Andile Moshoeshoe
THE lack of housing infrastructure in the Kokstad area was among the major concerns raised by residents at a municipal draft budget meeting this week.
Young people raised their frustrations about living with their parents as Phumeza Dube, a resident, called for the leadership to prioritise housing development and job opportunities.
She laid bare the daily struggles faced by many young people and middle-aged adults who remain trapped in their parents’ homes, not by choice, but due to circumstances.
She said residents had, on numerous occasions, applied for RDP and subsidised housing, only to be told that houses would not be built within town limits.
“Because of the severe shortage of employment opportunities we are facing, we are pleading with the municipality to provide us with subsidised housing and create jobs for us so that we can stand on our own feet, leave our family homes and build lives of our own,” she added.
The draft budget meeting hosted by the Greater Kokstad Municipality was for the municipality’s final term of office as councillors prepare to enter the final year before the upcoming local government elections.
It was attended by the Harry Gwala District Municipality mayor Zamo Nxumalo who presented the municipality’s budget framework, outlined what had already been done and what still lies ahead.
Nxumalo revealed that the municipality has allocated an estimated R47.3 million for infrastructure development in Kokstad. He said R26 million has been set aside for skills development, while a further R30 million has been allocated through the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG).
The Greater Kokstad Municipality mayor Lwanda Madikizela said that the matter of the housing backlog will be taken up to the provincial level of the Department of Human Settlements.
He said housing projects are in the pipeline to assist communities to secure shelter of their own.
However, he cautioned that Kokstad is expanding at a rapid pace and such developments would still fall far short of meeting the growing demand.
He said projects of this magnitude would require urgent intervention from both the provincial and national governments while stressing that it is a well-known reality that the municipality is not grant-funded.
He said the municipality relies heavily on revenue collection to sustain its operations.
He urged residents to register to vote so that the true scale of the growing population could be reflected to enable the government to increase grant allocations accordingly.
