Pretoria - Government's new housing approach will go a long way in reversing the apartheid legacy in housing and social planning in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said at the weekend.
"All human beings strive to obtain decent shelter in a decent community. That is why as government we are doing all we can to assist our people to obtain affordable and habitable shelter," Zuma said during the launch of a social housing programme in East London on Saturday.
The Emerald Sky project is an innovative initiative aimed at providing affordable housing to people in need. Through it, government provides grant funding to private developers to build rental homes for low and middle income workers in an effort to prevent the spiraling of slum houses in the cities.
Zuma described the project, consisting of 656 units, of which 350 are already occupied, as an important addition to the government's response to the need for accommodation.
"You will notice that the new style social housing projects that we are building are on well-located and landscaped land, with access to social amenities such as education, transport, recreational facilities and others," Zuma said during the event also attended by Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale. The settlements also contribute to the country's social transformation programme of reversing "apartheid spatial planning" and to restore the human dignity and self-esteem of the country's people.
Government has built over 2, 7 million homes for South Africans since 1994, giving shelter to more than 13 million people. Zuma further said government plans to spend close to R15 billion this year on housing. This is being done in part through the provision of housing grants, with homes being built in more than 8 000 human settlements projects across the country.
"We are also upgrading many of the 2700 informal settlements which exist alongside almost every urban and peri-urban town, to address the squalid conditions of those living there."
In addition, government is making available a Guarantee Fund that will make it easier for working people to access a mortgage bond to build their own homes. It is hoped that the initiative could eliminate many of the reasons given by financial institutions for not financing the development of affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Zuma has once again called on South Africans to rally behind the national soccer team Bafana Bafana as they get close to their make or break World Cup match against France on Tuesday. Most South Africans are still reeling in shock following Bafana's disappointing 3-nil loss in the hands of Uruguay. But Zuma said South Africans need not abandon the national team.
"We must continue supporting the national team, the African teams and indeed the World Cup tournament in general as hosts," he said adding that South Africans are already winners for hosting the tournament.
