UNPAID HOUSING CONTRACTORS WILL GET THEIR MONEY IN 15 DAYS, VOWS MEC LEBOGANG MAILE

Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning
and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Lebogang Maile held a “groundbreaking and firm”
meeting with Human Settlements contractors mandated by provincial government to
build houses in the province.

According to department spokesperson Castro Ngobese, Maile’s engagement
with the contractors was necessitated by the fact that these contractors are
owed monies by government, and this has a negative impact on them to meet their
delivery targets.

“Maile made a firm undertaking on behalf of
the provincial government for all contractors doing work with Department of
Human Settlements to be paid within 15 days,” Ngobese said.

“Maile also used the engagement with
contractors to share some elements of the Provincial Human Settlements Plan
that will guide and inform the development of human settlements that promote
social cohesion and reverse Apartheid spatial human settlements patterns we
inherited in 1994.”

The ANC-led provincial government has made an
electoral promise to deliver 125 000 human settlements and 31 mega human
settlements over the next five years, Ngobese said.

Maile urged contractors to deliver on their
contractual obligations to deliver on mega human settlements projects and RDP
houses for low-income earners. Maile made this call within the context that
Gauteng has a housing backlog of 1-million, and this imposed an “enormous
burden on government to deliver on our people’s expectations”.

“Maile made a commitment to the contractors to
deliver within a reasonable time frame to avoid delays in the delivery of
houses.

In the coming weeks, Maile will do oversight site visits across the province to assess the progress of human settlements in the province, Ngobese said. https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/unpaid-housing-contractors-will-get-their-money-in-15-days-vows-mec-lebogang-maile-2019-08-15-1