The historic Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) entered into between the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements (WCDoHS) and the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM), to collaborate on selected human settlements projects, clearly shows our commitment to accelerate the delivery of housing opportunities.
This agreement, which was signed in December 2020, will see the GRDM assist the WCDoHS with the planning, development and management of certain priority projects, while the WCDoHS will provide the necessary human resources, so that the relevant skills and experience are available within the GRDM.
The MoA expires on 31 March 2023.
This approach ensures that there is synergy and full cooperation between the different spheres of Government, while also removing unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy that at times tend to delay the implementation of projects. I’m also looking forward to the official unveiling of this partnership, so that the people of not only the Garden Route, but the entire province, can see how this Department is changing the cooperative governance landscape.
This step is part of our strategic objectives to among others ensure there is integrated development planning, it is socially and financially affordable and sustainable and offers a wide choice of housing and tenure options.
I’d therefore like to encourage other Districts to engage us, so that similar agreements can be entered into, as it is wholly beneficial to the people of the Western Cape. Critical to note that this is a targeted approach on specific projects: municipalities will of course continue as usual with all functions and programmes which are not within the scope of this agreement.
As the Western Cape Government, we remain committed to accelerating human settlement delivery, while promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated, safe, resilient and sustainable human settlements in an open opportunity society.
