Provinces by L N Sisulu, Minister of Housing
25 May 2006
Chairperson
Honourable Members of the NCOP
Chairperson, this journey that has brought us here today has been an
exciting one, but equally, it continues to provide additional burdens. But
perhaps, this has to be a way of our life to those of us who have been tasked
with delivery of the rights of our people. In this age of hope the spirit of
our nation is yet again coming alive, raising expectations, making the
challenge harder. But we continue to rededicate ourselves, because we cannot
fail the people.
Last week I had the honour to be present at a gathering of the Shack/Slum
Dwellers International and the Federation of (and Rural) Urban Poor with
representatives from 22 countries, key amongst which were Malawi, Ghana, India
and Brazil. They had convened the Conference to deliberate on ways to increase
the potential of partnerships with governments. Their mission is to encourage
communities to save, thus enabling themselves to build their own houses. In
this way, since 1995, with the Homeless Peopleâs Federation they had built 15
000 houses around the country and secured land tenure for women in
particular.
In recognising the potential that they have in helping accelerate housing
delivery I readily agreed to the partnership and provided the Federation of
Urban (and Rural) Poor with R185 million to build an equivalent of
approximately 5 000 houses in the provinces of Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North
West, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and the Free State. We also made commitments
that where we provide land, slum dwellers would construct the houses on their
own. In turn they made a commitment to grow their numbers to ensure that within
the shortest period of time there are no informal settlements in the country
that does not have representation from them.
At the closing of the Conference an old friend of the poor, the Presiding
Bishop, Reverend Ivan Abrahams of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa also
stepped forward to offer church land.
For me, this was truly an important moment that I believe would enable us to
deliver not only with an accelerated pace but to also deliver with the full
participation of our people in all the important processes from policy
formulation, planning and actual delivery.
In recent years the influence of this most important sector in housing has
been rapidly declining. The result has been an erosion of institutional
capacity in the housing sector and weakened housing delivery that reduced
capacity for policy advocacy and community consultation. I am glad to confirm
that guided by the new strategy, and thus giving power to the people, we are
now closing that yawning gap.
We are intensifying our working relationship with community-based
organisations and various non-governmental organisations to build a strong and
a cohesive housing sector. These include the Federation of Urban (and Rural)
Poor (FEDUP), Built Environment Support Group (BESG), Kuyasa Fund, Utshani Fund
and Rooftops among others.
Additional to this partnership, through the National Youth Commission, the
youth of our country responded to the call I made last year when Parliament
convened a Special Session at the birthplace of the Freedom Charter, Kliptown.
In Limpopo, specifically in Modimolle, the National Youth Commission has
mobilised 95 youths out of the total of 200 that will be needed to undergo
training and development to acquire skills in the various aspects of actual
construction. They will soon be joined by youths from the Eastern Cape at
Makana and Ndlambe Municipalities and the youth from the Mangaung Municipality
in the Free State and the youth from Mpumalanga. The programme is a special
programme the objective of which is to empower the youth.
The initiatives on building partnerships culminated in September, again last
year, in the signing of a Social Contract for Rapid Housing Delivery with 47
other key stakeholders. The stakeholders comprised groupings from the material
supply industry, the banking sector, and professional bodies in the built
environment such as architects, quantity surveyors and conveyances, developers,
housing institutions, government departments, the mining chamber and
Non-governmental Organisations. Each signatory to the âSocial Contractâ made a
commitment to be a member of the Plenary Assembly, which was to establish a
modus operandi to review and monitor progress made towards achieving the ideals
of the Social Contract for Rapid Housing Delivery. The first Plenary Assembly
took place on 15 March 2006 to look at issues such as development planning,
land and legal matters, delivery, consumer education, capacity building and
communication, development planning and the housing supply chain.
The Social Contract brings together all the sectors so that we could have a
mobilised and cohesive housing sector. I believe that through it we will reach
the goal of eradicating all informal settlements by 2014.
