Just two weeks into her new portfolio, Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) for Human Settlements, Tasneem Motara, visited the West Rand District Municipality in the Western Corridor. The purpose of this visit was to unlock any bottlenecks that could delay the mega human settlements projects in the Western Corridor.
The MEC met with Mayors and officials of local municipalities within West Rand District Municipality in an Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR) session, Departmental senior managers, developers, contractors, project managers and workers regarding improved collaboration between the two spheres of government.
The MEC visited three active projects which are Dan Tloome Mega, Westonaria Borwa and Toekomsrus Mega Human Settlements development projects.
The MEC also noted challenges faced by the Department regarding Montrose Mega Human Settlements Development project which is currently under legal review by the Department due to various issues that the project has been faced with since the inception of the project.
One of the most successful Mega Human Settlements development projects, Dan Tloome, is alleviating housing challenges as it becomes the beacon of hope for Rand West Local Municipality to provide necessary housing relief to its citizens.
This project which is well underway is expected to yield upon completion an expected Integrated Housing development of more than 13 000 units consisting of Breaking New Grounds (BNG/RDP) walk-ups and stand-alone houses, semi-detached houses, Military Veterans and a sport field and community hall. “As part of introducing myself, I had an IGR session with West Rand District Municipality and its local municipalities which is Merafong, Mogale City and Rand West Local Municipality. In that discussion we shared insights into projects under development by the Department of Human Settlements and the various municipalities” said Motara.
Deliberations also included challenges such as funding, delivery and capacity of the municipalities and the people appointed to do the work. MEC Motara further said that “going forward we will be working very closely with municipalities, not only to unlock blocked projects and complete incomplete projects but to also contribute to additional support to the municipalities.
MEC Motara will continue to embark on a series of visits where she is expected to perform project oversight visits, intervene where there are challenges in Human Settlements in the Province and meet with municipalities to improve coordination