This statement follows an oversight visit to Germiston by the DA Shadow Minister of Human Settlements Solly Malatsi MP and his deputy Mbulelo Bara MP, DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Human Settlements, Mervyn Cirota MPL, and local Councillor, Ashley Hoods.
Please find soundbites in English and Sepedi by Mr Malatsi and in IsiXhosa by Mr Bara.
Today, on our oversight visit to an abandoned housing project in Germiston Extension 46, the DA was left incensed by the ANC government’s reckless approach to housing the people of Angelo informal settlement.
This project was meant to provide emergency housing for the residents of Angelo informal settlement; however, the houses were built on unsafe mining land and against the reasonable and clearly expressed objections of the intended beneficiaries.
This R34 million disaster stands as a monument to Ekurhuleni Metro’s utter contempt for the people and for the financial governance framework. Indeed, the DA simply cannot fathom how the transaction between Living Africa Properties and Ekurhuleni Metro could be legitimate.
The DA demands a full explanation for the purchase of this land by Living Africa Properties for a R112 000 and the same-day sale of the property to Ekurhuleni Metro for R12 million.
This can only suggest that there was collusion between Living Africa Properties and the Ekurhuleni Metro for the inflated late of the land to the municipality.
This is by the very company that obtained the eviction order against the people of Angelo in the first place, necessitating the provision of emergency housing. To this end, the DA will be formally asking the Auditor-General, Kimi Makwetu, to initiate an investigation.
It is unconscionable that the constitutional rights of the Angelo residents to access safe and dignified housing were trampled upon so callously.
The housing debacle at Extension 46 highlights a familiar failure of the ANC-led government: the construction of houses unfit for human occupation which, as a result, cannot be handed over to deserving recipients.
The residents of Angelo informal settlement deserve better and the DA will maintain pressure on an indifferent ANC government until this shameful situation is corrected.