Honourable Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislature
Honourable Premier, Mr Charley Cassel Mathale
Colleagues in the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislature
Honourable Members of Parliament
Executive mayors and mayors of local municipalities
SALGA Limpopo
Chairperson and Members of the House of Traditional Leaders
Chairperson and Members of Contralesa
Our esteemed Majesties and Your Royal Highnesses present
Leaders of Chapter Nine and Ten Institutions
Leadership of the ANC and other political organisations
Stalwarts and veterans of our struggle
Leadership of various religious denominations
Women, youth, business, labour and community leaders present here
Distinguished guests, comrades, ladies and gentlemen
Honourable Speaker,
We welcome the opportunity given to us to report the achievements of the ANC led government in strengthening the sphere of local government and accelerating the provision of homes to this august house and the people of Limpopo. Re tla šomisa gape sebaka se go laetša ka moo mananeo a tlo neeletšanago bokoti go thoma ngwageng wo o latelago wa ditšhelete ka nepo ya go potlakiša kabo ya ditirelo. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of our icon iSithwalandwe/Seaparankoe Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela from prison. Madiba's words still ring true to this day "I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."
The achievements of the ANC led government since 1994 are there for everyone to see. It has not been an easy road. It is true that we have made some missteps along the way but the support of our people has enabled us to stay the course. We are still climbing the hill till we reach the promised land of a better life for all. The Department of Local Government and Housing has travelled a long road to get to where we are today. The long walk has not ended but please allow me to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me. During the recent Premier Service Excellence Awards, the department I'm privileged to lead was declared the “best department in Limpopo.
Our help desk unit was declared the “best service delivery team” in the province. We also still hold the title of the Best Provincial Housing Department in the country. Naturally these kinds of achievements create a lot of expectations but we are confident that with the support of our people, we can do more. It is to the people of Limpopo that we owe all these achievements. But we can't afford to falter, we can't even rest for a moment, we dare not linger, for the long walk is not ended. We are ready for more action!
President Jacob Zuma has declared 2010 as the year of action. Delivering on 8 January statement of the ANC, the President said this is the year of working together to speed up effective service delivery to the people. This is a clarion call for all of us to do things differently, and do them with a new sense of urgency. The 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison should serve to inspire and remind us that change in the socio-economic conditions of our people is urgent and realisable. Madiba represents the triumph of the human spirit against brutal adversity. He represents tenacity, courage, human compassion, humility and solidarity. These qualities are the wind beneath our wings. Election after election the mandate of the ANC gets renewed because our people know that they are the ANC. The ANC is a platform through which they govern. This is the basis on which the next local government election will be contested. With the Freedom Charter as our foundation we shall and must live to the expectation of people cantered governance. It's in this spirit that we should observe and celebrate the 55 years anniversary of the Freedom Charter.
Honourable Speaker,
In this year of action, let us all make Local Government everybody's business. In the past years, we have been implementing the Local government strategic agenda. We now know where we have done well, we understand the challenges, we have identified the areas of weakness and we also have a plan to address the shortcomings and improve even further. We agree with the saying that knowing is not enough, we must apply the knowledge. Being willing is not enough, we must act and act now. A single moment of weakness, wavering, or compromise may discredit us in the eyes of history. The legendary Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara de la Serna says “words that do not match deeds are unimportant.” We agree this is the year to make our actions speak louder than words.
It's a journey we have already begun, we are walking the talk. In the words of President Zuma “The defining feature of this administration will be that it knows where people live, understands their needs, and responds faster. Government must work faster, harder and smarter.”
Local government is where most of our people have direct and frequent contact with government. We are determined to ensure that this is an effective, efficient, caring and responsive sphere of government. In this regard we want to commend the majority of men and women working in our municipalities who continue to serve our people with integrity and dedication. We urge them to keep up this level of service and warn those who provide shoddy service that they will bear the consequences of their laziness. Ours is an activist government and as such we must ensure that there is a strong and sustained link with the communities that we serve. Working together we can do more. Our primary mandate is to improve the lives of our people. We need to ensure that sufficient resources and capacity are set aside to implement local government programmes. In doing this, ward committees have an important role in monitoring the quality and scale of service delivery.
