Human Settlements South Africa

moladi Building Construction Technology

2011-12-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

How to address the backlog of Subsidy Homes - moladi does not build RDP homes

Keywords - moladi, subsidy homes, RDP, Construction, technology, building, system, formwork, job creation, human settlements, Zulu, quality structures,

Deeds backlog undermines financial security of RDP housing beneficiaries

2011-12-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

Deeds backlog undermines financial security of RDP housing beneficiaries

Delays in registering title deeds for government-subsidised housing are denying over one-million beneficiaries an entry point into the formal property market, undermining their financial security, the FinMark Trust said this week.

It said research showed that only 1.44-million reconstruction and development programme (RDP) houses were registered at the Deeds Registry by September last year, while the Human Settlements Department indicated it had, or was busy constructing, 2.94-million houses at the time.

This implied that over one-million completed subsidy houses have not been registered on the deeds registry.

While it could mean that some houses were still under construction, FinMark Trust housing finance coordinator Kecia Rust told Engineering News Online that only about 200 000 RDP houses were probably in the construction phase during its research.

“Since 2004, the number of subsidised houses registered as a proportion of those reported delivered has plummeted, reaching a low of 17% in 2007,” Rust said.

Title deeds protect rights to a property and record changes in ownership. They provide individuals with an address, recognising the owner as being part of the municipality and enabling the owner to secure finance, or to bequeath the asset to family members.

The failure to provide title deeds meant beneficiaries were being denied a point of entry into the formal property market. Beneficiaries were not able to sell their houses formally and as a result, engage in informal transactions, which ultimately undermined the individual property owners’ tenure security and the integrity of the Deeds Registry in South Africa, Finmark stated.

“It appears that the decline in registration is linked to a change in the progress payment regime. In 2004, the requirement that title be transferred before payment was removed. It is also possible that from municipalities’ sides, the urgency for title is reduced in the face of the eight-year sale restriction on RDP housing, which was passed in 2001.

“If these houses had been registered, the 2.94-million houses would comprise about 39% of the entire residential property market,” the research pointed out.

Meanwhile, the research found that government-subsidised housing was valuable to beneficiaries and was having a profound impact on the growth of local economies and sustainable human settlements across South Africa.

While the financial asset value of houses was overlooked by the majority of households, a significant minority were using their homes to gear finance. Between 1994 and 2010, 120 000 mortgage loans were issued against subsidised housing, and 90 858 have even sold their homes and purchased second properties.

“Even at these small proportions, the extent of finance mobilised by these assets is not insignificant. Subsidised properties have been used to secure roughly R20-billion in mortgage finance, signifying that the government-subsidised housing market is slowly beginning to resemble a normal market,” Rust said.

By matching subsidy applicants with properties, a total of 1.7-million subsidy applicants were identified as property owners of 1.44-million properties. Just under half of these properties were found to be located in the eight metropolitan cities, with the highest number of registrations across the provinces found in Gauteng at 395 765, the Eastern Cape at 238 682 and the Western Cape at 208 852.

Keywords - moladi, RDP, RDP homes, RDP houses, beneficiaries, FinMark Trust, Kecia Rust, low cost housing, subsidy, Department Human Settlements

Coping with Rapid Urbanization - moladi

2011-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

Coping with Rapid Urbanization - moladi

Coping with Rapid Urbanization

Every year, nearly seventy million people, or 200,000 a day, move from rural areas to urban cities. In South Africa alone, more than 2.2 million homes are currently needed, and an additional 180,000 homes will be needed every year to keep pace with rapid urbanization.

Utilizing a Plastic Formwork System, a method of building cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures, the walls of a house can be built in as little as a day by unskilled laborers with locally sourced materials and little waste. The system is comprised of square plastic components that join together to form wall panels from which the house is assembled. The house’s infrastructure – steel-reinforcement bars, conduits, window and door frames, pipes and other fittings – is positioned on the wall; once in place, these elements are sandwiched between a second layer of panels, forming a cavity into which a lightweight concrete mortar is poured. After the mortar dries overnight, the Plastic Formwork panels are removed and reassembled for use at the next housing site, minimizing waste and transportation needs.

The plastic formwork kits can each be reused to cast fifty homes, after which the plastic is recycled into household consumer products such as toilet seats. The result is a house that can both withstand natural disasters and provide thermal insulation and moisture resistance. Moreover, it leads to local job creation without compromising quality or integrity.

Moladi, a South African company, was recently invited to show its concept at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s exhibition Design for the Other 90%: CITIES.

