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Johannesburg - An Irish property developer whose charity has built thousands of homes for South Africa's poor in recent years on Thursday called on the government to compel other developers to follow his example.
Millions of people still live in shacks in SA.
Since coming to power at the end of apartheid in 1994 the ruling African National Congress has built some 2.4 million low-cost homes but a backlog of over 2 million units remains.
Niall Mellon called for a shift in the burden of housing provision from the SA government to property developers.
"Developers should be compelled to channel the profits from an average 20% of whatever construction they are undertaking into the low-cost sector," Mellon said in Cape Town, where 1 380 Irish volunteers with the Niall Mellon Township Trust are putting the final touches to 200 homes in Freedom Park township.
In most developed countries property developers were obliged to build their share of low-cost housing, the millionaire businessman noted.
Only after they had built the low-cost houses should they get permission to build more expensive housing developments, he advised.
The SA property market has been enjoying a boom in recent years but most of the investment has been in the mid- to top end of the market.
"There will never be a a better time to do this," said Mellon.
Property economist Erwin Rode called the proposal "unfair".
"This would effectively mean that property developers would be forced to subsidise something general taxpayers should be paying for."
The proposal would also deter investment in housing, possibly leading to a tightening of demand and a further increases in house prices, he predicted.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu announced plans announced last year for more "inclusionary" housing, which would see property developers include a percentage of lower and middle income housing units in their developments. But no legislation has been forthcoming as yet.
Mellon on Thursday also announced plans for a housing factory that would speed up the delivery of new houses by churning out 100 timber-frame houses with a cement coating each week.
Construction on the 10 000-square-metre factory outside Cape Town, which will employ around 200 people, is expected to begin next year with the support from Cape Town municipality and the provincial Western Cape government.
Mellon aims to build 5 000 low-cost houses across SA this year, bringing to around 6 500 the numbers delivered by the trust since 2003.
- Sapa-dpa