Gauteng Townships, Hostels and Informal settlements get the provincial budget boost

Sebokeng Ext 28, Sewers and manholes in Mohlakeng-Pelzvale and Soshanguve South Secondary School in Tshwane.

Informal Settlements

Another R3.8bn has been allocated for the provision of basic infrastructure in informal settlements, including KwaBrown, Mamello, Piel’s Farm, Thabong, Munsieville, Bergsig and Ratanda.

Hostels

Moreover, a total of R322m has been set aside for the renovation of hostels, including George Goch, Denver, Jeppe, LTA Rethabile, Kwama-Siza, Dube, Orlando, Diepkloof and Orlando West.

Johannesburg’s Department of Human Settlements has issued a warning to the public regarding fake housing notices being circulated on social media in the name of the City and the Gauteng Provincial government.

The notices, which claim to be from the Gauteng RDP allocation office, are requesting a list of documents to be delivered to an address in Braamfontein.

However, the Department of Human Settlements has stated that it does not use any form of WhatsApp or email to engage with residents regarding RDP applications.

“This is quite concerning as the immoral scammers are using the former MMC’s name as a weapon to scam desperate citizens who need homes. The use of Cllr Mabaso’s name is a clear indication that these scammers are clueless about developments within the City,” said Cllr Anthea Leitch, the current MMC for Human Settlements.

The fraudulent notices are being issued in the name of former Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC), of Employees baseline, and delivery of support services such as scholar transport, school nutrition and school subsidies to make education more accessible to children.

Health

Health and wellness of people will also take up a significant share of what is being allocated to the Gauteng Department of Health, with an additional R5 billion, with focus on retaining part of the capacity taken on board to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and which will go a long way in strengthening the health delivery platform which has been lacking.

Fighting crime in Gauteng is one of the priorities as it affects many citizens directly or indirectly. The Gauteng Department of Community Safety will be resourced with R4 billion additional allocation, for the training and absorption of the 6 000 crime prevention wardens currently undergoing training that will be completed at the end of April 2023.

Mlungisi Mabaso, who is no longer affiliated with the department.

The department is urging the public to remain vigilant and scrutinize all information they receive.

The official social media accounts of the Department of Human Settlements are Twitter: @CoJhousing, Facebook: City of Joburg Housing Department, and Instagram: coj_mmc_ housing_.

“We want to warn criminal syndicates that their time is up and they will be found and taken to court. A number of arrests have already been made,” the MMC warns.

The Department of Human Settlements is currently dealing with 1996/7 applications and has a backlog of nearly half a million RDP houses.

The department urges members of the public seeking to inquire about its services and status on the housing waiting list to visit customer support centres in their regions or the head office of the allocations unit at 222 Smit Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

technology, supply chain and procurement instruments to create capacity for departments to meet their quarterly and annual targets for women empowerment.

Job Creation for the Youth

The MEC said, they are also confident that by repositioning and improving the supply chain function and procurement.

This will allow them to meet their job creation targets, especially among the youth in the province, as figures released by the Gauteng Economic Barometer of the Department of Economic Development, indicated a huge challenge of youth unemployment in the province.

Township Businesses

The GPG will explore procurement rules which allow government and its main contractors to buy from large groups of township-based businesses, with systems linking them to supply as if they were one large firm.

Gauteng MEC for Finance

Jacob Mamabolo

Gauteng townships, hostels and informal settlements have received a boost of more than R7.6bn in the provincial budget to help build improved public infrastructure in these areas.

Townships

Presenting the 2023/24 budget, Gauteng finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo said a R3.5bn of the budget has been allocated to improving infrastructure in townships, including construction of housing units in

“We are now at a point in our journey to improving infrastructure investments where it is imperative that the Gauteng provincial Treasury, as the custodian that allocates funds, must ensure there is value for money in all our projects.

Education

He said, a total of R4.6 billion will be allocated to the Gauteng Department of Education – these funds are to address the pressures in the Compensation

These crime prevention wardens will be given necessary tools of trade, the allocation will also enable the acquisition of some technological solutions to fight crime – such as drones, and the leasing of helicopters to enhance the visibility of crime prevention efforts. Also included in this allocation is funding for fleet services, to further capacitate traffic police to undertake their duties.

Women Empowerment & GBV

Moreover, the strategic focus remains empowering women as a basis of contributing to the fight against GenderBased Violence and Femicide.

This will be achieved by leveraging

“This will build the needed capacity for these businesses to supply large markets and discover new suppliers. The GPG aims to spend about 60 per cent of the R35 billion budgeted for goods and services to provide support to township business initiatives.”

Invoice Dispute Resolution platform

Also, in line with SOPA commitments, the province will also establish an Invoicing Dispute Resolution Unit that will serve as an ombuds for disputed invoices. To this end, a dedicated central email has been established by GPG where all disputed invoices should be sent. The email address is disputedinvoices@gauteng. gov.za.