A community development workshop was hosted by the HDA and the National Associations of Social Housing Organisations(NASHO) on 18 and 19 April in Johannesburg. The purpose of the workshop was to explore the role of social rental housing agencies in community development in South Africa, as well as an international perspective, to increase an exchange between social housing institutions, rental housing agencies and other organisations that focus on community development.
The HDA team in the agency’s new Limpopo regional office has been working hard and an early achievement is that agreed targets in the informal settlement upgrade programme in Limpopo province have been met.
Land is the HDA’s most important deliverable in terms of Outcome 8 – in the president’s 2010 State of the Nation Address he pronounced that “we plan to set aside over 6 000 hectares of well-located public land for low and affordable housing”. And this deliverable lies firmly on the shoulders of the HDA.
The National Human Settlements Land Inventory (NaHSLI) team spent five days in a technical working session with the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in order to enhance and improve the “natural environment principle” within NaHSLI.
The HDA is pleased to announce that 3 387 hectares of land have been approved by the minister of rural development and land reform for release for human settlements. The land comprises three properties in Rustenburg and Brits.