Human Settlements Minister says rural development is crucial

CAPE TOWN – Rural development is key to solving the housing crisis in urban areas, according to Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi.

The Western Cape alone has an order book of 568,000 homes.

WATCH: Indaba Affordable Housing

And with Cape Town’s population set to rise by 1.4 million by 2030, the government is working on ways to free up land for affordable housing.

Cape Town is allocating R17 million to cut red tape for development applications and fast-track land release.

He started his priority land release program at his first affordable housing in Indaba.

Kubayi says it is crucial to also focus on rural community development to ease the housing burden.

Kubayi said, “One of the things we’ve done, with effect from the start, is to say that with the loose infrastructure in non-metro areas, we can increase to five percent, but if the provinces have lent, we can increase it to 30%, so that there is water, electricity and sanitation even in the most remote areas.”

“We think once we do that, they become kind of a stimulus for the economy because businesses want to come where there are roads, where there is electricity.