Honourable MP Appolo Maphalala, the newly appointed Minister of Housing & Urban Development is probably the best-placed among the new Cabinet Ministers. He isn’t new to the Ministry, he knows it very well, having served it for more than a decade. His track record also speaks for itself, as he is credited with the role he played in transforming Nhlangano into the town that it is today. Maphalala is the former Town Clerk of Nhlangano Town Council. His last position, however, was being the Town Clerk of Malkerns Town Board.
EHB Chief Executive Officer, Mduduzi Dlamini in an interview with this publication seems to believe that Maphalala is the best-suited candidate to transform the Ministry. He states that one of the challenges they faced before was that they would engage and deliberate with the Minister on issues facing the property sector and once they began making headway, the Minister’s term would elapse. In Maphalala however, the story is quite different, he is aware of the challenges facing the property sector as well as local government.
“The reality is most things take time in government, and rightfully so because policy and legislation must be scrutinized by policymakers to ensure that they benefit emaSwati. We, however, believe as EHB that the Honourable Minister, Appolo Maphalala is the best person for the job, especially because of his immense experience working for the Ministry. Most importantly, we hope and believe that things will move at lightning speed, and we look forward to engaging and deliberating on how we can improve the housing and property sector to ensure that it benefits emaSwati.
It is worth mentioning that the EHB CEO has stated before that the most pressing issue for them isn’t getting a subsidy from the government, but being provided with sovereign guarantees, so they can be able to mobilize external funding, which they can repay at reasonable rates. It remains to be seen if the Maphalala will deliver.
Hopefully, the Ministry will lead the implementation of a national infrastructure upgrading program (preceded by a national land use planning initiative that will involve all stakeholders). The foundation of wealth creation is property ownership. For us to build businesses as emaSwati we need to own property. Upgrading our national infrastructure will enable the development of housing schemes and, by extension, economic activity, countrywide