Cabinet has approved a national government intervention to support the Human Settlements Department of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality with capacity and technical skills.
The intervention, to be led by the National Department of Human Settlements, will address supply chain problems and also fast track human settlements delivery in the area. According to the department, the intervention comes after a delivery and supply chain analysis in the Metro by the council, provincial and national governments revealed deep rooted systemic challenges affecting the smooth running of the Human Settlements Department in the Metro. This includes challenges regarding the awarding of projects, monitoring of implementation and overall budget management of national grants. The three-year intervention, supported by the National Treasury, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Department of Water and Sanitation, is expected to unlock the delivery of houses through the development of modern supply chain systems and of projects planning, monitoring and evaluation capacity in the Metro.“This request for intervention comes from the mayor and the council of the NMBM and Cabinet approved that whenever there is a challenge at local government level, we will intervene to assist with service delivery,” said the department.
One of the Human Settlements agencies, the Housing Development Agency (HDA), will take the lead working with other government departments to support the metro. The agency is currently supporting the Metro in implementing a national priority project, Zanemvula which has already delivered 2 000 housing units. “We are excited about the assistance we can give to the people of NMBM and we are committed to turning things around and create jobs and opportunities for them,” said the department.
