The Western Cape government has launched the Western Cape Asset Finance Reserve for Human Settlements (WCAFRHS), with the aim to strengthen the provincial Department of Human Settlement’s ability to drastically improve the lives of the people of the province.
The launch of the WCAFRHS was first initiated in June 2020 and announced during the tabling of the 2021/22 departmental budget on March 30, 2021.
The establishment of the WCAFRHS is in line with the conditions set out in the National Housing Code, stating that any income generated by the developer through the sale of stands, created during the first phase of a development, must be deposited into an account and be reserved for financing a housing development for the benefit of the National Government’s Housing Programme target group – persons earning R7 000 a month or less.
Provincial Human Settlements Minister Tertuis Simmers says the funds will only be used in terms of the provisions of any of the National Housing Programmes.
“Provincial departments and municipalities must ensure that any income derived from the sale of stands are deposited in a central income account prescribed by the National Treasury directives and must be reserved for housing development purposes only and that it can access such funds at any given time,” he notes.
Simmers said the establishment showed that the Western Cape government seeks to address the needs of the people.
Simmers says the WCAFRHS will also assist in augmenting the insufficient Municipal Infrastructure Grant allocations to municipalities and assist municipalities to unlock the value of strategic assets including land and buildings.
“The fund will also be used for job creation initiatives, including developing business/industrial hubs and many other initiatives. The fund will also be used to provide co-funding to municipalities to access the Rural Bulk Infrastructure Grant funding where the condition is that the municipalities must co-fund from its own resources an amount equal to the grant.”