03 July 2009

Governing public services

By: Graca dos Santos

In the struggle to transform the Public Service, the old culture had to be changed to ensure that our people are served properly, that all staff work to their full capacity and treat state resources with respect. Public servants are at the forefront of implementation management........READ MORE

03 July 2009

Tshwane Ward Committee Conference

By: Amanda Khoza

Recently, the City of Tshwane held its second Ward Committee Conference at Saint George Hotel and Conference Centre in Pretoria . The conference aimed to report on the current state of ward committees and to resolve challenges that pose as threat to service delivery in the city........READ MORE

02 July 2009

The Budget Vote in Parliament by Minister Sicelo Shiceka

We want to undertake several urgent tasks. We view the Institution of Traditional Leadership as central to cooperative governance and development, especially rural development. We will urgently review the Bill on Disputes and Claims relating to Traditional Leaders........READ MORE

02 July 2009

Speech by the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, at the handover of homes

When President Jacob Zuma delivered his State of the Nation address to Parliament on the 3rd of June, he made a direct call on South Africans to become more active citizens. In doing so, the President was calling on all of us to play a direct role in the renewal of our country, and to make a specific contribution to the creation of a united cohesive society. .......READ MORE

01 July 2009

Commemorating Public Service Week

By: Graca dos Santos

The Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing will be commemorating Public Service Week along with the rest of the country from the 29 June to 3 July 2009 under the theme "Delivery of quality service for sustainable development .......READ MORE

01 July 2009

Housing budget vote speech by Tokyo Sexwale: Minister of human settlements, MP

Thank you for the opportunity to present our Budget Vote, Number 26, and in so doing to share our programmes and plans. This human settlements budget vote presentation is still defined as the housing budget vote in terms of the MTEF .......READ MORE

30 June 2009

Ndebele Initiates back from initiation school

More than 700 of Amandebele initiates have returned from the circumcision school since their departure on 23 May 2009. The boys had been away for a month, undergoing a traditional rite of passage known as Ingoma. The circumcision school was conducted under the guardianship of Amandebele akwa Ndundza SoKhulumi Chief, JJ Mahlangu. .......READ MORE

30 June 2009

Media Advisory

Today, The Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale will deliver his budget vote in Parliament .

Details of the programme are as follows: ........READ MORE

30 June 2009

Youth construction session

Reported by : Boitumelo Ntsoko

In commemoration of the youth month, Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing hosted a youth empowering session. The session which was hosted at SAB World of beer and was attended by various young business entrepreneurs mainly from constructions industry........READ MORE

29 June 2009

A call to update your details on Demand Database

Reported by : Graca dos Santos

The Department would like to appeal to all Gauteng Residents are to still come forward and update their personal information on the Demand Database at our Customer Support Centre in 37 Sauer Street to ensure that they form part of the Demand for Housing in Gauteng .......READ MORE

26 June 2009

Prioritizing beneficiaries with special needs

Reported by : Graca dos Santos

In a bid to promote housing sustainability, a decision was taken that the Housing Waiting List was to be re-engineered into the Housing Demand Database for Gauteng province. Housing Demand Database is a new system of managing and planning for the demand of housing in Gauteng province.......READ MORE

25 June 2009

Meeting the needs of our community

Reported by : Graca dos Santos

The Olievenhoutbosch ministerial housing project was initiated as a result of both social needs of the community ,delivery targets and strategies of the National and Provincial Departments, the Housing City Planning, Environmental management department of City of Tshwane metropolitan municipality and Absa bank......READ MORE

24 June 2009

Addressing housing backlog

Reported by : Graca dos Santos

In moving forward towards the department's vision, the Department continuously provides an unequalled access to housing opportunities of wide diversity and a broad spectrum of affordability . Over the past 15 years, the Department of Housing has implemented projects across the Gauteng province, projects such the 20 Prioritised Townships Programme (20 PTP)......READ MORE

23 June 2009

Reducing levels of unemployment within Alexandra

Reported by : Graca dos Santos

The LED (Local Economic Development) division of the Alexandra Renewal Project has partnered with a local training and development company to improve the office skills of Alexandra residents. Olympic Training and Development assists its learners in finding employment, and to date has successfully placed 75% of its graduates.....READ MORE

22 June 2009

Issued by : the West Rand District Municipality

Municipality to introduce Property Rates Act

The West Rand District Municipality will for the first time implement the Municipal Property Rates Act, to ensure sustainable resource management and use. Executive Mayor of the municipality, Faith Matshikiza, announced during her municipal budget speech this afternoon .....READ MORE

