<\/p>\n
The City of Cape Town and the GOOD Party have thrown their weight behind President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s commitment to undoing the apartheid planning by building more housing in city centres, closer to work, and business opportunities.<\/p>\n
Speaking during his State of the Nation Address, Ramaphosa said the practice of building housing developments on the periphery of urban centres has perpetuated inequality and urban sprawl.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing forward, we are going to build more housing in our city centres and closer to work and business opportunities. We are redesigning our housing subsidies and directing more funding towards programmes that enable people to buy or rent a home in an area of their choice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa also said the government would release more underutilised state properties for affordable housing development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working with provinces and metros to reclaim buildings that have been hijacked in city centres and repurpose them for public use.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said they would provide 300 000 serviced stands to qualifying beneficiaries to enable housing development in well-planned, connected communities along key development corridors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will clear the backlog of title deeds for subsidised housing, turning homes into household assets.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that the government will review land use, building, and other regulations to enable low-cost property development, including backyard housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis represents a fundamental rethink of how the state delivers housing at scale while turning our cities into engines of growth and opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The president also committed to restoring the remaining passenger rail corridors and stations to full service following more than 80% of passenger rail corridors returning to service.<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa said Prasa has introduced over 200 modern, locally-produced trains on its network to provide a low-cost option for public transport.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the next five years, we will restore Prasa\u2019s signalling system so that we can put all our new trains to work and commuters can be assured they can reach work safely, affordably, and on time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron said Ramaphosa\u2019s commitment to spatial justice has their 100% support.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is quite correct that the state\u2019s practice of building subsidised homes on the peripheries of town and cities perpetuates poverty and urban sprawl,\u201d Herron said.<\/p>\n
City of Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the metro was encouraged by the president\u2019s commitment to better passenger rail infrastructure and more trains in the coming years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Cape Town, we have a vision to massively scale up passenger numbers, new train sets, new routes, and to upgrade stations and surrounding areas with affordable housing over the next two decades,\u201d Hill-Lewis said.<\/p>\n
He also said the metro will be ready this year to take over the running of passenger rail, with complete business plans in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to work with the president and Prasa to revive our city\u2019s rail network in a devolved system in line with the city\u2019s constitutional mandate of providing an integrated public transport system. This is especially urgent for lower income households, who would save an estimated R932m a year if trains worked as they should.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Hill-Lewis also welcomed various positive housing reforms announced by Ramaphosa, including the intention to release more well-located land, improve state subsidies for affordable housing, review building regulations to enable low-cost development, and focus on reclaiming hijacked public buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recent undertaking by the National Government to re-commit funding to emergency housing provision is also welcomed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The City of Cape Town and the GOOD Party have thrown their weight behind President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s commitment to undoing the apartheid planning by building more housing in city centres, closer to work, and business opportunities. Speaking during his State of the Nation Address, Ramaphosa said the practice of building housing developments on the periphery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[9723,7389,1915,13134,420,5269],"class_list":{"0":"post-231189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-politics","7":"tag-apartheid","8":"tag-housing","9":"tag-planning","10":"tag-rail","11":"tag-ramaphosas","12":"tag-vision"},"yoast_head":"\n