As the housing backlog rises and questions about the R1 billion housing project grows, the Democratic Alliance (DA) secured a commitment from the Northern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements & Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA) to brief the relevant portfolio committee on this key project.
We demanded greater clarity as the department’s annual report for the 2024/25 year shows that only 178 houses were built from April 2024 to March 2025. This is less than 3% of the premier’s promise, made during a sitting of the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature held in December 2023, that a loan arrangement with the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) would secure 6 500 new homes for the province within 12 months.
But as the provincial government failed to live up to the premier’s promises, goalposts shifted from the initial 6 500 new homes to be delivered within 12 months to seeing only 178 houses built during the 2024/25 financial year.
Why did we plunge the province into debt and commit ourselves to millions of interest payments when we could have easily built these 178 homes from the existing Human Settlements Development Grant?
The Northern Cape was selected for the R1 billion housing project as a way of testing if frontloading mechanisms will expedite the delivery of critical infrastructure. Year on year, the Auditor-General confirmed that financial management is part of the problem with the state’s traditional approach to infrastructure management. But instead of focusing on contract and consequence management or holding those who abuse public funds for private gain accountable, the decision was taken to test a new funding model. Infrastructure projects are traditionally financed by conditional grants that are disbursed when certain conditions and completion levels are met whereas the R1 billion housing would use a frontloading mechanism that would release significant funds before project execution commences.
So far, the frontloading mechanism in the Northern Cape appears to have expedited financial mismanagement rather than infrastructure delivery. It seems inevitable that the province will fail to meet the conditions of the DBSA loan, even with the target of houses decreasing by a staggering 61%.
We look forward to detailed explanations from the department. If none are forthcoming, we will have no option but to refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement agencies.