Question NW1588 to the President of the Republic
13 August 2020 - NW1588
Bozzoli, Prof B to ask the President of the Republic
Whether, with reference to his undertaking on 11 April 2019 while visiting Alexandra in the City of Johannesburg, he instructed his Cabinet members to address the community’s concerns relating to land and housing opportunities; if not, why not; if so, (2) whether his Cabinet members engaged with the community of Alexandra to address the concerns of the community and reported back to him about the progress made in addressing the community’s concerns; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what are the relevant details in each case and (b) will he furnish Prof B Bozzoli with copies of all the reports; (3) (a) what number of hectares of land identified by his Cabinet members following his instruction in April 2019 (i) are currently available for permanent housing purposes in Alexandra and (ii) have not been made available yet, (b) what are the exact Global Positioning System coordinates of each of the identified permanent housing pieces of land, (c) what number of permanent housing opportunities have been provided on each of the identified pieces of land, (d) what are the details of each permanent housing opportunity and (e) by what date will the identified land for permanent housing opportunities that has not yet been released be made available to the community in Alexandra?
Reply:
I have been informed that to ensure the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of residents and the provision of housing in Alexandra, several steps have been undertaken to unlock the obstacles that have hampered progress in the development of the area in the past.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, working with the Provincial MEC for Human Settlements and the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, has undertaken several initiatives to resolve matters of access to and availability of land and housing.
These include:
(a) Approximately 562 hectares of land have been identified for the planning and development of housing, in which the residents of Greater Alexandra will receive the benefit.
(b) Additional portions of land owned by the City of Johannesburg have been identified to allow for the resolution of the outstanding land restitution claims. Also, all available privately-owned land within the vicinity is being identified to provide additional relief to the shortage of housing and related development in the area.
(c) Developments are being planned within a five kilometres radius of the inner core of Alexandra, and approximately 25,000 housing opportunities are planned in the developments, with specific reference to Linksfield and Frankenwald.
(d) Steps are being taken to overcome the long-standing legal, regulatory, funding and planning obstacles and delays, to ensure the transfer of ownership to approved households.
(e) The land and housing plans and interventions related to land, housing and human settlements form part of a comprehensive consolidated Greater Alexandra Master plan that is in the final stages of completion. This will ensure that all development in the Greater Alexandra is consolidated, comprehensive and integrated with the City of Johannesburg, province of Gauteng and National Government.
The various plans and interventions are based on the principle of consultation, which is managed and led by the Executive Mayor in the City of Johannesburg, in consultation with the provincial and national spheres of government.
The national Department of Human Settlements is the convenor of the Intergovernmental Human Settlements Technical Team, tasked with presenting progress reports on land and housing to an Inter-Ministerial Committee chaired by the Deputy President. This IMC oversees and monitors all the various socio-economic development plans and interventions being undertaken in Alexandra.