Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by CJ Steyl MPL.
The proposed R74,3 billion North West mega city project has been politicised to respond exclusively to the failures of successive ANC-led provincial governments.
The DA received responses from the North West Housing Corporation (NWHC) on questions posed during a meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA) held on 12 November 2024, in which we raised serious concerns with the proposal to secure a R74,3 billion loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to fund a mega city project in the North West.
The NWHC does not have the mandate to build mega and/or smart cities and is largely responsible to address homelessness and develop social housing assistance within the province, however, NWHC CEO, Mr Bishop Mogodiri, indicated that President Ramaphosa announced government’s position to build mega cities in his 2019 State of the Nation Address.
This position was then supported by former COGHSTA MEC Mmoloki Cwaile in 2021, followed by several pronouncements since by the former NW Premier Bushy Maape, former Acting Premier, Nono Maloyi, current Premier, Lazurus Mokgosi and the current COGHSTA MEC Gaoage Molapisi, without any objections. This is a lie since the DA is on record in the North West Legislature raising our objections against this vanity project.
But more concerning than CEO Mogodiri’s attempt to justify a mandate to build a mega city on political pronouncements rather than the NWHC Act, shows that the entity is being abused to drive a blatant ANC political agenda. See Act here.
CEO Mogodiri indicated in his response that the entity’s former namesake, the Bophuthatswana Housing Corporation, built the townships of Tlhabane, Selosesha, Mothotlung and Pudumong, but since the dawn of democracy, successive provincial governments have failed to build a single mega city and that the “status quo cannot continue.”
He further goes on to say that the housing service delivery problem is being used to deliberately de-campaign the current government. This response confirms the politicisation of this project. See responses here, here and here.
As we have seen with mega projects like Kusile and Medupi, these projects are fraught with corruption and abused to funnel billions of Rands to line the pockets of ANC cadres. The R74 billion DBSA loan is set to follow the same path should we fail to put a stop to this project and redirect government’s priorities to sensible programmes that address the immediate needs of residents.
Before any attempt can be made to establish a new city in the North West, this government must first address the current 300 000 unit housing backlog. In any case, a mega city is typically a city with a population of more than 10 million residents, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) definition, which is 6 million people more than the population of the North West.
Towns throughout the North West are at an advanced state of decay due to a collapse in local government. It would be prudent for this provincial government to revitalise existing towns, dorpies and villages before embarking on the construction of a mega city.
The DA tabled a motion calling for a debate on the R74,3 million DBSA loan and the feasibility of this mega city project which will be debated in the Legislature early in 2025. We will pursue every mechanism at our disposal to prevent any movement on this project.