The City of Johannesburg (COJ) yesterday unveiled a technology-based housing waiting list verification campaign, to ensure "fairness, transparency and accountability" in the allocation of state housing.
The campaign, which kicks off at the beginning of next month, was launched at Alexsan Kopano Resource Centre, in Alexandra, and follows the successful piloting of the project in Region D, which includes large parts of Soweto.
The system, explains the COJ, uses GPS-enabled Trimble handheld scanners that can pick up geographical coordinates, take pictures and transmit information to a database at the touch of a button.
Trimble is a US-based company that specialises in various positioning technologies, such as GPS, laser, optical and inertial technologies with application software, wireless communications, and services to provide commercial solutions.
The COJ says the technology will help it update and whittle down the housing waiting list, as well as address corruption, as it enables the council to tabulate, update and upload data - including personal information - of people on the waiting list.
The council adds the device essentially works as a scanner and scans the C-Form - a multi-source agreement to produce a common form-factor for the transmission of high-speed digital signals - that is presented. The device eliminates fraud by preventing fieldworkers from incorrectly entering information by scanning information as it appears on the C-Form.
"This also prevents fieldworkers from being tempted to enter a wrong application date. Keeping in mind that this campaign is prioritising applicants from 1996/97 for the allocations of houses," says the COJ.
"For many years, desperate people on the housing waiting list have been falling prey to con artists who promised them instant houses and opportunities to jump the queue. This citywide project will help eliminate fraudulent activities from all quarters, be it from city officials or members of the public," says councillor Dan Bovu, member of the mayoral committee for housing.
"Fieldworkers will go out to residents and verify their status on the waiting list through a technologically-advanced capturing device. The information will then be uploaded to the city's database. A strict vetting process will ensure everything is done transparently and above board."
Clearer picture
During the pilot project, the system was piloted in 45 wards in Region D over a five-month period. It involved 315 fieldworkers, who covered 210 796 houses, and took place between February and June last year. The council found there are still about 50 000 people on the housing waiting list in Region D, 10 000 of whom applied for houses in the 96/97 financial year.
According to the COJ, the next four months will see hundreds of fieldworkers visit households in regions E (which covers Alexandra), A (western parts of the city, characterised by open space and large tracts of undeveloped land) and F (central parts of Johannesburg) to verify the status of the applicants on the housing waiting list.
The city estimates the housing backlog is between 400 000 and 600 000. "This is because we are chasing a moving target. But part of the campaign is to help us drill down the numbers as we will be taking down all applicants for housing subsidy from 1996 to date," say the council.
The city says it hopes to have a clearer picture of the housing backlog by the end of November, which it plans to then reduce through existing and planned housing developments that encourage mixed use and integration of land. "Once we have sorted out the waiting list issue, we would have solved a major piece in the puzzle and all our efforts will be prioritised towards eliminating the problem," says Region D housing director Thulani Nkosi.
He adds the city now has a bird's-eye view of the extent of the housing situation on the ground (in Region D), as the information is plotted on a map with different colour codes.
"The city decided to resort to using advanced technology so we can have a real-time view of the situation, do away with corruption, and rely on a fool-proof system to help address the plight of residents who have been waiting for houses for close to 18 years."
The COJ did not say how much money was invested in the project.
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