Municipality responds to Mountain View memorandum

Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The debate between the Mossel Bay Municipality and the People's Movement for Change (PMC) surrounding the Mountain View project continues.

This follows the municipality's response to the PMC's memorandum and the demands made within it on the housing project, and the party's subsequent response to the municipality.

Handed to Mayor Dirk Kotzé and Municipal Manager Colin Puren last Tuesday morning, 21 July, the memorandum gave the municipality seven days to respond to the demands, which included, among other things, questioning why the completed units are standing empty; demanding the publication of ministerial approvals; and demanding an independent forensic audit of the housing demand data base, its allocations, removals, beneficiary verification processes and allocation criteria.

The response from the municipality was issued on Monday 27 July. It said the municipality noted the document and would not respond to the declarations.

The municipality then said it and the Provincial Department of Infrastructure had responded in detail to allegations regarding Mountain View, and that the housing project is deemed to be progressive and for the benefit of the community.

The response said the PMC had criticised and commented on the project extensively on social media in recent weeks, to which the department and the municipality have responded "with factual information to the community" to ensure the project is understood in the correct context of its objectives.

It further stated that if the PMC wished to obtain information "held by a public body, an application in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia), which is the appropriate legal framework for such requests, must be lodged with the relevant public body".

It added that it is actively delivering services to every ward within its jurisdiction in terms of the approved Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan, and will continue to do so.

In response to this, the PMC released a statement calling the municipality's one "astonishing and deeply disappointing".

"If this is what the municipality considers meaningful engagement with its residents, then it demonstrates a worrying disconnect between those in office and the communities they are constitutionally obliged to serve," said the PMC.

It further questioned why a Paia application had to be submitted if the project was transparent, and asked why there was a reluctance to answer questions publicly. "If the municipality believes that this response brings this matter to an end, it has fundamentally misunderstood the determination of the people of Mossel Bay," it said.

Mossel Bay Advertiser previously reported that more than 80% of Mountain View's First Home Finance (FHF) units in Mossel Bay are currently unoccupied, one of the primary reasons being that potential buyers of these R429 000 homes were unable to obtain home financing.

The Advertiser previously reported that the project consists of 725 currently occupied Breaking New Ground (BNG) units and 278 FHF units (only 36 occupied).

Completed in October 2022, the Department of Infrastructure previously said it was developed in terms of the Integrated Residential Development Programme (IRDP), which aims for integrated settlements: BNG allocated to approved beneficiaries and FHF homes for sale.

Those who meet the criteria for the FHF units qualify for government subsidies to cover a portion of the purchase price based on the buyer's income.

The subsidy, according to the Western Cape Government's website, could be between R38 911.40 and R169 264.60, leaving the buyer with anything from R259 735.40 to R390 088.60 to pay.

The department said that beneficiaries, therefore, must secure a mortgage bond or find other financial means to cover the balance of the purchase price.

Challenges with this, the department said, were one of the primary causes that those units remain unoccupied.

It said that the National Housing Code for IRDP requires that the input costs for the development of serviced stands and housing units should be recouped and covered by the selling price of the housing units.

As the selling price of R429 000 was approved by Provincial Treasury, the department is unable to lower the purchase cost.

A few days after this response to the Advertiser, the department's Minister Tertuis Simmers said the department had approved a new sales model for the remaining FHF units and introduced the Instalment Sale Agreement (Isa). It was approved in June this year.

He said this will enable qualifying beneficiaries to move into their homes while building towards full ownership through a structured, legally protected process, supported by financial readiness programmes.
Simmers had said it is estimated that many units will be occupied by the end of the year and the remainder early in the new year.

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