Human Settlements
Whether he and his Department have plans and/or programmes in place for the eradication, as opposed to upgrading of the 204 informal settlements in the province; if not, why not; if so, (a) (i) how and (ii) when will the informal settlements be eradicated and (b) what are the set targets for the eradication?
There are 667 informal settlements in the Province, together with backyarders make the total of just over 500 000 households in need of houses, that will require no less than R70 billion. Currently the budget of the department is R1.9 billion.
There also a number of people in informal settlements who do not qualify for free subsidised state house for various reasons. Given these realities, it is very difficult to talk about the eradication of informal settlements. That is why we have embarked on a multi-pronged approach to improve the living conditions in informal settlements while we continue building houses.