This exhibition, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, is taking place at the United Nations in New York City from October 15, 2011 to January 9, 2012. More than 60 innovations from 22 countries will be on display.

Design for the Other 90%: CITIES will explore the challenges that are expected to arise from the unprecedented growth predicted in urban areas and informal settlements. It is said that the population of these settlements will double by 2030.

CITIES will explore ways to address the basic struggle to survive faced every day by 5.8 Billion people (90% of the world’s population). Almost half of the 90% have no access to food, clean water, or shelter. There is an urgent need for practical and sustainable solutions.

This particular technology solution uses a formwork made of a plastic polymer blend to contain the ordinary Portland cement with reinforcing steel bars, and a mortar made of granite or river sand. The Plastic Formwork System has been used in housing projects throughout South Africa, and the company has established branches in thirteen countries, including Namibia, Mozambique, and Mexico.

Keywords - moladi, Design for the Other 90%: CITIES, technology, solution, Plastic Formwork System, South Africa, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Hennie Botes, formwork, unemployed, homeless

Low-cost housing scandal

2011-11-20T04:40:00.000-08:00

Low-cost housing scandal

Low-cost housing scandal - Dube sits on the ANC provincial executive committee in Mpumalanga

Low cost housing scandal: Dube sits on the ANC provincial executive committee in Mpumalanga

Siphosezwe MasangoMEC

Mpumalanga human settlement head David Dube has fired an official and suspended another in an unfolding scandal regarding R331 million in tenders.

It’s alleged that tender rules were flouted in an RDP housing tender given to connected politicians. Dube fired chief finance officer Cyril Dlamini and suspended supply chain management director Lucky Monareng for speaking out about alleged tender corruption that included the housing project.

David Dube
HOD

Dube awarded the contracts to 76 companies using a closed bidding method by selecting them from the supply database in the 2010/2011 financial year, according to documents obtained by City Press.

The Mpumalanga treasury department advised Dube in a four-page letter dated June 30 last year that tenders valued above R500 000 should be advertised for an open and competitive bidding process to take place, and warned that he might “set a wrong precedent for the province”.

Dlamini had given the same advice to Dube in writing on May 5 last year. Dube sits on the ANC provincial executive committee. Sources in government who saw the list of companies and directors said he awarded contracts to politicians, politicians’ and senior officials’ girlfriends, businesspeople and friends who belonged to his and Premier David Mabuza’s clique.

A source in the department said Dube tasked another politician Peter Nyoni – the Ehlanzeni regional deputy chairperson and the department social and rental housing director – to chair an evaluation committee that picked the companies.

The biggest beneficiary of Dube’s 5631-house bonanza was Deebo Construction and Projects, which was awarded a contract to build 599 houses worth more than R33 million in Mbombela (Nelspruit) and Mkhondo (Piet Retief) municipalities. Deebo is owned by Dibo Mzobe, a distant relative of President Jacob Zuma and they both founded the Masibambisane Rural Development Initiative to develop poor communities.

Zuma, Mzobe and Mabuza launched the Deebo project in Mkhondo on November 6. Other companies linked to politicians and their associates that benefited from the projects included:

» Madumanyana Projects, which got 30 houses worth R1 million in Umjindi (Barberton). One of the company’s directors is local mayor Vusi Mashaba – well-known as a Mabuza ally; and

» Sivuthumlilo Trading, which has another Mabuza ally, South African National Civic Organisation Mpumalanga secretary Raymond Makamo, as its director. This company benefited from 50 houses worth R2.9 million in Mbombela.

Dube defended the closed bidding method as being condoned by both Treasury and the auditor-general.
“The decision is in line with applicable relevant supply chain management prescripts as approved by National Treasury,” Dube said.

He denied that the contracts were awarded to companies linked to politicians and said they were allocated according to merit. Dube declined to comment about Dlamini and Monareng’s cases.

“(These matters) are all sub judice (as) disciplinary hearings are still pending,” he said. Dlamini and Monareng declined to comment.

Sources in the department said Dube was not comfortable with the duo’s no-nonsense attitude. Dube wanted Monareng transferred to a lower position as Ehlanzeni district manager, but he declined the demotion and approached the Labour Court.

“Dube made Monareng redundant by appointing another official to act in his position while he was still there,” a source said.
Dlamini was allegedly suspended for betraying the trust between him and Dube after agreeing to be a witness for Monareng.

Dube fired Dlamini on July 31 on a new charge of unlawful entry into government offices while on suspension. Dlamini went there during office hours to collect documents to prepare for the first case. He is appealing the dismissal.

