April is historic in South Africa in that it was the month in which Chris Hani was assassinated but also the month in which the first democratic elections were held.
Chris Hani and other freedom fighters fought bravely and courageously for our freedom
The Freedom Charter in 1955 in Klipspruit pledged that: “There shall be Houses, Security and Comfort.”
This tenet is still our rallying cry as we deliver sustainable and integrated human settlements for our people, the citizens of Limpopo. The Premier of Limpopo, Cassel Mathale, in delivering his State of the Province address said: “We continue to provide low cost housing to the deserving communities of our province. Our Cooperative governance, with the support of our municipalities and traditional authorities, has been the pinnacle of our integrated approach to delivering services to Limpopo citizens.
More than eight thousand low cost houses were built by the end of December 2012…” MEC for Treasury, Comrade David Masondo, during his 2013 budget speech stated that: “Apartheid settled people in racial, class and ethnic compartments. The department of Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs is hard at work to ensure that this pattern is changed...."
Ten key issues that lie at the heart of our strategy for the province are:
1. An intensification of the provision of housing.
2. The release of new land parcels for human settlements development.
3. An increased focus on good governance across all aspects of our work.
4. A greater commitment to ensuring clean audits in all our municipalities.
5. An intensification of turnaround strategies in all our municipalities.
6. An increased commitment to the provision of basic services and bulk infrastructure in various parts of the province.
7. A dedicated focus on job creation.
8. A deepening of relationships with traditional leaders.
9. A strengthening of our capacity to deal with disasters.
10. An accelerated programme to ensure improved and innovative internal systems to deliver excellent and quality service
1. Human Settlement Delivery
The Multi Year Housing Development Plan (MYDP) indicated the housing needs for 2013/14 as no less than15 000 houses to be delivered for 2013/14, but due to the 10% reduction of the Conditional Grant (from 1,476b to 1,324b) only appointments for 2013/14 were finalised at 12 815 units. The department has four extensive categories of programmes, namely Incremental Housing, Social and Rental Housing, Priority Projects and Financial Intervention.
In 2013/14, R1,325 billion, or 65% of the budget, is allocated to Incremental Housing R92,5 million, or 7% of the budget to Social and Rental Housing, R120 million or 9.2% of the budget is allocated to Priority Projects R132 million, or 10%, to Financial Interventions. Incremental Housing In the last financial year we promised to build 12 000 quality houses. We are happy to report to this august house that 12 009 were completed in 2012/13. We will build 12 815 units in the 13/14, financial year ensuring that our people have shelter over their heads. Informal Settlements Upgrading
The department has developed a programme that focuses on formalisation of Informal Settlements. The department had already identified the priority areas in the following municipalities, viz; Modimolle, Elias Motsoaledi and Greater Tubatse.
The department has concluded the Limpopo Upgrading of informal settlement framework which confirmed the existence of 36 informal settlements in the province. We have commenced this important initiative in partnership with the Housing Development Agency.
Social and Rental Housing
Phase 2 of the project for the conversion of the old Seshego single-sex structures into Community Residential Units has been completed in May 2012.
Another hostel re-development is in the pipeline for the Tshikota community in Vhembe District and will benefit more than 100 beneficiaries.
Ga-Rena Rental Housing Phase Two is the first Social Housing project in the province as part of Breaking New Ground initiative. Phase 1 consists of 508 units which have been built and the 492 units are to be constructed as part of Phase 2 for those with monthly incomes exceeding R3500.
A roll-out of hostel redevelopment initiative has been embarked on in Lephalale Community Residential Units project. The existing Lephalale Hostel Complex will receive major upgrades in terms of the National Community Residential Units policy.
Priority Projects Polokwane Ext. 86 and 121(Makgatoville) is a development that facilitates the development of integrated human settlements in a well located area that provides convenient access to urban amenities.
This project entails the following:
- 1434 Residential sites and one Retail Centre
- 300 Fully subsidized BNG Housing
- Open Market (372)
- GAP Market Housing (183)
- High Density Housing (579)
- One Retail Centre 25 000m2 GLFA
- Public Area (taxi/library/clinic/church/crèche)
Polokwane Local Municipality is prioritised for accreditation and it has advanced to Level one as confirmed by the Minister of Human Settlements, Hon. Mr Tokyo Sexwale. We are in the process of capacitating the municipality for Level 2 accreditation.
2. The release of new land parcels for human settlements development
Strategically located privately owned land parcels were acquired for building cohesive, sustainable and caring communities with improved access to work and social amenities and foster inner city regeneration.
