Question 1 - partment implemented to prevent the implementation of new breaking new ground housing projects without proper township planning
a) Progress made in implementing title deeds release:
The Title Deeds Restoration Programme at national level is supported by Operation Vulindlela through the Office of the President and National Treasury. Work around the coordination of various sector departments, that can assist in unblocking some of the challenges that pervades the project, is progressing well, with the first of a series of intergovernmental workshops being concluded with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and all its various components as well as the Master of the High Court and Metropolitan Municipalities.
The purpose thereof is to focus on specific intergovernmental challenges that affects the progress on the project, to agree and streamline business processes and resolve policy conflicts in the interest of the project.
One such policy conflict relates to the funding mechanism for bulk services provision outside of the Human Settlements Funding Frameworks. Operation Vulindlela is also assisting in the collection and verification of baseline information as it relates to title deed registration and township status verification.
To facilitate the timeous release of title deeds to beneficiaries the Minister of Human Settlements has, in consultation with the Human Settlements MINMEC on 15 September 2023, initiated the “Title Deed Friday” campaign.
The campaign seeks to ensure the issuing of title deeds to beneficiaries every Friday across the country. This campaign has seen the distribution of title deeds to beneficiaries, by political principals at all levels of government, every Friday from 6 October 2023.
The National department monitors and reports on the issuing of title deeds on a quarterly basis. Since the start of the campaign 60 246 title deeds have been issued to beneficiaries across all 9 provinces.
Up until the quarter ending 30 September 2024, 1 821 title deeds have been issued to beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape, 11 365 in Free State, 5 698 in Gauteng, 7 328 in KwaZulu-Natal, 1794 in Limpopo, 9 742 in Mpumalanga, 237 in Northern Cape, 9 943 in North West and 12 318 in the Western Cape.
b) Measures and/or procedures has her department implemented to prevent the implementation of new Breaking New Ground housing projects without proper township planning
Recent consultations within the Human Settlements Sector, indicates that the bulk and connector service requirements that serves as a requisite pre-condition for township establishment, and as determined by Municipal Councils and provided for by the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 16 of 2013 have proven to be stringent and unaffordable by a limited and shrinking fiscus.
Conditions for property ownership can therefore not be met unless those service standards are adhered to.
The Department of Human Settlements can therefore not confer property ownership on its beneficiaries, as its own funding frameworks do not adequately provide for the installation of bulk services, which is a constitutionally assigned municipal function.
It is against this background that the Human Settlements MINMEC of 3 October 2024 took a resolution to pursue an alternative remedy to pursue township proclamation on existing settlements, where rudimentary services are available, by seeking waivers in respect of the Spatial Planning and Land use Management Act, Section 49 and the National Environmental Management Act, in respect of Environmental Impact Assessment requirements for a listed activity such as human settlements, from the respective Ministers of Rural Development and Land Reform and Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
The Human Settlements MINMEC of 3 October 2024 further considered and approved a concurrent two-phased approach to titling in collaboration with Operation Vulindlela, through:
- a focus on transferring 78 656 state-owned residential properties in seven metropolitan municipalities for which data is available at the onset of the 2025/26 financial year;
- a submission of waivers and exemptions in respect of township establishment for existing settlements where bulk services have not been provided or where the service standards do not meet the requirements of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 16 of 2013, as well as existing settlements where Environmental Impact Assessments have not been concluded in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, for negotiation at Ministerial level.
Question 2 - on progress in relation to acquiring land in the western cape province to relocate people from unsuitable areas and to address housing backlogs
(1) The detailed action plan in the identified areas entails the Department’s approach to acquire land suitable for human settlements in identified areas, and this includes implementation of the land pipeline under way in Khayelitsha, Philippi, Blue Downs, Hagley, Strand, Macassar, Goodwood, Hout Bay, Gugulethu, Milnerton, the Wedge Area, and Blaauwbergstrand.
It is important to note that each of these areas are at different stages of development process—from initial requests for land to acquisition considerations and planning for development. Overall, this land pipeline spans over 700 hectares and has a potential to yield around 14,000 new housing units. With this intervention we thereby seek to address housing backlog, while contributing to improved living standards for township residents.
(2) Land assembly for human settlements is a continuous process to address backlog in the provision of basic services and adequate housing. To address the challenges in the areas mentioned above, we are collaborating with the Province and Municipalities, which is coordinated by the Housing Development Agency (HDA). To date, the HDA has developed an ongoing land assembly strategy aimed at responding to the acute need for improved living conditions for our people. This involves planning the development of residential units in line with the Department’s policies and programmes.