This is called entrepreneurship ? This is theft!! This is criminal - stealing from the poor!!

Mr Thabane Zulu, Director-General (DG) what are you doing to STOP this? - Email: thabane.zulu@dhs.gov.za

Why do you not train people to build quality homes that will last? We will help train the unemployed to build for the homeless - moladi

For more information on moladi - visit www.moladi.net

Keywords - Low cost housing, scandal, Thabane Zulu, DG, housing, Director-General, ANC, Mpumalanga, human settlement, David Dube, RDP housing, moladi, Raymond Makamo, theft, corruption, subsidized housing, Siphosezwe Masango

Poorly built RDP homes ticking timebomb

2011-10-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Poorly built RDP homes ticking timebomb

Poorly built RDP homes - Photo: Henk Kruger

Thousands of people living in RDP homes across the Western Cape are at risk of contracting TB or diarrhoea, after a study found a direct link between defects in the poorly built homes and people falling ill.

The study found that the health of backyarders was better than that of people living in the homes.

The study by researchers from the University of Stellenbosch and UCT found that leaking roofs, cracked walls, insufficient insulation and meagre sanitation facilities negatively affected health.

After the findings were made public earlier this year, the city’s Human Settlements portfolio committee requested a more detailed report. The report which analysed the study said health issues needed to be considered in housing policy and design.

TB and diarrhoea were the key conditions linked to poor design and maintenance of the RDP housing, the report said.

Leaking roofs was one of the most common problems, the study found.

“... The study revealed that the majority of the owners interviewed could neither afford to maintain the houses nor to repair the structural defects,” read the city report on the study. According to the study, 99 percent of the respondents could not afford repairs to their home.

The study also found that 33 percent of the respondents had had diarrhoea in the two weeks before the study. The report on the study said 38 percent had TB.

“The lack of proper insulation and ventilation, as well as over-crowding, were the major contributors to this problem,” said the report on the study.

The study, which was done last year, included a survey of 1 080 people at 336 “dwellings” in Driftsands, Tafelsig, Masiphumelele and Greenfields.

Fatima Ismail of Tafelsig was one of the respondents.

Entering the home, a small passage of just a few paces leads to an open-plan kitchen and dining area. Because there was only one bedroom, Ismail converted the dining area into a bedroom. There is a small passage leading to the bedroom, which is opposite the toilet.

The homes are untiled, with only cement floors.

All RDP homes are between 30 and 36m2.

Ismail moved into her one-bedroomed home about three years ago. She shares it with her husband and their five children. The family has spent thousands of rands trying to make it more liveable.

Ismail said when she moved in there was no bath or wash basin. They had to bathe in a plastic basin in the kitchen. For the first month, Ismail said they used a candle before installing electricity.

She has plastered the bedroom and front room, where four of her children sleep on double bunks.

Ismail has removed the plastic sink and replaced it with a glass one.

However, patches of thick mould are still on the bedroom walls and in the dining room. When it rains water often seeps into the house.

“I didn’t ask any questions when they told me I was getting a house. I was happy, I just jumped for it. I’m not ungrateful, I’m happy my children have a roof over their heads.”

Fatgia Davids, another Tafelsig resident, said her disabled son, Mogamat Zaid, suffered constant “sickness and allergies” since they moved in.

She said she was grateful to the city for building a ramp at her home which made it easier to move wheelchair-bound Mogamat.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said he had lodged several complaints with city officials about the state of his house.

Ernest Sonnenberg, the city’s mayoral committee member for housing, said although some of the houses had been built by the city, the majority had been built by the provincial government.

He said the city agreed with the study that there were problems with the general upkeep of the homes. The city believed the key reasons for this were unemployment, poverty and a lack of education. “We did not understand the causality between the actual design of the RDP houses and the spread of disease.

“Over-crowding, unemployment and low levels of education are all contributing to poor maintenance and the improvement of the houses, and are more social and economic factors rather than design factors.”

Sonnenberg said RDP houses were privately owned after they were built, so it was the home owners’ responsibility to maintain them. - Cape Argus

Keywords - Block built, Cement block homes, RDP houses, poor quality, bad workmanship, leaking roofs, cracked walls, poorly built homes, poor maintenance, Poorly built RDP homes ticking timebomb

RDP Block built homes ticking timebomb

2011-10-06T12:43:00.000-07:00

RDP Block built homes ticking timebomb

Cement block homes Photo: Henk Kruger