We shall focus on improving the institutional capacity and also to ensure an integration of the activities of both the ward committees and the community development workers. This is an indispensable component of building organs of people's power at a municipal level. Allow me to thank the municipal demarcations board for the sterling work they have done with regards to the Ward Determinations in our province. As part of preparing for the 2011 local government elections, Limpopo has already finalised the first phase of Ward determinations. Public participation processes were thorough and transparent with all stakeholders actively engaged. The new Wards per district are as follows: The Capricorn District which had 50 Wards will now have 53, Mopani District Wards have increased from 46 to 51, Greater Sekhukhune Wards are up from 42 to 48, Vhembe District which had 54 will now have 58, Waterberg District gets two extra wards to move from 33 to 35. Local government is everybody's business; let us all get involved.
Honourable Speaker,
We have passed through the establishment phase, consolidation phase; hence the focus is currently on sustainability and stabilising our municipalities. True to our commitment of making local government work better, we have supported municipalities in critical key performance areas.
We have ensured that:
* The Local Government Turnaround Strategy is approved. In this regard individual municipalities themselves are expected to come up with Turn Around Strategies that address their unique challenges. The provincial steering committee, convened by the Office of the Premier and our department has convened dedicated sessions in all municipalities to assess the overall performance and areas that need priority interventions. The main areas of focus are the status on the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation and electricity, good governance, financial management and implementation of public participation programmes, including the functionality of the ward committees. Notwithstanding these challenges, we are encouraged that Limpopo was recognised as the best performing province nationally in terms of coordinating the Municipal Turn around Strategy processes, especially on Operation Clean Audit Campaign.
* Clean Audit 2014 campaign was launched. In line with this campaign, our goal is to see all municipalities getting clean audits by 2014. We are already making progress. In this regard unqualified audit reports have improved from just four in the 2007/08 Financial Year to 8 in 2008/09. We would like to congratulate Polokwane Municipality, Waterberg District Municipality, Musina Municipality, Fetakgomo Municipality, Marble Hall Municipality, Mopani District Municipality, Letaba Municipality and Aganang Municipality.
We have developed plans to deal with the following priority challenges, namely, non-compliance with the accounting standards, inadequate preparation of asset registers and poor records management. Our intervention plan on clean audits includes deployment of financial experts to municipalities. At the moment, we have already deployed experts to the Lephalale, Thulamela, Blouberg, Thabazimbi, Ba-Phalaborwa, Mutale, Makhado and Elias Motsoaledi. The role of the Provincial Treasury in this campaign is second to none and we wish to thank the MEC, Honourable Saad Cachalia for his active interest. The establishment of Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) will enhance the ideal of a clean, accountable and transparent administration. This will be done within the framework to be finalised by the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) led by the Honourable Minister Sicelo Shiceka.
* All local municipalities, except Polokwane Municipalities have adopted new valuation rolls as per provisions of the Municipal Property Rates Act. The Polokwane Municipality has since commenced with the valuation process to comply with the act. Thabazimbi and Fetakgomo Municipalities are also facing problems in terms of implementation. However, it should be noted that these challenges are not peculiar to Limpopo Province; hence, the minister has started with public hearings on the Property Rates Act Amendments Bill. We urge all stakeholders to participate in this process so that their views and proposals can be considered.
* Most municipalities have filled their strategic management posts.
Municipalities with vacancies of municipal managers are Molemole (suspended), Blouberg (resigned), Polokwane (resigned), Makhado and Modimolle. Chief Financial Officer's vacancies are at Modimolle (suspended), Aganang and Mogalakwena.
