
Mqapheli Bonono, deputy president of the Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement, welcomed the project, saying: “It is something that is important and needed for people living in bad conditions but there needs to be meaningful engagement with a grass root organisation, that deals with the people in need of housing on the ground.”
He said that Abahlali should have a role in the process, and called for measures to deal with elements of corruption, the construction mafia and how housing is allocated, which have been challenges with previous housing developments.
“How transparent will the allocation of the units be so that houses are given to the right people?” he asked.
Zwakele Mncwango, the leader of ActionSA in KZN, said: “If the City is going for (problem buildings) that are not being attended to and are sometimes invaded by illegal foreigners, vandalised or are hiding places for criminals, it would be a great start.”
He said it would be a problem if the City’s focus was on new developments instead of reviving existing buildings to clean the city.
Mncwango also called for the process to be transparent, pointing out that there have been previous situations where people were told that the units were “rent to buy”, however, they ended up renting forever, among other challenges.
“It becomes a problem and even creates conflict among residents.”
He said that the government needed a broader strategy because building houses was not sustainable.
“They need to develop rural areas and attract investors. For example if Nongoma is developed there will be no reason for people to travel to Durban or Johannesburg.”
Mncwango said developing rural areas would deal with the issue of people migrating to the cities: “I don’t believe currently that this intervention is a permanent solution, it’s okay for the interim because people need houses, you can see informal settlements all over the city”.
Mncwango added that the City should allocate housing to people living in informal settlements first.
“Be strict that after removing them, prioritise the area by developing it or post security there so the settlements do not mushroom again.”
The municipality said the City facilitated a robust land release strategy to accelerate the development of affordable housing, and advised emerging property developers to partner with each other to stand a better chance of success.
The Mercury