The North West Department of Local Government and Human Settlements is on track to take over the completion of the 2 400 social housing units in Mahikeng’s Unit 3. This follows after the project came to a halt following a dispute between the developer and the Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) over the incomplete structure. The department is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Human Settlements for additional funding.

At the start of the project, the department entered into an agreement with the developer and subsequently injected R54 million into the project which was to been undertaken in three phases. The first phase comprises of 612 rental units, second phase - 844 units and last phase - 944 rental units.

The agreement was in a tripartite form where Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) agreed with the developer on their part and the department also had a direct agreement with the developer with their own contribution. One of the conditions of a social housing project is for development to have a social housing institution (SHI) and the province did not have one when the project started.

The department has recently conducted an assessment on the works already done on the project and submitted a business plan to both the national Departments of Human Settlements and Treasury to facilitate the resumption and completion of the first phase of the project.

MEC Collen Maine says the department will in the meantime hire a security company to safeguard to avoid the ongoing vandalism.

 

Issued by North West Local Government and Human Settlements