* 65 percent of Ward Committees are functional. (i.e. 3,335 of 5,130)
* R130 Million out of the allocation of R141 million Limpopo Local Economic Development (LED) fund has already been disbursed to community projects and related initiatives
* All district municipalities have adopted municipal infrastructure investment frameworks.
Honourable Speaker,
We are aware that 16 years into our democracy, there are still some areas where local government is not working effectively. Amongst the findings of the report of the state of local government are that systems in some municipalities are characterised by challenges which include incoherent councils, ineffective administration, weak and/or absence of mechanisms for local democracy and weak municipal performance management. In some cases there is lack of requisite technical skills, weak internal controls and non compliance to procurement prescripts. Furthermore the role of the institution of traditional leadership in matters of local governance, service delivery and development is uneven.
We recognise the initiatives by the new leadership of Contralesa in the province to normalise relations between traditional leadership and institutions of government. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed and I firmly believe that together we can take it to greater heights. The challenges are more prevalent at the following municipalities, namely, Molemole, Modimolle, Mookgopong and Bela-Bela Local Municipalities. The Department of Local Government and Housing will provide dedicated support to these municipalities as part of implementing the provincially coordinated Municipal Turn-Around Strategy.
Honourable speaker,
We are a people cantered administration; we do everything in consultation and partnership with communities. In the words of Ernesto Che Guevara “The state sometimes makes mistakes. When one of these mistakes occurs, a decline in collective enthusiasm is reflected by a resulting quantitative decrease of the contribution of each individual, each of the elements forming the whole of the masses. Work is so paralysed that insignificant quantities are produced. It is time to make a correction.”
Our people are not standing on the sidelines, hence the demonstrations and protests that we have witnessed in the recent past. This is because they agree with Che Guevara that the state sometimes makes mistakes and when that happens, it's up to the people to stand up and say let's correct that. This is what happens in a participatory democracy. To borrow a phrase “we are a government of the people by the people and for the people”.
We want to applaud those communities who remain our eyes and ears. When you march to your own government, it's a demonstration that you know we shall listen and attend to your concerns. Our every action is a battle cry against poverty and under-development. Nelson Mandela says “Poverty brings hunger, disease, inadequate shelter and homelessness. It hinders the education of children and leaves them on the margins of our society, squandering a wealth of human potential to contribute to the building of a prosperous South Africa.”
As a caring society, we cannot fold our arms and do nothing. That is why we have declared war on poverty. We are waging this war by accelerating the pace and improving on the quality of services. We have managed to provide water and electricity to more than one million thirty two thousand one hundred and two, (1 032 102) households. Limpopo is a dry province and many of our communities face the challenge of water shortages daily. This is a challenge we are determined to meet head on.
We have planned to provide one million seventy eight thousand seven hundred forty three (1 078 743) households with water in this financial year. The focus will be on areas identified as in distress such as Sekhukhune District and Giyani. The Minister of CoGTA and the
Provincial Executive Council, under the stewardship of Premier Mathale, has appointed a task team to develop a comprehensive service delivery plan to accelerate the eradication of backlogs in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality. The Task Team is at an advanced stage in terms of finalising its report. Furthermore, as announced, we have allocated R90 million for provision of water and sanitation services in the Province, especially for Mopani District.
Honourable Speaker
We have noted that there is an urgent need to refurbish waste-water treatment plants in the province. We have therefore entered into a discussion with the National Treasury and the Development Bank of
Southern Africa (DBSA) to explore alternative models and sources of funding for the refurbishment of these Plants. Water resource management continues to be a strategic priority for Limpopo Province. We have convened a successful Provincial Water Summit in December 2009 which was supplemented by District Water Summits. These summits adopted important resolutions which should be implemented. The department will coordinate the overall implementation of these decisions by the stakeholders.