22 June 2009

Personal encounter of June 1976 upheaval

I was a young man, working for the now defunct East Rand Administration Board, for about four years, a governing body administering black towns in South Africa , there were a total of 22 Boards in ZA, when the massacre commenced on 16 June in Soweto , it was on Wednesday......READ MORE

19 June 2009

People to have more opportunities to improve their lives

In delivering the State of the District Municipal Address this week, the Executive Mayor of the Sedibeng District Municipality, Mahle Simon Mofokeng also commemorated the youth who partook in the 1992 Boipatong struggle.The address was a joint venture to commemorate those who were brutally murdered in the June Boipatong massacre and also a honour of the 46 residents of Boipatong, who lost their lives during the apartheid regime fighting for the betterment of education in our country .....READ MORE

19 June 2009

Changing the face of Gauteng townships

In a bid to create a sustainable development, an Urban Renewal Programme was launched by former President Mbeki in February 2001. The programme is the responsibility of the Department of Local Government and Housing, and targets eight urban nodal points across the country, which are characterised by poverty, backlogs in basic services, low levels of private and public investment, and high crime and unemployment .....READ MORE

18 June 2009

A call to update your details on Demand Database

The Department would like to appeal to all Gauteng Residents are to still come forward and update their personal information on the Demand Database at our Customer Support Centre in 37 Sauer Street to ensure that they form part of the Demand for Housing in Gauteng .....READ MORE

17 June 2009

Promoting youth development issues through the new youth agency

As President Zuma commemorated the deaths of hundreds of Soweto schoolchildren, who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education in 1976, He sent the crowd into a frenzy, when he ascended the podium and chanted his trademark Uumshini wam song....READ MORE

15 June 2009

The Spirit of June 16

Tomorrow, as we commemorate the deaths of hundreds of Soweto schoolchildren, who lost their lives in the struggle against Apartheid and Bantu Education. Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing has progressively strengthened the quality of education and improved access to educational institutions in the province. .....READ MORE

15 June 2009

Preventing corruption through range of measures

In fight against corruption, a range of measures have been institutionalized to prevent corruption, including measures in the procurement system. A provincial anti-corruption strategy is being implemented and was reviewed in 2006 in line with the anti-corruption and ethics imperatives of the province......READ MORE

12 June 2009

Statement by the director general of human settlements on joe slovo residents application against temporary relocation to delft in cape town

The Director General (DG) of Human Settlements, Itumeleng Kotsoane has welcomed the judgement of the Constitutional Court that allows Government to temporarily relocate residents of the Joe Slovo Informal Settlements to Delft in order to prepare the land for development of integrated human settlements. .....READ MORE

12 June 2009

Constitutional Court Judgement, Joe Slovo.....READ MORE

11 June 2009

Encouraging economic development at municipal level

The Municipal Infrastructure Grant aimed at fast-tracking and improving service delivery at municipalities was launched in April 2004. The grants supports municipalities with their capital budget and their Integrated Development Plans (IDP) to fund infrastructure, primarily benefiting poor households.Communities have to be involved in the IDP process and participated in the prioritising of projects aimed at improving their lives..... READ MORE

10 June 2009

Promoting an integrated and synchronized system

In a bid to provide an environment which will create safe and secure conditions for all Gauteng residents and facilitate better quality of living conditions, Gauteng Department of Local Government and Housing has constituted a Disaster Management Programme. The objective of the program is to create a proactive emergency management system for Gauteng communities...... READ MORE

09 June 2009

SPEECH BY PREMIER NOMVULA MOKONYANE DURING THE STATE OF THE PROVINCE ADDRESS IN WALTER SISULU SQUARE OF DEDICATION, KLIPTOWN

Over the past 15 years the African National Congress-led government has laid strong foundation on which we will continue to build. We have accumulated a vast wealth of experience on issues of government and meeting people's needs.This experience, born of the struggle to serve our people with dignity, places us in a better position to navigate the pitfalls that comes with governing challenges. We are fully conscious of the fact that there are more other things that we still have to learn....... READ MORE

09 June 2009

Ensuring fine balance in allocating scarce resources

Gauteng Department of Local Government is responsible for supporting, coordinating and monitoring the Integrated Development Planning (IDP) process in the Department. The IDP is a tool for Government to carry out is developmental mandate. It foster more appropriate service delivery by providing the framework for economic and social development within the municipality in a consultative manner...... READ MORE