It is now hundred years since the passing of the unjust Land Act which deprived the African people of their own land and land security.
Last year we said that we will acquire no less than 200 hectors of land for Human Settlements development in the province.
The department plans to mainstream co-operatives in its Human Settlement Delivery chain.
A greater commitment to ensuring clean audits in all our municipalities.
We had 10 municipalities that received disclaimers in the 10/11 financial year.
There has been a regression in 11/12 financial year with 11 municipalities receiving disclaimers. These are Thabazimbi; Modimolle; Aganang; Lepelle-Nkumpi; Polokwane; Blouberg; Tzaneen; Ba-Phalaborwa; Greater Giyani; Vhembe and Makhado.
In the financial year 10/11, three of our municipalities received adverse audit reports. In 11/12 none of our municipalities received an adverse audit report.
Fourteen of our municipalities were qualified in 11/12 as against the 12 in 10/11.
Mogalakwena is the only local municipality that attained an unqualified audit report in 11/12.
Waterberg District Municipality is the only municipality that received a clean audit report for financial year 11/12. They also received the same audit outcome in the financial year 10/11.
The audit opinions for three municipalities namely Sekhukhune, Bela-Bela and Molemole are still outstanding and the audit process in these municipalities is in progress.
The Auditor General has pointed out the challenges that gave rise to the poor performance by municipalities include non-compliance with Supply Chain Management processes, unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditures, accounting for assets in terms of the new accounting standards.
Financial Accounting Firms under the Resident Accountant Project provide technical financial management and hands on support to municipalities.
We have appointed four firms namely CorpMD; Ngubane/Kgorong; PWC and SAB&T to assist our most struggling municipalities.
Sekhukhune, Makhuduthamaga; Greater Giyani; and Musina are being assisted by CorpMD.
Ngubane/Kgorong is assisting Ba-Phalaborwa; Modimolle; Bela-Bela and Makhado municipality.
We also allocated PWC to provide hands on support to Thabazimbi, Mopani, Elias Motsoaledi and Ephraim Mogale.
The last firm, SAB&T is assisting Thulamela and Mutale municipalities.
Our expectation from each of these firms is the delivery of positive audit outcomes in all the municipalities that are being assisted. We also expect these Accounting Firms to look forward to a situation where all the assisted municipalities will benefit from the skills transfer.
We have advertised for another Accounting firm to assist six other municipalities which are Mogalakwena; Greater Tzaneen; Mookgophong; Maruleng; Greater Letaba and Greater Tubatse.
We have already established the Provincial Audit Outcomes Oversight IGR Forum, which is convened MEC for Treasury, Mr. David Masondo and CoGHSTA MEC. This structure includes all five District Mayors and twenty five Local Mayors. The primary mandate of this structure is to provide political leadership and guidance towards achieving clean audits in all municipalities.
3. An increased focus on good governance across all aspects of our work
As a department, we continue to prioritise good governance in municipalities. Fraud and Corruption are the enemy of good governance.
We call upon the people of Limpopo, including the many sectors of our society, to expose without fear or favour all forms of maladministration and corruption.
The department, working together with the Provincial Treasury, will be assisting municipalities in the filling of vacant posts in line with the Municipal Systems Act 2011 as amended.
All our 30 municipalities have Internal Audit Committees and Audit Committees. In addition to all these, all municipal councils are expected to ensure that there is sufficient oversight.
The department will support this initiative by launching a campaign called “My Community My Responsibility”.
4. An intensification of turnaround strategies in all our municipalities
We will continue to intensify the implementation of the Local Turnaround Strategy in all of our 30 municipalities. Our focus will be dedicated to good governance, financial management, leadership as well as performance management.
We have as a province, identified 12 municipalities for the revitalisation of Municipal Turnaround Strategy. The municipalities prioritised are Capricorn, Lephalale, Sekhukhune, Elias Motsoaledi, Greater Tubatse, Vhembe, Makhado, Musina, Mopani, Ba-Phalaborwa, Maruleng and Greater Tzaneen.
All 30 municipalities in the province have credible IDP's.
Twenty-six of our municipalities are rated high and the other four have medium ratings.
The department at 100% has a very impressive record of compliance when it comes to the adoption and submission of IDPs by municipalities.
The department has commissioned the development of an infrastructure scoping report for Musina/Makhado Corridor development and for Tubatse Local Municipality.
5. An increased commitment to the provision of basic services and bulk infrastructure in various parts of the province
Stats SA 2011 Household survey results indicate that 86% of our households have access to water and 87% have access to electricity.
The province is not performing well in the provisioning of sanitation as we are only at 21%.