Over six hundred and twenty one thousand seven hundred and forty nine (621 749) households received sanitation facilities. This is an area in which we are exploring new innovative ways of doing things because we are aware that much more still needs to be done. We are discussing with National Treasury, CoGTA and DBSA to develop a strategy that will help eradicate bulk water infrastructure in the province. We would like to encourage our people to continue to conserve energy to allow us to electrify more households that still don't have access. We have planned to provide one million sixty eight thousand two hundred and forty six (1 068 246) households with electricity in this financial year, 2010/11. This will increase the number of people with access to electricity from 83 percent to 86 percent in our province. It is admirable to announce that the following municipalities have made significant inroads towards attaining universal access in terms of electricity provision, namely, Mogalakwena, Molemole, Blouberg and Aganang. Furthermore, seven hundred and thirty seven thousand (737 000) households will be provided with access to sanitation.
Honourable Speaker,
One of the campaigns that our department ran was a road show on free basic services. The main objective was to encourage families that qualify for free basic services to register with their municipalities and collect Free Basic Services tokens. We are encouraged by the high collection figures which have resulted in more and more of our people accessing the services. We have provided free basic water service to 701 191 homes, whilst 263 889 families benefited from the free basic electricity programme.
In this financial year, 2010/11, we will supply seven hundred and forty seven thousand three hundred and seventy one, (747 371) homes with free basic water and three hundred and one thousand twenty (301 020) with free basic electricity. We are not a water endowed province and given this challenge, there is an urgent need to channel more funding to improve the state of waste water treatment works. In 2009/10 the province had an allocation of just below R1 billion for Municipal Infrastructure Grant
(MIG) and the bulk of the grant have been spent on infrastructure development. We have been able to align MIG projects n line with Extended Public Works Programmes (EPWP).
Honourable Speaker,
Our people want less talk and more action. They want services today and not tomorrow. With this in mind we have identified the areas of focus this year:
* We want to ensure that districts devolve the water service provision function to Local municipalities over the MTEF period.
* The implementation of the Municipal Turnaround Strategy and Operation Clean Audit in the province
* Municipalities to prioritize rural nodes as part of LED, IDP's and other related programmes
* Province, wide water bulk infrastructure
* Strategic focus on growth point Municipalities such as Lephalale, Musina and Greater Tubatse
* Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals on basic services (water, sanitation and electricity)
* Establish new ward committees
* Assess and monitor functionality of ward committees
* Appoint and deploy 513 CDWs in municipalities
* Monitor municipalities on implementation of grant funding
* Conduct skills audit of top four posts in all municipalities (municipal manager, CFO, planner and engineer)
* Pilot the establishment of Municipal Public Accounts Committees (MPACs) in the province.
Re tsene fase re a šoma. Lephalale's coal deposit makes it a strategic energy hub for the country. Bulk infrastructure remains a catalyst for development. We have an undertaking from the DBSA to avail close to 1 billion rand to lay bulk water infrastructure in the area. We have already appointed a service provider to do a scoping report in this regard. Implementation should start before the end of the financial year.
Mohlomphegi Speaker, ntle le go bolelela nonyane mašegong re tiišitše
molala mo gore re lebantše maswi kgamelo; ga go ka moo e tlogo raga.
Capacity building programmes remain the key pillar to continuously support municipalities and ensure that innovative programmes are implemented to improve efficiency. The department has developed a provincial capacity building strategy covering all the key performance areas. This administration has adopted a zero tolerance on fraud and corruption. In this regard we have ensured that municipalities have developed anti-corruption strategies. The result has been the establishment of internal audit and supply chain management units. 96 percent of municipalities has established these units.
Honourable Speaker,
We are ready for the FIFA Soccer World Cup. In addition to the Peter Mokaba Stadium, there will be one fan park and five public viewing areas (one per district). Estimates indicate that over half a million (500 000) visitors will descend on our province to come and watch the games. Led by our department, the provincial disaster management centre has developed a plan to prevent, reduce, mitigate, respond to and prepare for any disaster that may occur or threaten the world cup.
The following structures are established and will be activated during the event.