05 June 2009

Alex Pioneer High Density Housing

Alexandra's K206 mixed flagship housing project marked a new approach to housing by providing two rented rooms attached to the subsidy house as well as double storey RDP's. This approach to housing is a response to a number of challenges facing the community. Firstly city planners and urban designers have been calling for greater densities in affordable housing projects to enable maximum advantage of location..... READ MORE

04 June 2009

STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS

The Department of Local Government and Housing welcomes the broad thrust of President Zuma's Address to Parliament yesterday. The speech is seen by the Department as being positive and forward looking about the socio-economic challenges facing South Africa in tough global and domestic economic circumstances..... READ MORE

04 June 2009

Addressing the basics and ensuring Urban Renewal

In a bid to ensure all Gauteng Residents have access to affordable and decent housing, ARP has identified a need for 1st-tier affordable rental accommodation for the poor who do not qualify for a subsided house. 520 rental units project provides 2-story clusters of rooms-for-rent, each cluster organized around a common recreation space and sharing communal ablution facilities..... READ MORE

03 June 2009

Providing a mixture of housing products

Thousands of families finally have decent homes of their own in the accelerating mixed housing development, Cosmo City Flagship Project. The project is an integrated housing development that was initiated by Gauteng Department of Local Government & Housing in partnership with the City of Johannesburg in 2005 to address housing problems. ..... READ MORE

02 June 2009

Accelerating in Housing Delivery

Gauteng Department of Local Governmnent and housing has significantly expanded its capacity to implement programmes and deliver a wider range of services to the people . 5 Key Priority Programme were developed to demonstrate the department's commitment to building an effective and caring government..... READ MORE

01 June 2009

Creating a quality urban environment

Urban Renewal Programme has turned many of our targeted townships into busy construction sites. This is happening in partnership with members of the communities who have entered into a "people's contract" with the government to improve the conditions in their own neighbourhoods....<READ MORE

29 May 2009

Cell C take a girl child to work

Women remain under-represented in the formal economy, and more so in corporate leadership positions. This is because there are career opportunities that were previously not accessible to women, and other opportunities that individual women may not be aware of. Additionally, there are challenges and constraints faced by female South African children: teenage pregnancies leading to school dropouts , HIV / AIDS and child-headed families ,high levels of sexual abuse , rape and violence against women and girls under-representation within the corporate world.... READ MORE

28 May 2009

Contributing to a better life

The Gauteng Department of Housing, Ekurhuleni in partnership with Metropolitan Municipality and ABSA group have embarked on integrated housing project that will see housing delivery changing for the better by targeting all sectors of our communities to ensure that they have access to proper housing and shelter irrespective of their background and economic status...READ MORE

27 May 2009

Appeal to update your details on Demand Database

The Department would like to appeal to all Gauteng Residents to still come forward and update their personal information on the Demand Database at our Customer Support Centre in 37 Sauer Street to ensure that they form part of the Demand for Housing in Gauteng . .... READ MORE

26 May 2009

Local Economic Development

Developing skills and capacity in Evaton through the Evaton Renewal Project is critical to promote the empowerment and self-sufficiency of people in the Evaton Community. All the Evaton projects focus on this important priority.... READ MORE

25 May 2009

President Zuma open the Ekasi mall in Alexandra

President Jacob Zuma has officiated the opening of the new Pan Africa shopping centre in Alexandra. The mall is the first fully-integrated shopping experience with a taxi-facility to be developed by the Pan Africa Development Company (a company established in partnership with local entrepreneurs and the two main taxi associations in Alexandra).... READ MORE

22 May 2009

ALEX MALL TO OPEN

Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP) together with Gauteng Department of housing will officially open the Pan African Mall in Alexandra on the 24 May 2009, Sunday.The exciting retail development will provide a quality, first-worlds shopping environment structured along the lines of leading shopping malls in South Africa and has attracted a 2,8002 Pick n Pay as anchor tenant...READ MORE

22 May 2009

Pick N' Pay becomes first grocery store group to open branch in Alexandra

Yesterday, Pick n' Pay Family store, the first in Alexandra contributed in a significant way to South African History when it opened its doors. The opening marks the first time a major supermarket chain has invested in Alexandra that has suffered years of neglect and a failure of private investment since the advent of democracy in 1994...READ MORE

