The Member of the Mayoral Committee for Housing in the City of Johannesburg, Councillor Mlungisi Mabaso, joined Department of Housing officials to conduct an oversight visit at Rugby Club as well as Matholesville Informal Settlements yesterday, 10 March 2021, as part of the department’s key performance indicators.
“The visit to both informal settlements in Region C was mainly to ensure that our KPIs are implemented as defined by the KPI itself. Yesterday, key stakeholders gave me and the team a comprehensive brief regarding the formalisation of the informal settlements,” said Cllr Mabaso.
“Notwithstanding some challenges that are faced by both informal settlements, I am pleased that are officials are on track to ensure that basic services such as water, sewer and electricity will be installed when the formalisation commences in the next few weeks.
“Other challenges that both informal settlements are faced with are unhealthy living conditions, filth, overcrowding, illegal mining and refuse collection challenges, among others,” said Cllr Mabaso.
He added that all stakeholders on board have assured him that they will attend to these issues urgently before the end of financial year. Furthermore, officials have committed themselves to carry out our mandate with due diligence and I have no doubt that they will be able to fulfil this task.
A social survey has been conducted, which has the team to be able to develop a layout plan that is inclusive of community members that are residing within the informal settlements.
“Over the next few weeks, I will be assessing the progress of service delivery in the area as we have also identified the high density of both informal settlements. This is to ensure that our team moves with speed and to close service delivery gaps.
“It must be noted that this is an interim phase of the formalisation of informal settlements. In the next few years, we will establish a formal township in the area which will improve their livelihoods.
“In the next few weeks, I will also be visiting other informal settlements that we have identified for the upgrading of informal settlements,” said Cllr Mabaso.
The MMC said residents needed to be patient as the City proceeded with service delivery to accommodate as many residents as possible to provide an interim relief in a form of basic services and to redress the sanitation backlog in informal settlements, among other issues.