* Local Municipal Joint Operation Centre (JOC)
* District Joint Operation Centre
* Venue operational centre (stadium)
* Mobile disaster centre at the Fan Park and public viewing areas
* Provincial Joint Operation Centre.
Honourable Speaker,
The implementation of the Municipal Property Rates Act (MPRA) is critical as it enables municipalities to collect revenue. Our role will be to continue supporting the municipalities with the implementation of revenue enhancement strategies. We are very concerned that currently our municipalities are jointly being owed close to one billion rand in this province. Clearly this can only have a crippling effect on service delivery in the affected municipalities. We want to take this opportunity to urge everyone to pay and to pay today.
The mandate given to us by our people is to ensure a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government system. In this regard we will continue to improve our planning to make it more coordinated and inclusive whilst accelerating infrastructure development. Mintirho ya hina yi ta vula vula.
Honourable Speaker,
This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the death of the inaugural Minister of Housing and former Chairman of the South African Communist Party, Comrade Joe Slovo. In his oration at the occasion of the funeral of the late SACP General Secretary, Comrade Joe Slovo said that the revolution to Comrade Chris Hani meant above all, simple but noble things like “jobs for the jobless; homes for the homeless; a living wage for the workers; land for the landless; hope for the youth; a life of dignity for the old; free health care and relevant education for us all.
Communism meant an end to the exploitation of the many by the few.”
In memory of this fallen hero we have set systems to respond appropriately to the decision of the ANC Provincial Lekgotla when it mandated the provincial government to drastically reduce the housing backlog in the 2010/11 financial year.
Delivering his maiden State of the Nation Address, President Jacob Zuma said, and I quote: "For as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable diseases; For as long as there are communities without clean water, decent shelter or proper sanitation; For as long as there are children who do not have the means nor the opportunity to receive decent education; we shall not rest, and we dare not falter in our drive to eradicate poverty."
This is what inspires our work on a daily basis. For as long as there are communities without decent shelter, we shall not rest. The best way to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Freedom Charter will be to ensure that indeed there is “housing, security and comfort for all”. Through the Breaking New Ground (BNG) policy, we are beginning to make an impact in the space economy. The BNG policy is the drive behind the idea of sharing settlement space regardless of race, class and social standing, thus promoting social integration. We have said before that our settlements should be where people can play, stay and pray. The bottom line of our development programmes is our understanding and acknowledgement that communities have needs. And it is our belief that these needs must be urgently addressed if we are to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor.
In our effort to achieve this, we have embarked on a programme to research housing needs and demands, develop and revise policies and plans that will address these needs, train officials, councillors and beneficiaries on housing issues and mainstream issues of previously disadvantaged groups into housing delivery. Currently, every municipality in the province is expected to have a housing chapter in its IDP that details the housing needs and priorities as well as readiness on available land where these houses can be constructed.
We are quite pleased with the progress registered in this regard. This will complement our efforts as envisaged in our multiyear housing delivery plan as well as informal settlement upgrading plan. Mohlakaneng in Seshego and Maribe Thema in Tzaneen are among the informal settlements we will be upgrading this year. We will again initiate the planning of Smasherblock in Thabazimbi and Burgersfort extension 10 in Tubatse for full scale upgrading in the 2011/12 financial year. During the re-opening of schools, together with the Deputy Speaker of this August House and other Honourable Members we visited a farm school called Mopani Intermediate in Musina Municipality.
The school used to be a “whites only” facility but since the ANC took over government it has been integrated. One of the conditions of admission at this school is that Learners should be able to pay hostel accommodation fees which farm workers do not afford. The majority of learners at this school come from areas across the district, mostly Makhado. The school is producing very good results. Most striking is that the School Governing Body (SGB) has decided to phase out lower grades at the school because the Department of Education is allegedly failing to provide teachers. Children as old as ten (10) are out of school because of the policies agreed upon by the SGB. We have identified this problem to be caused by a lack of housing and we therefore will respond appropriately by establishing an agri-village around the school in the 2011/12 financial year. We will engage the Departments of Public Works and Education to respectively avail the land and reintroduce the lower grades.
