The provision of low-cost housing in the eThekwini Municipality, aimed at reducing the huge housing backlog and accelerating the slum clearance programme, has encountered difficulties, with communities grappling with the lack of public facilities in their newly-established areas.
The non-delivery of schools, community halls, clinics and parks by government departments in low-cost housing projects has led to housing beneficiaries refusing to move to their new homes.
This has threatened to reverse the gains made in the city's slum eradication programme.
The municipality has been at the forefront of the national government's policy of accelerating the provision of low-cost housing for poor communities.
However, provincial and national departments have been unable to match the pace of the municipality in their provision of public facilities.
At a full council meeting recently, opposition parties supported a motion by the ANC that the building of public facilities should coincide with low-cost housing development.
S'bu Gumede, chairman of the procurement and infrastructure committee, also acknowledged that the council had failed to build "self-sufficient" communities. He added that the municipality had made it policy to set aside land for the building of facilities such as schools and clinics, but these had been invaded by people desperate for shelter.
He suggested the council's housing unit should employ an expert to communicate with provincial and national government departments on behalf of the municipality.
"The honourable intention to ensure sustainable development planning and the intention to address the proliferation of informal settlements would not be fully realised without co-ordinated planning and provisioning.
"The failure to provide public facilities within newly established communities will undermine local economic development initiatives and perpetuates poverty," said the motion.
Gumede also warned developers to ensure that fast-tracking delivery in the province did not lead to a compromise in quality.
"There are certain housing projects that have been compromised in terms of quality as developers have been known to bite off more than they can chew, and we have been very firm in dealing with them," he said.
He added that loopholes in the city's procurement policy identified by the Mike Mabuyakhulu, KZN minister of housing, would receive urgent attention.