Further, in giving power to people in this âage of hopeâ meant that we must
also attend to issues relating to the empowerment of women. In this regard, we
ring-fenced 30 percent of each provincial housing departmentâs allocation to
improve access to housing projects by women contractors. In 2005, already, 288
housing development projects to the value of R1,9 billion were provided to
emerging female contractors.
As a section 21 companies, Women for Housing too, have been very creative
and active in our housing programmes. In August 2005 the group was involved in
an initiative with Habitat for Humanity, and ourselves and the Gauteng
Department of Housing in constructing 13 houses in Protea South, Soweto, with
350 volunteers. The project was one of the most significant components of WFH's
programme for women in housing construction. It offered many of the
participating members an opportunity to gain practical experience. The
practical experience ranged from technical construction skills to leadership
and teamwork skills. A similar event is being planned for 2006.
I am encouraged by the fact that despite the limitations they face with
regard in particular to access to finance and training opportunities Women for
Housing nonetheless intend to show their spirit. The challenges that confront
them will however be our focus in the current financial year with a view to
resolving some of the problems.
Repeating the trend of the incredible international support we had prior to
1994, Honourable Members would be glad to know that an Irishman, Niall Mellon,
has been making forays into our country since 2003. He had bought a holiday
home in Hout Bay where he would otherwise have relaxed and enjoyed his stay
surrounded by affluence and security. However, he visited some parts of Cape
Town and found sites of extreme poverty that contrasted greatly with what he
was enjoying as a tourist. He went back to his country and recruited 500
volunteers to build at Imizamo Yethu, near Cape Town. Last, year, he brought
700 volunteers that included amongst them the legendary British boxer, Chris
Eubank, to build 120 houses in two weeks. For Netreg, which is part of the N2
Gateway Project he launched a show-house in April. He has committed to bring in
1 000 volunteers in November who will build for the Cape Flats and at
e-Mfuleni.
To support the initiative we have made a commitment to provide him with
land. His is a concrete demonstration of the potential that can be unlocked by
those who have resources and have the poor at their heart. I take this
opportunity to sincerely thank Niall and his volunteers. As South Africans, we
can only be humbled by his most generous gesture.
Because we would want to see the escalation and the enhancement of all these
activities implementing our own part of the Social Contract we are already
reviewing all legislation that has an impact on the implementation of the
breaking new ground strategy. In this regard a study of the relevant provincial
legislation has been completed. This will now be fed into the Committee for the
Review of Legislation that is in the process of being established. Members of
this Committee have already been identified and their names will be announced
shortly. It is anticipated that the work of the Committee will be completed
before the end of the year.
In November last year, MINMEC approved a policy regarding the Fast Tracking
Housing Solution for People Living in Areas of Stress by using the Emergency
Housing Circumstances Programme. Pilots under the programme will be implemented
in Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. In Gauteng, the pilot will be in
Protea South (Johannesburg Region), Tsakane Extension 10 (Ekurhuleni) and
Sicelo Shiceka Extension 5 (Sedibeng). The Eastern Capeâs will be in Klipplaat
in the Ikwezi Municipality that was hit by a tornado in February 2005 that
caused severe damage to a number of houses in the area, some of which have to
be re-constructed while others need to be repaired. In this province 57 houses
have already been completed and 12 houses are in various stages of completion.
Chairperson, last weekend we had a Presidential Imbizo in Taung in North West
Province, where we had to witness with our own eyes the enormity of the
challenges we face in dealing with the emergency housing challenges as a result
of the flooding. None of us sitting can be able to withstand the kind of
situation faced by those people. I have instructed my Director-General and
Officials to work in collaboration with the Province and that municipality to
urgently find a solution using this programme.
In the Western Cape two sites in Cape Town Metro area, namely Bardale in
Mfuleni and Happy Valley in Oostenberg have been identified. In the Eastern
Cape, at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Council we saw how people have been
trapped in extreme conditions at the Soweto on Sea area whereby when the rains
come down they really find themselves literally on sea.