21 May 2009

A call to update your details on Demand Database

Gauteng Residents are urged to still come forward and update their personal information on the Demand Database at our Customer Support Centre in 37 Sauer Street to ensure that they form part of the Demand for Housing in Gauteng . The Department has embarked of a project to Regionalize and implement additional Customer care centers or Satellite Offices in Municipalities and other areas depending on area Demand for housing...READ MORE

20 May 2009

New Demand Database policy framework

In a bid to address housing challenges, a decision was taken that the Housing Waiting List was to be re-engineered into the Housing Demand Database for Gauteng province. Housing Demand Database is a new system of managing and planning for the demand of housing in Gauteng province.....READ MORE

18 May 2009

Housing Delivery Programme

In moving forward towards 2014 vision, the Department continues to improve all our efforts aimed at realizing housing with secure tenure, and the development of viable communities for all people.Under the umbrella of flagship projects, Mixed Housing Developments Programme is an innovative approach to housing delivery that provides a mixture of housing products to suit the poor, low and middle income earners.....READ MORE

15 May 2009

Growing the economy and reducing poverty

Alex has a vibrant informal retail sector that employs hundreds of people. The ARP has assisted in the formation of the Alexandra Manufacturers and Retail Forum, which consists of five affiliated associations, namely: the Alex Welders Association; Alex Carpenters Association; Alex Sewing and Knitting Association; Alex Baking and Catering Association; and the Arts and Craft Association.....READ MORE

14 May 2009

Gauteng Housing Delivery

Gauteng Department of Human settlement continues to record significant acceleration in housing delivery, as implementation of Breaking new Ground strategy get into full swing.We are in the business of housing development to serve the community of Gauteng . We are governed by values that seek to build sustainable communities.....READ MORE

11 May 2009

Newly appointed Minister

The new president of South Africa , Jacob Zuma , made his cabinet announcements on Sunday in Pretoria and announced several changes to current government departments. Announcing his cabinet, Business tycoon Tokyo Sexwale was announced as the Minister of Human Settlements, a new name for the housing department.....READ MORE

08 May 2009

Newly appointed MEC for Housing and Local Government

Mpetjane Kgaogelo Lekgoro has been appointed as the new MEC for Housing and Local Government. He was previously MEC for Social Development in the province.MEC Lekgoro has been a member of the National Assembly since 1994 where he served as party whip and chairperson of the portfolio committee on communication until his appointment as Gauteng MEC for Social Development....READ MORE

07 May 2009

FORMER HOUSING MEC ELECTED PREMIER

Former Housing MEC Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, is the first woman to be elected Premier of the Gauteng province. Premier Mokonyane was sworn-in during the first sitting of the Provincial legislature on Wednesday , 6 May, to head South Africa 's economic powerhouse... .READ MORE

07 May 2009

Caring for our communities

Alexandra Renewal project is an ambitious project and proof of government's commitment to ensuring that poverty is reduced in South Africa . The ambitious project entails the second re-development of the township since its establishment, from creating green open space, building libraries and sports stadiums, upgrading existing cemeteries, to skills development training and opening shopping centres, but the major focus has been housing... . READ MORE

06 May 2009

HOD on the appointment of former MEC as Gauteng Premier

IThis week, Gauteng citizens witnessed history in the making when our outgoing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane was sworn in as the first female Premier of the province.On behalf of the Gauteng Department of Housing, I take this moment to congratulate and to wish her well in her new role. She has been a courageous leader and we will all miss her guidance, inspiration and passion for housing the majority of our people... .READ MORE

06 May 2009

Developing the unskilled and unemployed people

In the past, the majority of the population was incrementally excluded form skilled and professional occupations in the formal construction industry. This phenomenon, combined with a global decline in apprenticeships, has left the country with a severe skills shortage. The challenge is now being addressed through expanded public works Programme introduced since the advent of democracy in 1994... .READ MORE

05 May 2009

Promoting shared economic growth and job creation

Pan Africa Shopping Centre is one of the malls in Gauteng that will improve the quality of life of the people of Alexandra and also create jobs. The mall is the first fully-integrated shopping mall and taxi facility developed by public-private partnership of Gauteng Department of Housing, The Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works and Department of Finance and Economic Affairs, The City of Johannesburg and the Pan African Development Company....READ MORE

04 May 2009

Meeting basic needs of the Most Vulnerable

Gauteng Department of Housing has committed to prioritizing programmes aimed the poor and vulnerable members of society. A strong emphasis has been placed on mainstreaming and realizing the constitutional rights of affected groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities.People with special needs are provided with facilities and housing needs able to meet their requirements and improve their quality of life ....READ MORE