Cape Town: The Western Cape department of human settlements said it has handed over 1 000 homes to deserving beneficiaries in the last three months.
In a statement released on Wednesday, MEC Tertuis Simmers said between June and September, 1 051 beneficiaries across the province moved into new homes.
Beneficiaries were the elderly, people with medical disabilities and those on the Housing Demand Database for 15 years or more, backyard dwellers and former farm workers.
“While we have not managed to reach the targets which we set for ourselves as the department, we could not foresee the immense impact of Covid-19 on our projects.
“We also saw a surge in protest action, attempts to invade units, vacant land earmarked for development and vandalism of completed units,” Simmers said.
He said instructions had been relayed to contractors to speed up the completion of housing units.
The department was working closely with municipalities to eliminate unnecessary delays in water and electricity connections for the housing units, he said.
“I’d also like to call on communities to assist us in this process and urge them not to become the reason why their own community members are being delayed from moving into their homes,” Simmers said.
Houses were handed over in Eersteriver, Nyanaga, Langeberg, Stellenbosch, Hawston, Bredasdorp, Mossel Bay, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. | African News Agency (ANA)