Honourable Speaker,
We are very happy and dare I say very proud of what we have achieved on behalf of our people in this financial year. For the first time in the history of this province, we have built over 18 500 homes. This is a remarkable milestone considering that our target was 13 978. This is what is possible when we work together with all the stakeholders involved in the housing delivery value chain.
We want to applaud the outstanding work done by our contractors and developers. Our long walk is not yet ended; mogologolo wa segologolo sa bogologolo o re šako la bongwanenyana ga le ke le tlala go fihla ka maribana; there are still many more on our waiting lists; so let's soldier on. As announced by the Honourable Premier Cassel Mathale, We have cancelled contracts of poor performing contractors, who did shoddy work by building poor quality RDP houses or by abandoning projects. Some of them had been in our system since the 2003/04 financial and unable to complete their projects.
We have already written letters to more than 42 contractors informing them of our intention to blacklist them. Seven contractors have already been handed over to the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) for investigations and possible prosecution and/or recovery of money. This department continues to demonstrate that corruption will not be tolerated le gore modiri wa tjona a tsebe gore phatana-hlakolwa ga e onalele mohlakodi. Boradia ge e tla ba bjona bo fetša ka go radia mong wa bjona.
This administration will not work with people whose action or inaction delays the programme of building good quality homes for our people. Any company providing service to our government will be required to sign a document that allows us to lift the corporate veil of the individual members of the company to allow the government to blacklist and sue the members jointly and severally.
There's a lot of progress in the battle against people who are getting
RDP houses fraudulently. With the help of the law enforcement agencies, 113 cases were brought forward for prosecution and in 102 cases people were convicted. The department is also going after contractors who have either defrauded or owe us money. To date we have recovered over three million rands.
The message is simple if you owe us pay now! Re tiishitje ge re re, the era of blocked projects will soon be a thing of the past. In addition to aggressively completing the previously abandoned projects, the department has built capacity to ensure that all contractors are properly screened and previous performance records are taken into account prior to allocation of new projects. Of course there are progressive and highly capacitated contractors in our province. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them and assure them that this government is ready to work with them to accelerate the pace of delivery. Indeed working together we can do more. There has been a drastic improvement of our forward planning systems which has resulted in the appointment of contractors done well in time as well as development areas identified well in time.
Honourable Speaker
We have launched the provincial housing demand database in 10 growth point municipalities in which beneficiaries were required to register and indicate which type of housing they require. This will help us to determine the housing needs and enhance our planning. Descent shelter restores our people's dignity. This is our mission, this is our calling. We have given 1,270 families their title deeds. These are people who under the apartheid regime were subjected to a ridiculous 99 year lease agreement. The ANC government has ensured that for the first time they become proud owners of the properties they have been practically “renting” all their lives. We are walking the talk!
The award winning Housing Consumer Call Centre (0800 687 432) has dealt with over 13 000 enquiries and continues to assist people to get homes across the province. We have also linked our systems with the Presidential Hotline to enable our department to respond to enquiries received through that line.
Honourable Speaker,
The so called “gap market” is on our radar screen. Our government is committed to helping our citizens secure a roof over their heads. To help those who “earn too much” to qualify for government housing subsidy, yet “earn too little” to access bank home loans, the Department of Human Settlements together with the National Treasury will set up the Housing Guarantee Fund by November this year. An amount of R1 billion as announced by President Zuma has been allocated for this purpose. The strategic objective underpinning this approach is two-fold, to provide incentives for the private sector to supply housing units at lower prices, whilst simultaneously encouraging low income earners to build their own houses.
