Department of Human Settlements

The month of July means it is Mandela Month in South Africa. In tribute to the former leader, everyone is urged to help uplift people who are less fortunate than themselves. In Cape Town, prison inmates have started to restore homes and build houses.

First there were the dreary little boxes of RDP houses. Then there came the growing recognition that it's not just houses that need to be built; communities and places where people actually want to live are required. And Cornubia is one of the first communities to come out of the Breaking New Ground policy.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and his delegation of ministers swapped suits for overalls on Saturday during a war on poverty campaign visit to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape.

The massive task of replacing informal settlements with more habitable houses is “steadily taking shape”, according to South Africa’s Department of Human Settlements.
• Housing projects to curb SA slums

The Department of Human Settlements is on a quest to find new technologies that are both cost-effective and quality-oriented to provide better housing for poorer South Africans.

The South African government plans to upgrade 500 000 shacks in informal settlements across the country by 2014 through the provision of basic services and land tenure rights.

Housing is at the forefront of the national agenda for delivery and the government is taking overall responsibility for providing houses to all.