Transport Minister Dipuo Peters and Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu have signed an agreement to transfer 72 hectares of land in Knysna from the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to the Housing Development Agency (HDA) for the development of an integrated human settlement project.
The land, previously reserved for the extension of a national road passing near Knysna on the southern Cape coast was partially occupied by people who worked in the area, the two ministers said in a statement.
At the handover ceremony Friday, the ministers also declared the development a national priority project.
“We declare this development that will start after 18 months a catalytic project; we will ring-fence funds for the first 500 units and they should be complemented with social amenities. We want to see clinics, schools, and business centres; we also no longer build houses where people have to travel long distances for services,” Sisulu said.
“It is not right that such inequalities still exist; the wealth you see in holiday homes and the poverty you see in black people’s residential areas is not fair. Nobody should live like this, our people live in appalling conditions where there are no services and some even erect shacks under high voltage of electrical servitudes,” she said.
Peters said she was happy to see the land transferred to human settlements for building decent homes for the people.
“My department cannot sit on the land and do nothing while people live in squalor conditions,” she said.
The development would be integrated with different tenure options, including rental accommodation, breaking new ground (BNG) houses, and bonded houses. The HDA had been tasked to manage the development.
– African News Agency (ANA)
