Tokyo Sexwale: Housing fund shortfall may swell to R102bn by 2012

Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said that the shortfall in housing provision remains of great concern.

Addressing the National Assembly, Sexwale said spending on housing service delivery had increased from R4,8-billion in 2004/5 to R10,9-billion in the last financial year – increasing at an average rate of 23%.

Nationally, over 570 housing projects had been approved and a housing grant of R12,4-billion had been allocated for this financial year, translating into the construction of 226 000 new housing units across all nine provinces.

Additional funds are being allocated to provide large-scale upgrades of informal settlements and the alignment of the national housing grant with inflationary price increases. However, although the housing grant allocation had been increased over the 2009 medium term expenditure framework, departmental studies concluded that continuing with the current trend in housing budgets would lead to a fund shortfall of R102-billion by 2012, which would increase to R253-billion by 2016.

Sexwale said, “We have taken cognisance of the need for housing in urban pressure points around the country and are in the process of responding to this with alternative tenure options, including affordable rental housing stock. We have also strengthened our resolve to provide housing assistance to people living in shacks, who constitute the bulk of the housing backlog”.