The banking sector has been mobilised to support the initiatives to break
new ground in housing delivery. Negotiations with the banks on the release of
the R42 billion that was pledged for this purpose were concluded last week. But
apart from that banks are on their own initiating and supporting various others
projects some of which, such as Olievenhoutbosch in Gauteng, have already been
launched and are making tremendous progress.
After concerns were raised last year by Honourable Members about the
credibility of the housing waiting list I resolved to ensure that the matter
was attended to. As reported, last year, an audit company was appointed in this
regard. The task of auditing the list has now been concluded and I can proudly
claim that the waiting list for Cape Town has been successfully audited. We
have marked out the criteria with the communities and the website for this is
up and running. You, as Members of Council of Provinces, would be called upon
to help your constituencies verify their details on the site and ensure that
those who are not registered are assisted to do so.
With the steps that we have taken I am satisfied, Madame Speaker, we can
confidently speak about realising accelerated delivery starting this financial
year.
The provinces are delivering. In the 2005/06 financial year we saw an
increase in the actual number of houses that the provinces delivered. In this
regard Chairperson, spending by provinces has improved. Provinces have in total
spent 95% of the Integrated Housing and Human Settlement Development Grant
allocated to them for the 2005/06 financial year, plus roll-overs from the
previous financial years. In fact, three provinces spent 100% of their
respective budgets. With the exception of Free State province which spent 75%
of their budget, all provinces spent in excess of 80% of their allocations.
In Gauteng, the National Homebuilders Registration Council conducted
forensic audits on the rectification programme of Gauteng Department of Housing
of approximately 7 203 subsided houses constructed during the 1994 to 2002
years. The pilot project commenced in October 2005 and ended in March this
year. It focused in townships of Lakeside (4,013 housing units),
Braamfisherville (3 000 housing units) and Thintwa (190 housing units). A
process has now been undertaken to rectify the houses.
Last year, the Housing MinMec embarked on a process of reviewing the
allocation formula in a manner that would reflect the principles and objectives
of the new âBreaking New Groundâ policy. We ensured that the new formula
recognises the changing dynamics in human settlement patterns and movements in
our country. Some of the factors we have now introduced relate to the
recognition of the migration patterns, the rural housing needs component and
the alignment to the National Spatial Development Perspective principles. We
also recognised the need to ensure we in housing can collectively prioritise
key development projects that can be determined, funded and driven by the
Minister, within the spirit of Co-operative Governance, so as to achieve
maximum effectiveness in dealing with some of the monumental challenges that we
find our selves faced with from time to time, such as some of the emergencies
cases we have to deal with, as well to be able to test existing and guide on
future policy development.
In order to particularly provide support for the implementation of the
comprehensive plan, the department will be restructured with a view to creating
expertise in the fields of programme and project management, monitoring and
evaluation and capacity building. Therefore, Madam Chair, we will establish
separate units in the department to support provinces and municipalities with,
for instance informal settlement upgrading and the development of social
housing. We are also looking towards expanding the existing capacity-building
unit within the department, which will focus on supporting housing consumer
education as well as the municipal accreditation programme.
Being greatly encouraged by the improvements we have in the areas I have
mentioned as well as the initiatives that we have undertaken, may I now
announce the following budgetary allocations for our provinces:
Eastern Cape
R761,994 000
Free State
R522,601 000
Gauteng
R1,757,667 000
KwaZulu-Natal
R1,048,376 000
Limpopo
R521,331 000
Mpumalanga
R421,002 000
Northern Cape
R104,774 000
North West
R613,405 000
Western Cape
R598,800 000
Total
R6,349,949 000
In you we have champions of the poor who as no one else understand the
journey that we have taken and the reasons thereof. This moment, too, must
belong to you.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Housing
25 May 2006
