To help unblock bulk infrastructure and housing projects once and for all, Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has announced the members of a newly established national Human Settlements War Room.
The Minister, during her announcement of a R33-billion budget allocation for the department in the 2022/23 financial year, shared that the war room would be led by Dan Gorbachev Mashitisho.
He is the former director-general of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.
The war room team also includes built environment expert Abongile Dyariwe, urban planning specialist Patience Ndlovu, seasoned governance official Dr Mmaphaka Tau – who had served as head of the National Disaster Management Centre – and professional technologist in civil engineering Kwena Maphoto.
They are expected to coordinate efforts, monitor and fast-track the implementation of diverse projects across provinces, coordinate the support of various entities and consolidate reports to the war room.
The war room’s role will extend to providing project tracking tools on all human settlements projects, to do effective monitoring of the department’s entities, while identifying strategic partners to unblock challenges in the implementation of projects.
Kubayi reiterated the department’s commitment to complete backlogged projects by 2025.
The Department of Human Settlements also plans on completing a scoping exercise of all the blocked projects, including their financial implications, by the end of this year.