With reference to the identified areas, we have identified several sites across key locations, and each is at a different stage of development.
For example, in Khayelitsha and Philippi, we are working on acquiring land from both private owners and government entities to facilitate human settlement development.
The complexities of land release and funding requirements mean that exact timelines are challenging to establish adequate housing.
Nevertheless, this coordinated effort to construct approximately 14,000 housing units, as stated earlier, will significantly uplift living standards across these townships, addressing critical housing needs and respecting the rights of residents.
The Department will continue collaborating with Provincial and Municipal authorities to align plans and ensure funding is appropriately allocated. As part of the comprehensive plan, the Department has included proposal for Municipal Land Assembly Programme entailed in the 2023 draft White Paper for Human Settlements.
Question 3 – on government efforts to ensure victims of natural disasters across the country are housed in humane conditions using lasting solutions, particularly in provinces recently affected by adverse weather conditions
The provinces that have been chronically affected by disaster incidences is KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the most affected municipality is eThekwini Municipality, in the Eastern Cape, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Amathole District, OR Tambo District Municipalities are the most affected districts.
In Western Cape, the City of Cape Town is regularly affected and in Gauteng is the City of Tshwane and the City of Johannesburg.
In KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape the most common incidences are floods, hailstorms, and shack fires while in the City of Cape Town and City of Johannesburg the most common type of incidences is shack fires.
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Municipality, Baffallo City Metropolitan Municipality and the City of Cape Town had the most people in mass care centres i.e. halls, churches, and other public facilities, which necessitated government interventions.
In the month of June and October 2024 in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality alone, 3921 households were affected.
At Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality 202 households were affected and the City of Cape Town had 207 households affected.
Vulnerable individuals were accommodated in Temporary Emergency Accommodation, supported with building materials, structures that are regarded as formal in line National Building Regulations assessed for structural integrity and some communities were relocated in Temporary Residential Units. The department was able to move affected communities to Transitional Emergency Accommodations (TEAs) within a period five days while addressing restorative and recovery measures.
The Department has adopted the Emergency Housing Disaster Management Framework as a tool to guide its response to disasters and to ensure expeditious response to emergency housing needs in cases of disasters. The purpose of the framework is to ensure that displaced people and families are provided with shelter, to foster collaboration between the public and private sector and to ensure that the plight of vulnerable groups is addressed during disasters.
The Framework further outlines the intervention strategies that the department will apply in disaster incidences, and these include:
- Temporary on-site assistance which includes the provision of building materials to informal settlements residents, to enable them to restore their destroyed shacks, whilst waiting for the settlement to be upgraded in-situ through the Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG).
- Repairs – this involves fixing formal houses that were partially damaged by a disaster based on the outcomes of structural assessments conducted by the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
- Temporary Relocation which includes the relocation of households that were displaced by a disaster to Temporary Emergency Accommodation (TEA) whilst a permanent or sustainable solution is sought by the affected province or municipality.
- Rebuilding which refers to the construction of Temporary Residential Units (TRUs) to replace the mud houses and formal residential structures that are completely damaged by a disaster.
- Permanent Relocation which refers to the permanent evacuation of households that were residing on disaster prone settlements. This intervention requires that a suitable land parcel be acquired or ratified by the affected.
(a) Yes, there is a plan to ensure that people housed in TEAs are relocated to permanent housing solutions. The implementation plan is premised on five phases which are, land assembly, development planning approvals, installation of services, construction of housing units and transfer and handover. The project is now at phase three, which is the installation of services. The contractor has been appointed to commence with the installation of services and construction of the permanent housing solution and it is envisaged that the construction of the houses will run for twelve months.
Question 4 – on government rectification programme to implement the asbestos removal intervention
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Human Settlements and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality have confirmed that according to preliminary assessments done on houses with asbestos roofs, there is a significant number of houses in the province that require urgent attention. However, there are areas in the province where such work has been completed, areas such as Isipingo for 24 houses, KwaMashu for 52 houses, Umlazi for 87 houses and other areas where asbestos has already been assessed and removed from houses.
The province is utilizing the national Rectification Programme to implement the asbestos removal intervention. This includes:
- The repair of houses with structural defects.
- Demolishing of unsound structures and rebuilding of new units.
- The removal and replacement of asbestos roofs.
For the current financial year (2024/25), the Provincial Department of Huma Settlements has set aside funding for the rectification of 469 dilapidated structures with asbestos roofs. This will include the repair of houses with structural defects, the demolishing of unsound structures and rebuilding of new units, as well as the removal and replacement of roofs. A total number of 160 units have been refurbished in the province for the current financial year; the province will focus on the following municipalities in different townships, namely:
- Umdoni Local Municipality (Ugu District).
