Low-cost houses earmarked to be built this financial year would be provided with solar panels and water harvesting devices. Picture: Timothy Bernard/African News Agency(ANA)
Cape Town - Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi announced on Wednesday that low-cost houses earmarked to be built this financial year would be provided with solar panels and water harvesting devices.
Kubayi said the move was in line with a policy position decision aimed to improve the lives of the qualifying beneficiaries and also respond to the economic changes, especially the rising cost of living, energy, poverty and security needs for the vulnerable.
“From April 1, 2023, we have decided that all subsidised houses that are being built will be provided with solar panels, and rainwater harvesting devices especially in rural communities.
“For persons with disabilities, the houses will be fitted with burglar bars to improve security,” she said.
Kubayi made the announcement when she was tabling her budget policy speech during the mini-budget debate in the National Assembly.
The department has been allocated R35 billion, with R19.2bn allocated to provincial grants, R12.5bn for municipal grants, R520 million for emergency housing response and R1.7bn to be transferred to human settlements entities.
Kubayi said her department has increased the housing subsidy by 29.7% in order to address the increasing building costs.
“The adjustment will ensure that we speed up the pace of delivery and ensure that the quality of houses we provide to beneficiaries does not deteriorate.
“More importantly, to ensure that contractors don’t abandoned sites due to unaffordable costs,” she said.
The adjustment in subsidies is as follows:
Kubayi also said they were targeting 1500 informal settlements for upgrading.
“This programme has immense challenges which we plan to overcome by entering into social compacts with communities and ensuring that suitable land parcels are acquired to build houses for our communities,” she said.
Her department would continue to provide support to both provinces and metros to ensure that the target was achieved.
“We are mindful that the number of informal settlements is on the rise and equally, our resolve to improve the lives of the people in informal settlements remains,” she said.
Kubayi also said the department was committed to eradicate asbestos roofs and walls in old township houses across all nine provinces.
“In the current financial year, a total budget of R220m has been allocated to the provincial Human Settlements Development Grant business plans in the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal to implement 27 projects across the provinces to remove asbestos roofs.”
Kubayi noted that people in rural areas were increasingly finding themselves homeless as more mud houses collapsed.
“Seven provinces have planned to eradicate 11 791 mud houses with a budget of R1.7bn in this financial year.
“We will introduce the use of remote sensing through satellite technology and other modern technology applications to help us locate and get a total count of all mud houses across the country,” she said.
Kubayi said innovative building technologies would be primary drivers of their disaster response.
“Our primary method of response to disasters will no longer include Temporary Residential Units.
“Instead it will prioritize Alternative Building Technologies,” she said. “In this way, our immediate intervention will provide a permanent solution and do away with double expenditure on temporary accommodation and then afterwards, a permanent solution,” Kubayi said.
Cape Times