Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements MEC Tasneem Motara launched the Departments Siyeza Nakuwe Campaign following a year in office.
In the first week, Motara drank tea with homeowners, handed over close to 500 houses and more than 1000 title deeds. She also visited 10 projects to inspect progress.
Motara said the Department launched Siyeza Nakuwe, as a demonstration of visible leadership, direct engagement, and delivery in action as an intervention to address the Gauteng 13 problems.
“The essence of the campaign is to appreciate that, yes, we do have a huge backlog, we have people who have registered as far back as 1996 to 1999 that we still have not reached and issued their houses. We still have people in backrooms and those still in informal settlements, but we are saying slowly but surely, we are coming to you. Work with us, be patient, it is not an easy process because our families are growing, our needs are growing but we are unable to match the demand, but we are saying Siyeza Nakuwe, we will get to you,” she said.
Motara said part of the campaign includes returning to the places she has visited in the year that she has been an MEC of Human Settlements in the Province.
“What I am interested in seeing is the impact we have made. I can give you the keys and title deed to your house, but we want to see what the real impact the government has made on your life. So far, I can say we have seen that the impact is huge,” said Motara.
She said that handing over a house was not about dealing with the backlog only but more than that.
“We see grandmothers who now have a place for their grandchildren to spend winter holidays in during the cold weather. As part of the impact, we see people living with disabilities who used to live in places that are not friendly for them to live in being moved to disability friendly houses. The Department of Human Settlements has allowed them to be included in communities. We can see the real impact of giving houses to South Africans,” she said.
Motara said that this year the country was celebrating 70 years of the Freedom Charter.
“It speaks of Housing, Comfort, Security and Shelter, so we are not only adhering to our constitution but also that 70 years ago the Freedom Charter spelt out the kind of South Africa we want to have and the type of South Africa we want to achieve,” she said.
She thanked the people of Gauteng for being patient and called for calm and respectful dialogues as she continues to visit communities.
Motara said she was disappointed at the conduct of some of the residents of Ratanda after a meeting degenerated into chaos.
“We will not only visit our communities to hand over houses and title deeds. We are also going to visit them when they face challenges so that together with them, we can resolve them. During these processes, we have to rise above our problems and engage respectfully. I understand some have waited for a long time, but we still have to engage to come up with a solution,” she said.
Motara warned developers and contractors not to delay completion of houses and against shoddy work saying the Department will not hesitate to act.
