Political tensions rise as the Western Cape Government faces scrutiny over unspent housing funds, leaving 680 000 residents on the waiting list for homes.
The Western Cape Government has denied delaying much-needed housing delivery after it returned and unspent R821 million to the National Treasury while 680 000 people remain on the province’s housing waiting list.
It is understood that R664.3 million was earmarked for free basic housing construction and R157.2 million for informal settlement upgrades for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.
The unspent budget has received an overwhelming response from political parties calling for accountability Brett Herron, GOOD Party Secretary-General and Western Cape MPL, penned an opinion on the matter, in which he cited that the housing delivery decline was because Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers had blamed the national government for underfunding.
Western Cape Infrastructure Minister Tertuis Simmers.
