This morning, the MMC for Housing, Councillor Meshack van Wyk and I had the pleasure of delivering RDP homes to deserving beneficiaries from Riverside View, Diepsloot.
Between today and tomorrow, Tuesday, 12 March 2019, we will be delivering 64 RDP units in the area to new owners.
This can be a punishing job at the best of times, yet seeing the unbridled joy on the faces of some of the beneficiaries I met, this morning, makes it very worthwhile. I met two women, in particular; Mrs Juia Dankie, who had been living in a shack since 1992 (having registered for an RDP home in 1996), and Mrs Kunene who had been living in a one roomed shack with four children and her husband. Mrs Kunene had been on the waiting list for the past 19 years. I helped them both pack up their belongings so that they could move into their new homes.
I have mentioned this on many occasions, but our city is sitting with an extensive housing backlog exceeding 300 000 units. Delivering affordable housing, worthy of our people, at a swifter rate is uppermost on the list of priorities for this multi-party government. I am grateful, too, for the work being put in by all our stakeholders – including property developers in the private sector -, in ensuring that we turn the inner-city into a construction site and transform the many available buildings in Johannesburg into quality accommodation.
For as long as I am at the helm of this administration, there will be many, many more similar occasions to the one I attended today.