The Gauteng Department of Housing will this weekend launch a database aimed at cutting down the province's housing backlog.
With the queue for houses standing at 600 000 already, the department says this list is growing by the day and hopes technology can assist to eliminate applications that are superfluous.
"The data has already been captured from our existing waiting list," says Aviva Manqa, spokesman for the department. "As we work through the list, we will update the data and hopefully determine which people don't actually need a free house."
Gauteng MEC for housing Nomvula Mokonyane announced the database yesterday, at a follow-up media briefing to the State of the Province address.
Mokonyane said Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa will launch the initiative - formally named Project Ziveze - on Sunday and that it will be piloted in the Sedibeng and Metsweding municipalities.
"The demand database will be the department's planning tool for housing delivery," she said. "Houses will be built according to need and demand. This will ease pressure on those who have been waiting for a long time."
Manqa explained the project would initially be run in-house and with existing capacity. As the department gets to grips with the scale of the problem, it may, in time, look to external stakeholders for assistance.
During the 2007/8 financial year-to-date, the provincial department delivered 49 377 out of a targeted 58 552 houses. It plans to build 88 400 in the 2008/9 financial year.
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