Issued by: Kwazulu Natal Department of Housing
9 September 2001
Inkosi yaseMakhabeleni, Inkosi Dhlomo;
Izinduna present;
The Head of the Ministry, Nozipho Khuzwayo;
Departmental Officials present;
The community of Emakhabeleni.
It is indeed a pleasure to join the people of Emakhabeleni as we celebrate the realisation of their dream - to see development finally reaching one of the neglected areas of our country.
We are humbled, as the Department of Housing, to be the vehicle which is the bearer of good tidings for the people of Emakhabeleni through the housing project we have come to launch today. We are humbled to be the ones upon whom the honour of saying: "Development initiatives are for every one irrespective of where they live" has been bestowed.
Today we have come to launch one of the rural housing projects that is closest to my heart. The kind of preparatory work that has been done to ensure that this project gets off the ground has been taxing but the fact that today we can point at completed houses, is a reason to celebrate. Another reason for the importance of this project, is that it is situated where my family comes from. In a way I feel like a son who has come back from working in the cities to say that your sending me away has not been in vain for here are the fruits of our toil.
The project we launch today cost R9,2 million and will provide homes for 500 families. The houses are 30 square metres and this includes a 2,5 sqaure metre pit latrine. As a result of this project, a 15 km gravel road has been constructed, a gravel road that did not exist before this housing project. Indeed we are not only building four walls and a roof but are making sure that all forms of development take place.
Already there is a clinic that has been built in this area. Electricity is coming in and many other developmental ventures are under way. This is because of the atmosphere that the community of Emakhabeleni has created. Development initiatives would not have started had the community not established peace in this area.
Faction fights that have been the scourge of this and many other areas under amakhosi, have been a deterrent to development. It is only under stable conditions that government can contribute towards the development of our people. I salute you for achieving peace.
In our drive to better the lives of all our people, especially those who live in dire poverty in rural areas, we embarked on a programme that specifically aims to provide houses in rural areas in the past financial year. The rural housing programme has been a phenomenal success.
In the first half of this year we approved a total of 17 rural housing projects valued at R210 million. In July this year, for example, we handed over completed houses to the communities of Bilanyoni in Paulpietersburg and Cedarville. A total of 3477 families benefitted from these two projects into which our Department pumped R55,5 million. There are more areas where we are going to launch similar projects. Gradually we are addressing the problem of homelessness and landlessness in our country.
However, the land issue is still a major stumbling block in getting rural housing projects under way. A fraction of AmaKhosi are still reluctant to avail land to start housing projects. Most of the time this unwillingness is as a result of ignorance about how the rural housing programme works. As a Department, we commit ourselves to intensifying our programme to workshop rural communities around the issues of housing.
I also want to inform you that as a Minister of Housing I sit with the Minister of Traditional Affairs, Inkosi Nyanga Ngubane in the KwaZulu-Natal cabinet. I will report to Inkosi Ngubane all those AmaKhosi who think that they can hold our people at ransom and together we are going to take decisive action against these few individuals.
The Department, however, understands that alone it cannot achieve much. There needs to be participation of the relevant stakeholders for any housing project to be a success. The success story of Emakhabeleni, which we are here to celebrate, should not be trivialised.
The success of the Emakhabeleni project is a living testimony to the fact that where there is a will there is a way. Other rural communities that we have not yet visited should take heart from this success and know that despite all the hurdles, in the end victory will be ours.
I thank you