Pretoria – Government has a responsibility towards the residents of the province and the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) was doing everything in its power to restore the dignity of the Alexandra community.
“We acknowledge that it is the responsibility of government to ensure that the community lives in a properly serviced area," said Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and Human Settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo.
The MEC was speaking during an Imbizo held in Alexandra, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
MEC Mamabolo said government needed to do an objective criteria of all the social spaces to be developed.
“… This includes ensuring that the rightful people who registered in 1996 for housing are the ones considered first when houses are allocated. We need to come up with better strategies in dealing with the many challenges varying from property hijackers, high crime rates and lack of proper facilities,” said MEC Mamabolo.
The MEC said the department will introduce biometric fingerprint technology to allocate houses properly and to eliminate corruption.
GPG said the MEC also announced that government will hold a two-day Stakeholder Summit in Alexandra Township to discuss challenges faced by residents in the area.
MEC Mamabolo was accompanied by City of Johannesburg Housing MMC Dan Bovu and City officials.
“The visit was part of the Social Cluster Imibizos where Gauteng Members of Executive Council are deployed to various areas in the province to engage and interact with the public about the Program of Action of Transformation, Modernisation and Reindustrialisation (TMR) as delivered by Premier David Makhura.
“This crucial engagement was a way to facilitate a feedback opportunity and where the community can also comment and input on the future direction of the Gauteng city region,” said the Provincial Government.
The MEC entourage started the programme with site visits to critical areas in the township to identify service delivery needs and identify progress made and culminated with the MEC engaging with the community of Alexandra Township.
GPG said areas visited by the MEC's entourage included Sjwetla informal settlements, Riverpark, K206, clinic and Helen Joseph hostels.
“Issues raised in most areas were lack of proper human settlements, electricity and sewer system,” said the Provincial Government. - SAnews.gov.za
