By Nangamso Mabindla
19 April 2006

PLAGUED by unsafe shacks, fires, flooding and overcrowding, Duncan Village is one of the major areas where Buffalo City has a housing backlog. But over the next 10 years, the city aims to improve the lives of some of the township's 100 000 residents.

The City has a housing backlog of 75 000.

A major step towards upgrading Duncan Village was taken in February 2005 when the City launched the R250-million Duncan Village Redevelopment Project aimed at improving the lives of the impoverished township residents. The housing project, in partnership with Dutch companies Van Der Leij Foundation (now Intervolve) and Bouwfonds Nederlandse Gemeenten, is expected to be completed within 10 years.

Last week a Dutch delegation, led by that country's minister of housing, Sybilla Dekker, visited the township to look at the challenges the City faced and ways to assist it overcome those challenges.

There are 21 000 dwellings in Duncan Village, with only 6 000 of those classified as formal dwellings. Of the residents, 75 percent have no regular income and only 2 percent earn more than R3 200 a month.

Mayor Zintle Peter said the City faced a mammoth task in its quest to bring houses to its citizens. "Our needs are great although our government [has] made some strides with more than a million dwellings."

She thanked the Dutch for partnering the City in its efforts to bring housing, education and HIV/Aids prevention to its citizens. "You come to help us free our people from the violence of homelessness, and those who have been marginalised and denied basic services and dignity for decades."

Even though it received help from social housing experts like the Netherlands, the City was not sitting on the sidelines. "We are not standing by as passive onlookers in the new wave of post-liberation development our country is enjoying, despite the massive challenges we face," Peter said.

"We have here an emerging, progressive, well-functioning African city with good services run on good corporate governance lines that qualifies as a good, viable investment destination."

Despite the challenges it faced, Buffalo City, with assistance from the Netherlands, was the country's leader when it came to social housing. The Eastern Cape MEC of housing and local government, Sam Kwelita, said that even though the City had a backlog, it was on the right track when it came to housing delivery.

Out of the 19 social housing projects in the country, 15 were in Buffalo City. "That is very impressive; and if you think that out of the 5 000 social housing units in the province 4 000 are in Buffalo City, you will know what I am talking about."

Kwelita said that for housing delivery to be a success, the City needed to plan and cover all the needs of its citizens. "It is a challenge faced throughout our country – we have to deal with various income levels; we have to cater for all these levels for growth to be shared among our people."

He also thanked the Dutch for partnering with Buffalo City to deliver social housing to the city's residents.

Dekker said she was happy that social housing companies in her country were involved in bettering the lives of people in Buffalo City. "Buffalo City has made great strides in the social housing sector. Social housing gives people dignity. I want to commend the municipality for its efforts to meet the needs of the people," she said.

She also pledged her country's continued support of South Africa and cities like Buffalo, and Peter urged the City's officials to ensure that great progress was made in the next five years.

The Dutch visitors were later taken on a tour of Duncan Village.