The last 20 years have witnessed the most unprecedented growth of Gauteng in recent history, Gauteng Partnership Fund (GPF) trustee Lebo Leshabane said at an affordable housing event hosted by the GPF last month.

She noted that Gauteng is home to more than 12-million people, making it the province with the largest number of people in the country.

“This migration brings challenges regarding human settlements, where accommodation must be provided to keep up with the ever increasing influx of people,” she said.

Ntlangula explained that the demand for affordable housing will continue to rise, and that more access to funding was needed to satisfy that demand.

“Procurement of prime land is also a challenge that will live with us for some time to come. “However, our collective work as government has shown that, despite obstacles, working together we can overcome hurdles that lie ahead of us,” she said.

She added that, while in the last 20 years the Gauteng provincial government has provided more than one-million human settlement opportunities through the eradication and formalisation of informal settlements, RDP homes, serviced stands, social and rental housing and hostel units, the challenge to provide adequate accomodation amid increasing demand in Gauteng still remains.

She noted that the GPF has made visible strides and is seeing recognisable progress, but more still needs to be done.

“This is owing to factors inherited from the previous dispensation of unequal development and spatial policies, and has made it incumbent upon us as
government to intervene aggressively by way of prescriptive legislation and other stringent revolutionary measures to address the inequalities in the provision of affordable housing in South Africa,” Ntlangula noted.

She mentioned that the GPF is confident that it will carry out its mandate to the maximum benefit of Gauteng’s citizens.

“The GPF is forging partnership agreements with local authorities and broader provincial government to operationalise the government’s Breaking New Ground in line with the National Development Plan,” she stated, adding that the strategic plan of the GPF is aligned to Gauteng 2055 and various other initiatives.

She noted that the GPF had exceeded the three-year target for facilitation of 6 000 social rental units by 2014.

“We have noted in the 2013/14 financial year that the GPF attracted a total of R414-million of non-GPF funding, compared with R422-million in the previous reporting period,” she said.

This leveraged amount, Ntlangula noted, was reduced owing to the decision made during the year to fund 100% bridge-financed Emerging Entrepreneur Property Fund (EEPF) projects worth R72-million.

She added that this programme is key for the GPF, because the GPF is taking the lead in developing and supporting entrepreneurs that will become future developers and investors in housing.

“These developers will assist GPF in meeting their housing service delivery mandate. “This is a flagship programme and its success is critical to transforming the South African property sector and black property entrepreneur development,” she noted.