The DA in the Western Cape is alarmed by reports of temporary housing building materials, worth nearly R4 million, which have been dumped on a vacant plot near the airport in Plettenberg Bay since 2018 by the Bitou Municipality. The material was intended to create temporary relocation for 71 households, and was distributed by national government to the municipality after a fire gutted over sixty homes in Kurland, Qolweni and Kwa-Nokuthula in June 2018.
For over two years, the province has not received any business plans or other details regarding proposed construction and use of the housing materials. I will therefore invite representatives of all three spheres of government, including Bitou Municipality, and the provincial and national departments of Human Settlements, to account to the provincial Standing Committee on this issue and the subsequent loss of housing opportunities.
It is deplorable that valuable building material which holds the potential to create safe living conditions for residents remains unused after over 2 years. Housing opportunities are desperately needed, and the dire economic situation in the country has seen the provincial Department of Human Settlements budget cut twice this financial year by over R68-million in total.
We seek clarity on why these building materials have been dumped and unused, and why the municipality has apparently failed to engage in proper intergovernmental cooperation on this matter.
The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape remains committed to dignified and safe housing opportunities and excellent service delivery where it governs.
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