The target of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's promise of building 1 million houses made in 2019 was countrywide, not just for South Africa's township of Alexandra, he explained following the question of EFF leader Julius Malema in the National Assembly.
"To the extent that it created that impression, I apologize. What I really meant was a target for the whole country," he said.
He acknowledged the government's failure to address poor living conditions and apartheid spatial planning, adding that the situation facing the people of Alexandra was very significant to him.
"A recording of my address in Alexandra would reveal that my one million homes promise was misinterpreted. It’s not physically possible to build so many houses in Alexandra alone," the South African leader clarified.
Ramaphosa also noted that people were occupying vacant buildings out of desperation due to local government inefficiencies in spending allocated housing funds.