President Cyril Ramaphosa has promised about 4 000 houses to Northern Cape residents.

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a mega housing plan in the Northern Cape. 
• He promises that this won’t be just another project that will fall by the wayside.
• The project is estimated to cost R1 billion and is expected to be completed by July 2025 at the latest.

The Northern Cape’s planned 4 000 houses to address its backlog crisis is a “fulfilment of a dream”, President Cyril Ramaphosa told residents who gathered in a sod-turning event in Kimberley, in the Sol Plaatjie Local Municipality.

The project is aimed at building houses across several municipalities to address a housing backlog in the Northern Cape. 

But the DA made a pre-emptive strike by labelling the announcement of the project as “electioneering”.

Although Ramaphosa saw Thursday’s announcement as a great day for the Northern Cape, the DA said it was sceptical. 

The official opposition says it’s worried that R600 million of the R1 billion housing project is being borrowed. 

“The projected interest payment stands at R94 million. This form of funding mechanism, known as front-loading, is a pilot funding model being tested on the Northern Cape human settlements backlog,” the DA said in a statement issued ahead of Ramaphosa’s visit to Kimberley.  

Speaking on a land tract where part of the project will be constructed in Roodepan, Ramaphosa was in a jolly mood as he unveiled the details of the project, sharing stories of how such housing projects had given poor communities, and particularly women, dignity. 

The R1 billion project is expected to be completed in the next 12 to 18 months. According to a Parliamentary reply from Human Settlements Minister, Mmamoloko Kubayi, 119 401 Northern Cape households feature on the National Housing Needs Register. 

READ | ‘If you can’t reduce poverty, step aside’ – Ramaphosa hears of ANC failures on crime, poverty

Ramaphosa said the Northern Cape provincial government had leveraged its Human Settlements Development Grant to secure a loan from the National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa to be able to build the project. 

This loan will be complemented by funding from the fiscus and the Northern Cape government in order to reach the project’s total value and to shorten the period it takes to complete the building of the homes.

Ramaphosa said: 

He said the project will prioritise the most vulnerable, and see to it that pensioners, child-headed homes, military veterans and persons with disabilities and the “missing middle”, which is defined as families that have an income but don’t qualify for a mortgage. 

Ramaphosa said the R1 billion will also be used to get rid of shacks and mud homes and also create business and working opportunities – especially in the construction industry – during the next 12 to 18 months. 

He promised that locals, women and youth-owned businesses will be given preference.

“The province has put measures in place to ensure these housing projects are delivered within the projected timeframes, according to budget and without any wastage or corruption,” Ramaphosa said. 

“We know that right here in Roodepan and in other parts of the municipality there are social housing structures that were not built according to quality standards, or are facing challenges with wastewater drainage and groundwater seepage. This will not be allowed to happen again.”

He referred to South Africa marking 30 years since the inception of its democracy and the challenges faced, one of which is housing. 

He cited the Census 2022 report, which found that, nearly nine of every 10 households were living in formal dwellings, when the census was being recorded.

“When the first census in a democratic South Africa was held in 1996, only six out of every 10 households lived in a formal dwelling. In South Africa today, eight of every 10 households have access to piped water, either inside their home or in the yard. These are achievements we must celebrate,” Ramaphosa said. 

READ | Ramaphosa lauds ANC gains but rushes through solutions

He evoked the memory of local struggle hero Sol Plaatje as he highlighted inequality, particularly as it relates to land matters, which he said the government had been working to address. 

“The launch of this project today is a further demonstration that we are making good on our commitment to fulfil the human rights of all South Africans,” Ramaphosa said.

“Providing houses for the poor and vulnerable who are dependent on government support requires innovative funding mechanisms.”