Honourable Speaker,
We have previously announced that our contribution to the Muyexe
Rural Development Pilot Project would be 383 houses. When President
Jacob Zuma delivered the state of the nation address; he acknowledged the progress then and said “231 houses have been completed”. During the State of the Province Address, Premier Cassel Mathale said, “as at yesterday 321 houses have been completed”. We are pleased to report here today that 347 homes have been completed. All these homes were built in less than six months.
Inspired by the successes of gaKgatla and Muyexe we have requested SALGA to identify settlements for rural development, one in each municipality and include them in their construction of IDPS which are currently underway. Mintirho ya hina yi ta vula vula. This government is planning to upgrade well-located informal settlements and provide proper service and land tenure to at least 500 000 households by 2014. The plan includes setting aside over 6 000 hectares of well-located public land for low-income and affordable housing. As part of our immediate mandate, we will proceed to implement the following this year:
* 15 400 houses built through various instruments including 100 rental units. As part of our drive to ensure efficiency and delivery of quality houses, we have appointed five engineering companies specialising in Project Management (one per district). Their main responsibility will be to ensure that contractors build according to National Homebuilders Registration Council (NHBRC) prescripts. The contracts which the department will sign with contractors shall bind them to vacate our sites upon expiry of the agreed delivery period. No form of negotiations will be entered into in this regard. We mean business! We have already appointed five high capacity contractors who will take over from those who will not deliver according to our delivery plan. This will be a continuation of another year of delivery
* Transferring 5175 title deeds
* Passing the Limpopo Informal Settlement Act
* Servicing 3000 sites for Human settlement development
* The development of mixed income housing/ integrated residential programme to cater for lower, affordable and higher income housing needs.
Areas identified for these developments are:
* Bendor extension. 100
* Polokwane extension 86 and 104
* Mokopane
* Ba-Phalaborwa
* Lephalale
* Lephalale infrastructure development
* Project management unit
* Rural housing programme
* Farm worker housing
* Emergency housing
* Community residential housing (Hostel Redevelopment). In this regard we have already appointed a contractor to build family units at Seshego Hostel
* Land audit and acquisition of strategically located land
* Audit, formalise and upgrade informal settlement
Honourable Speaker,
We have said before that the increased migration of people in search of better economic opportunities has resulted in towns like Burgersfort, Lephalale and Phalaborwa experiencing a human settlement challenge.
We are already engaging the relevant stakeholders in these growth point municipalities to plan and address this challenge accordingly.
Following the acquisition of 500 hectares of strategically located land in Lephalale to develop a mixed income human settlement project, the good news is that the township has already been declared and work on upgrading the sewer system has begun. This government wants to develop new South African towns and we have that opportunity in Lephalale.
Honourable Speaker,
We believe in public private partnerships to advance the course of service delivery. Through the “celebrity build partnership” that we have established with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), we continue to assist many destitute families across the province. Through this partnership we deliver fully furnished and electrified homes. The SABC team led by Regional Manager Mr Victor Ravhuanzdwo is here.
We also have a partnership with Capricorn FM. The annual “youth build” and the “16 days, 16 families and 16 homes” campaigns continue to make a difference in many people's lives. The Capricorn FM team led by CEO Simphiwe Mdlalose is here. We also want to acknowledge our long standing partners ESKOM, NHBRC and developers.
One of the families which has benefitted from these partnerships is the 9 member Motlokwa family at Ga-Matlala. On the day when we handed over the fully furnished home to Mr Moses Motlokwa and his family, he couldn't wait for the sun to set. Just after 15h00 he was already chasing all of us out of his property saying he wants to sleep. The man could not wait to taste the comfort of his brand new home. He is here with us today.
Honourable Speaker,
The izimbizo, Executive Council meets the people and other public participation and outreach programmes of government don't only give our people a platform to engage their leaders, they also expose us to conditions that we would otherwise take longer or never get to hear about. The President of the Republic led an electricity switch on programme at Mushiyane Village in Greater Giyani Municipality. After switching on the lights in the mud thatch-roofed house, President Zuma instructed that a decent home should be built for the family. Today as we speak the house is complete.
