The HDA delivered a presentation at the Premier’s consultation meeting with the Human Settlements Department on 4 February 2013. This meeting was attended by executive mayors, municipal managers and housing managers from all Free State municipalities. The Premier highlighted that municipalities should urgently sign delivery agreements with the HDA on informal settlement upgrading.
Following from this, an informal settlements upgrading workshop for six Free-State national upgrading support programme (NUSP) municipalities was held on 12 February 2013, at the Moqhaka Local Municipal offices in Kroonstad. The objectives of the workshop were to:
• Outline the NUSP requirements on the implementation of the upgrading of informal settlements programme (UISP)
• Consider the development of delivery agreements covering the scope of informal settlements with relevant municipalities
• Consider progress made by the FreeState Department of Human Settlements on informal settlements upgrading targets for each of the NUSP municipalities
Representatives from the six NUSP municipalities (Mangaung, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka, Dihlabeng, Maluti-a-Phofung and Matjhabeng) and the Free State Human Settlements Department (FSHSD) attended the workshop.
It was agreed at the workshop that the provincial NUSP forum wouldbe convened in March, and that all the NUSP municipalities wouldsubmit their final lists of informal settlements, establish ISU task teams, and also nominate municipal ISU champions.
The FSHSD committed to undertake an audit, with the support of the HDA, which will assist in verifying and recording the accurate progress made towards reaching the Outcome 8 target of upgrading 26 400 households by 2014.
Site inspections were undertaken during November 2012, resulting in the submission of a draft rapid assessment report for informal settlements in Mangaungmetro. About 28 informal settlements were inspected by a dedicated team of Mangaung officials and ward councillors, led by HDA development managers.