There is inability by municipalities to spend their allocated Municipal Infrastructure Grant. By the end of March 2013 municipalities had only spent 44.04% of R2, 463 billion.
In the last financial year we completed the electrification of 855 households in Dwareni and 512 households in Makatjane in Polokwane. We also announced that 1 064 households in Hlalanikahle and 512 households in Sekweng were being finalised. All households in those areas have been electrified.
Bulk Infrastructure Grant
The De Hoop Dam in Sekhukhune has been completed and the dam is presently five percent full.
The Bulk water supply pipeline from Nandoni outside Thohoyandou to Nsami Dam in Giyani is progressing very well. The project progress is at 50% and we anticipate completion by 31 March 2014.
Waste Water Treatment Works The assessment of Waste Water Treatment Works has been completed in November 2012. The reports are currently being assessed for the purpose of securing funding.
6. A dedicated focus on job creation
The Premier in his 2013 State of the Province address stated: “The creation of job opportunities for our people is a pressing obligation that must be achieved”
In the last financial year we projected that the department will create 15 500 jobs through our two programmes, namely Integrated and Sustainable Human Settlements and Community Workers Programmes.
The department has exceeded the target of job creation in the 2011/12 financial year and created a whopping 22 416 job opportunities. We have exceeded the envisaged target by 6 916.
7. A deepening of relationships with traditional leaders
In our province, traditional leaders continue to play an important role by making invaluable inputs in the administration of the Local Government System in addition to other responsibilities.
We are still saying that our relationship with the province’s traditional leaders is very cordial.
We need to continue paying attention to the empowerment and resourcing of traditional leadership. We can’t expect them to play a meaningful role in the development and empowerment of our rural communities when they do not have the means to discharge this important responsibility.
Last year, we stated that the department has put aside an amount of R80 million to adjust the salaries of our Kings, Senior Traditional Leaders, Headmen/Headwomen, in compliance with the gazetted rates. I am pleased to report to this honourable house that the salary adjustments as promised have been implemented successfully in June 2012.
I am delighted to announce that Provincial Treasury allocated R84 600 million during November 2012 for payment of arrears owed to traditional leaders covering the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012. The arrears were paid in December 2012.
A Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes in the province has been established. It is known as the Kgatla Commission and it has the time line of up to 2015 to complete its work.
Initiation schools
To ensure that this ancient cultural tradition continues to unfold unhindered by the challenges of modernity, it was decided that the Northern Province Circumcision Schools Act, Act no.06 of 1996 be repealed. This process of drafting a new Bill is in progress.
Last year, the province issued 314 permits to traditional leaders to conduct schools. The enrolment for boys was 35 621 and 4 441 for girls. The grand total was 40 062.
8. A strengthening of our capacity to deal with disasters
From 13 to 21 January this year, some parts of our province experienced torrential rains that resulted in floods. The disaster damaged bridges, schools, eroded roads, collapsed houses and left our people homeless.
The hardest hit areas were those in the district municipalities of Vhembe and Mopani. Tents, blankets and food parcels were distributed to house -to feed flood victims who had been left homeless. The emergency housing programme was evoked and five contractors were appointed to build 327 units in four disaster declared areas. We spent R15 million on the Emergency Housing Program.
9. An accelerated programme to ensure improved and innovative internal systems to deliver excellent and quality service
We have no choice but to state unashamedly that our department has always prided itself as a shining centre of excellence. The many awards that are decorating our cabinet bear testimony to this assertion.
The Govan Mbeki Excellence Awards introduced by National Human Settlements department in 2008 have been strengthened in recent years with our support. This award scheme has played an important role in motivating all staff in the key service industries to maintain the high standards of service for which our department is renowned. It has now become a flagship programme of the province’s activities each year.
Budget Allocation for 2013/14 Financial Year
Equitable share: 901,383
Conditional grants: 1,327,742
Human Settlement Development: 1,289,076
Housing Disaster Management: 35,666
EPWP Incentive Allocation: 3,000
Departmental receipts: 2,500
Total receipts: 2,231,625
Conclusion MEC Clifford Motsepe thanks his colleagues in the Executive Council, Municipal Mayors and all Councillors as well as Traditional leaders for their unwavering support. MEC Motsepe expresses his gratitude to the Head of Department, Mme Manamela, and appreciates the Executive Management of the Department and the entire staff for their valuable contribution and hard work.
For more information please contact:
Ms Dieketseng Diale
Cell: 083 652 5276
Tel: 015 284 5582
E-mail: mediaenquiry@coghsta.limpopo.gov.za