In October last year Premier Mathale led the Executive Council to Lwamondo to meet and interact with our people. We were confronted with two desperate cases. 86 year old Johannes Mudau was homeless and hopeless. Ntshengedzeni Maphodo who is living with disability had been living in a dilapidated mud structure all his life. Within three months we had built them brand new homes. They are both with us here today. The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) visited the village of Maponto in Molemole in September last year. There they found two houses; one poorly built and the other left at foundation level since 2004.
The former was demolished and a new structure has been completed. Where there was only a foundation there's now a brand new home for a very proud family. We want to applaud the efforts of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Housing led by the Honourable Joy Matshoge. The committee initiated the process of building a comfortable home for a homeless elderly man at Mohlonong, Ga-Mashashane in Aganang. This is what is possible when we work together. We are also pleased that Ntona Seunane has joined us today. Last year we read out an sms he had sent to us raising a concern about incomplete houses in his area. Ntona Seunane can tell you that today as we speak those homes have been completed and his people are smiling.
Honourable Speaker,
Our department is determined not only to attract the best skilled personnel but we are also taking steps to capacitate the current cadreship. We have awarded bursaries to internal and external students pursuing scarce skills fields i.e. Town planning, regional planning, construction management, Bachelor of Science in property studies and quantity surveying. We shall continue to inculcate the culture of service excellence as we implement Batho-Pele programmes because we want to improve on service delivery, client satisfaction and resolution of clients' enquiries.
Our budget will thus look like this for the year 2010/11:
Budget summary by programme
Budget summary by economic classification
Economic classification voted amount
R’000
Current payments: 548,813
* Compensation of employees: 363,124
* Goods and services: 185,689
Transfers and subsidies: 1,332,111
* Provinces and municipalities: 9,672
* Households: 1,237,409
Payment of capital assets: 4,863
* Buildings and other fixed structures: 412
* Machinery and equipment: 4,451
Software and other intangible assets -
Total budget: 1,885,787
Programme voted amount:
R’000
* Administration: 260,044
* Housing: 1,307,027
* Local Government: 318,716
* Total: 1,885,787
Honourable Speaker,
I profusely thank the Honourable Premier Cassel Mathale for having afforded us a chance to make a contribution in improving the lives of the people of this province for the better. Mogaši wa lenaneo-tsoko la setiši
sa seyalemoya o kile a botšiša gore naa Lekganyane ge o filwe kgoro ye
kaaka mola o sa ithuta go hlapa malaka o tla kgona bjang. Ke ile ka
bontsha gore there is no responsibility bigger than the African National Congress. Ke ile ka mo tšea kgopu ka la gore “Pitša ye kgolo e hladielwa
gare.” Potšišo yeo ge e be e ka botšišwa lehono ke be ke tla re “Pitša ye nnyane re fehla le ge e falala”.
I also want to thank my colleagues in the executive for their unflappable support. Mphiri o tee ga olle is the call that made us to work as a closely knit unit. Le gona phala yeo e se nago phalana ke lešilo ka gore bohlale bja phala bo tšwa phalaneng.
Allow me to thank the Head of Department Mr Clifford Nkomotane Motsepe, his management team and staff. Their work speaks louder than words. Everything we do is about our people. We want to have answers when history asks, what did you do? We should be able to say, we saw and acted, we heard and responded, we did our best to make a difference. Edward Everett Hale says “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.”
Se kgokgošitše sekgokgošane mmasekgobane o kgobile namane. What we do today determines what will happen tomorrow and how we'll look back at yesterday. Our actions will make tomorrow a vision of hope. To borrow a phrase “The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Our long walk has not ended, we shall keep on walking and we shall walk the talk.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Local Government and Housing, Limpopo Provincial Government
1 April 2010
Source: Department of Local Government and Housing, Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo-dlgh.gov.za/)
