MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Coalition government in NMB focused on housing, not frivolous motions

By

Dear MyPE

The Democratic Alliance-led coalition government has in the past two years made good on its promise to make the delivery of houses a priority.

During our term in government we have worked with the Housing Development Agency (HDA) to deliver 2188 RDP houses and relocated 898 households from stressed informal settlements to Greenfield project areas.

Informal settlements have been upgraded and thousands of title deeds have been handed out.

A title deed provides legal ownership of a home, an asset which can turn the tide on poverty.

Under the governance of the ANC no significant progress was made in providing home ownership to the poor and suffering residents of the Metro. Between 2013 and 2015 under former ANC administrations, not a single title deed was handed out in NMB.

The coalition government has done a lot of work to make home ownership a reality for residents.

The latest frivolous motion of no confidence against Executive Mayor Athol Trollip, to be debated on Thursday, 16 August during a full council meeting, is not deterring the Metro from focusing on the delivery of houses.

We are therefore currently hosting a Human Settlements Indaba at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The purpose of the Indaba is to discuss the strategies and priorities of Human Settlements development in NMB and is also expected to come up with solutions regarding dealing with challenges of Land Invasions.

The coalition government also allocated a parcel of land in Summerstrand for the development of social housing, a business centre and student accommodation.

This Indaba seeks to come up with solutions to address all housing issues facing the residents of the City.

The living conditions of our residents are important and its high priority can be seen in the City’s spending.

In the 2016/17 financial year NMB spent 100% of its USDG funding. Following this, at the end of the 2017/18 financial year, the City spent more than 96% of USDG funding, including the extra allocation received from Treasury.

Our USDG grant has been used to deliver services to the City’s vulnerable communities, including:

  • Making progress eradicating bucket toilets;
  • The provision of serviced sites;
  • The upgrade of 5 informal settlements; and
  • Tarring of roads

The DA-led coalition remains focused on service delivery and will not be derailed by the ANC’s efforts to steal back this City. We are making progress in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Regards


Nqaba Bhanga
DA EC Provincial Leader

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