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31 March 2008

On 8 April 2008, the Limpopo Department of Local Government and Housing (DLGH) will have a sod-turning ceremony for the Bendor integrated and sustainable human settlement project in the suburb of Bendor, Polokwane.

During the ceremony, MEC Mme Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will outline the project in detail and indicate the various criteria for eligible beneficiaries.

As stipulated in the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy, the DLGH is responsible for reducing congested accommodation and eradicating informal settlements in the province.

The department's approach to housing delivery is informed by the policy directive, breaking new ground (BNG).

The primary goal of the plan is the creation of integrated and sustainable human settlements whereby "new suburbs shall be built where proper facilities shall be provided for transport, lighting, playing fields, crèches and social centres". We believe this approach will assist in building a non-racial integrated society in line with the vision of the freedom charter.

It is beyond question that the fundamental challenge confronting the objective of attaining integrated sustainable human settlements is the location of subsidised low cost housing developments. Most subsidised housing projects are developed in peripheral locations, thereby perpetuating apartheid spatial patterns.

The Limpopo Department of Local Government and Housing has put various measures in place to ensure spatial restructuring and to make aggressive inroads into the space economy. Plans are also in place to support the functioning of the entire single residential property market in order to reduce duality within the sector by breaking the barriers between the first economy residential boom and the second economy doom.

Through the integrated and sustainable human settlement project in Bendor, the department seeks to address the challenge of housing affordability by ensuring that mixed-income earners are housed together and nearer town in what is popularly referred to as an inclusionary housing project.

The department is particularly targeting the so-called "gap market", and that's the market dominated mostly by teachers, nurses, police officials, etc.

As Premier Sello Moloto outlined in the State of the Province Address: "Some of the officials in this 'gap market' are steeped in debts, thereby reducing their eligibility to housing loans."

The Bendor integrated and sustainable human settlement project is the first of its kind in the province (and the country), and will be extended to other towns and growth points across the province – areas like Mokopane, Phalaborwa, Tubatse and Lephalale.

MEC Nkoana-Mashabane says the Bendor project "will contribute immensely to our commitment to resolve the housing backlog in the province, whilst accommodating mixed-income earners in a single sustainable settlement closer to places that offer better economic opportunities."

For more information, please contact:
Clayson Monyela
Cell: 082 806 7405

Issued by: Limpopo Provincial Government
31 March 2008