By: Natasha Archary
Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi promised South Africans that all RDP houses will have solar panels and burglar bars.
This as Kubayi shared that the budget for each RDP house will increase from R196 887 to R255 364, effective 01 April 2023.
According to Kubayi, this would mean a better life for persons with disabilities, military veterans, and the lowest income households who rely on government housing.
The cost for RDP houses has remained unchanged for the past five years, and Kubayi says this is what contributed towards the backlog in the provision of houses.
However, the department is only able to produce an average of 10 000 housing units per financial year, against a backdrop of 1.2 million in Gauteng alone.
The standard of RDP houses is a cause for concern, with many government funded houses not meeting living standards and are built within a limited space.
But, Minister Kubayi assures South Africans that with the increase in budget, contractors and developers will be able to deliver quality work on time and within budget.
“With the current situation, we are compelled to effect another increase, otherwise, more projects will be left incomplete. This will mean construction companies will find it hard to survive. We believe that, with these amendments, we can accelerate housing delivery and avoid abandoned projects.”
Kubayi also touched on Mbali Dhlamini’s point about natural disasters and the funding that was allocated for the KwaZulu-Natal flooding disaster last year.
“We realize that the methos of allocation of funds amongst the provinces was sub-optimal as some provinces are more prone to disasters than others.
This also means that the emergency funds will be available for deployment to affected areas at the time of need, rather than being appropriated to a province or municipality that does not experience a disaster during the financial year.”
RDP housing budget to be effected as follows:
- BNG (RDP) services and top structure will change from R196 887 to R255 364
- Houses for persons with disabilities will move from R209 071 to R271 166
- Military veterans houses will increase from R240 607 to R312 069
- First Home Finance from R130 505 to R169 265
- Social housing will go up from R327 667 to R424 984
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Drive:
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Tue 16:14:46 to 17:01:52 KayaFMm



