HOUSING
TURNING HOUSES INTO HOMES The City of Ekurhuleni is focused on delivering humane and sustainable settlements to its citizens.
T
he City of Ekurhuleni, through its Human Settlements Department currently has dual roles: the delivery of serviced stands and housing, which entails the planning budgeting design and implementation (construction) of subsidised housing units, and the coordination of the planning, programming and construction of municipal engineering services and socio-economic amenities that constitute integrated sustainable human settlements. Although 14 781 houses were delivered by the City between 2011 and 2016, demand for housing remains high. Increasing demand for housing resulting from rapid growth in the City’s population has resulted in the adoption of creative and diversified approaches to housing delivery. Ekurhuleni is working with private and public housing delivery partners to accelerate delivery and encourage inclusionary housing within privatesector-driven developments. The City and its partners have packaged the releasing of private sector development opportunities within the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
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and flagship projects on municipal land. This has required strengthened functioning in interdepartmental coordination, as well as the capacitation and support of the City’s social housing institutions to attract additional investment in the delivery of affordable rentals.
SOLUTIONS FOR SPATIAL JUSTICE The demand environment has also necessitated the City to take on stringent measures to enforce spatial governance while working towards creating solutions that will address both demand and spatial justice in the City. Land management has become a central component to planning as measures to control land invasions and the mushrooming of new informal structures are put in place. Concerted efforts have been made to improve service delivery within informal settlements and promote the effective management of municipal-owned rental properties. The key issues influencing the above-mentioned activities include the current socio-economic realities, national, provincial and local
strategies, and – most importantly – the political pronouncements made by the office bearers and political leaders at all spheres of government. In its effort to extend security of tenure to the poor and marginalised residents, the City distributes title deeds to qualifying residence and property owners. The recruitment of Title Deeds Brigade by the City has ensured that the qualifying title beneficiaries are traced and reached thereby reducing backlog with reference to title deeds distribution. In order to address the housing backlog and provide housing opportunities for residents, the City has provided more than 2 000 serviced sites for various human settlements development initiatives. It is envisaged that the site and service model will go a long way in eliminating the City’s housing backlog. These serviced sites have permanently installed infrastructures such as water, electricity, sanitation and roads and they are ready for top structures for integrated human settlements and transport-oriented development purposes.
