BY DR LN SISULU, HOUSING MINISTER ON LOW COST HOUSING IN ELITE SUBURBS

The Department welcomes the intention of the Democratic Alliance (DA) to support the newly unveiled housing plan. This support would be consistent and in line with the support and commitment the Department received from various stakeholders including the private sector around the country.

Core to our strategy is to build sustainable communities that are integrated. This entails bringing the people closer to places of work to generate economic activity. We will build within the new settlements all social amenities and infrastructure needed for a dignified life that would maintain a community. It is the intension of the department to continue the extensive consultations that began through the Imbizos to explain and get full cooperation of all South Africans.

The first step would be to explain the Comprehensive Plan to the portfolio committees in parliament. It is a pity that the Democratic Alliance did not wait for this presentation scheduled for this Wednesday, 08 September 2004, which they are fully aware of as members of the portfolio committees. We would have expected that the DA would have waited for the presentation to understand rather reacting to an unfortunate headline. There is no intention by the Department of Housing to build a “low cost house on the doorstep of a R3 Million house” as claimed by the Sunday Times report on Sunday September 5, 2004.

The integration plan will utilise international best practice. The implementation of the plan will involve consultation and involvement of any affected communities. There is no reason for the Department of Housing to negatively affect the high income market.

The high and low income markets need each other to survive, it is for this reason that in our development of residential areas we need to ensure that the poor are not continuing to pay high transport costs to get to their places of employment.

We found the front page headline of the Sunday Times regrettable but we will continue with the correction of this perception.

End
Issued by the Housing Ministry 06 September 2004
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