The IFP calls on the Gauteng Provincial government, specifically the Department of Human Settlements and the City of Johannesburg to urgently provide people with decent housing instead of spending millions of rand buying owls to eat rats.
“The City of Johannesburg has allocated R2.5 million to fight the scourge of rodents, which the IFP believes would have been better if it was spent building houses for shack dwellers. Buying owls to eat rats will not solve the rat problem – only with proper housing can the rat problem be truly tackled. This is a total waste of public funds,” said IFP spokesperson on Human Settlements, Mr Petros Sithole, MP.
“The government is moving painfully slow in improving shack dwellers’ living conditions. We further call on the South African Local Government Association to intervene and advise all municipalities on how to address this issue as one of their developmental priorities,” continued Mr Sithole.
“The right to access adequate housing is enshrined in our Constitution. Housing provides people with security and healthier environments. The current crisis in the provision of decent housing to all is robbing thousands of South Africans of the opportunity to improve their lives. The MEC responsible must act now to bring the crisis to an end,” concluded Mr Sithole.