- Msunduzi and uMngeni Local Municipalities (uMngungundlovu District).
- Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality (uThukela District).
- eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
- New Castle Local Municipality (Amajuba District).
Of the 496 target planned, 200 of those houses will be in the area of eThekwini where they will be focusing on demolition and rebuild, and 42 of those houses have been completed.
Furthermore, eThekwini Municipality is currently busy repairing houses with structural defects in areas such as Phoenix, Newlands, Chatsworth, Marrianridge and Isipingo flats through the Rectification programme. The removal of asbestos roofs in Phoenix has not yet commenced. Once the assessments have been conducted and concluded, the municipality will determine how many houses require immediate intervention in Phoenix and will make funding available.
Question 5 – on government progress in enhancing systems for recording and tracking housing applications
(a) Ms RB Skosana did not have a subsidy application registered on the Housing Subsidy System (HSS). A record in her name is found on the National Housing Needs Register (NHNR) as having registered her need for adequate shelter in Daveyton Central. Her record is 7076 out of 13 851 households registered in Daveyton Central.
(b) The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements is due to complete housing units in Helderwyk Mega Project, located in eKurhuleni Metropolitan municipality but not in Daveyton Central. The department has since engaged Ms RB Skosana to be allocated a house outside her area of residence and an agreement has been reached.
(c) The beneficiary management process is underway to finalise the allocation of the housing unit for Ms RB Skosana in Heldewyk.
Additional information:
Although this is not part of the question posed by the Honourable member, I believe that it is prudent to appraise the National Assembly (NA) to the historical beneficiary management issues peculiar to the Gauteng Province.
(i) Gauteng 1994-1996 housing waiting list challenges.
In 1994 each municipality had a list in various forms of people that needed housing assistance. There was no regulation guiding how the information should be collected and stored.
There was also no regulation on the prioritisation with regards to housing allocation.
Citizens were assisted on a first come first served basis.
The municipalities had waiting lists which were informal lists of persons in need of housing assistance in various formats.
These lists were not prescribed by a National Policy and were compiled by municipalities and provinces to instil some form of regulated development planning and housing opportunity allocation.
The National Department developed the National Housing Needs Register (NHNR) to record housing needs from various municipal waiting lists.
Gauteng started registering the needs on the NHNR in 2013 and its Demand database/ waiting lists was imported into the NHNR.
(ii) The unreliability of the NHNR and the HSS data and the progress on digitisation
The information on the HSS has various challenges regarding reliability. It is on this basis that the Department started a process of developing a system that will replace the current HSS.
The development process is being done with SITA since September 2023.
However, following various engagements with SITA on the development of the system, the Department’s requirements are still not met. This has resulted in the Department approaching the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies to request a deviation from the “National Treasury Practice Note Number 5 of 2009/2010 and follow a normal procurement process to appoint a Service Provider to develop the system for the Department.
(iii) Number of houses that have been built in Gauteng since 1994
The number of houses that have been built in Gauteng Province since 1994 is 801 770.
(iv) Interventions to attend mid-1990s Gauteng waiting list and prioritisation of the elderly
Gauteng Province took a decision to revise the Provincial Allocation Policy to favour certain sectors within the communities that have been deprived based on age and agility.
The allocation policy ensures that the housing allocation process is done in a fair, equitable and transparent manner by using the following criteria:
- 1996-1999 applicants to constitute (Mostly pensioner) - 40%,
- Approved Beneficiaries with no claims processed against the beneficiary - 30%,
- Military Veterans to constitute - 5%,
- Aged to constitute 10%,
- Persons with Disability (PWD) to constitute 5%, and
- Discretionary/ MEC’s prerogative to constitute 10% - this can also include emergency/ special case.
The departmental strategy and tactical approach deliberately elevate the elderly over and above any groups combined.
The department is embarking on the data cleansing exercise, the focus is on reviewing and refining the existing housing needs. This involves conducting a thorough desktop exercise to identify and rectify inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and outdated information.
Key tasks include identification of deduplicate records, updating demographic details, and addressing changes in circumstances, such as individuals who have benefited from housing subsidies or undergone significant life events like marriage.
For media enquiries, contact:
Terrence Manase, Spokesperson to the Minister
Cell: 082 338 6707
E-mail: Terrence.manase@dhs.gov.za
DHS Head of Communications Nozipho Zulu
Cell: 078 457 9376
E-mail: Nozipho.zulu@dhs.gov.za
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