Minister of Human Settlements - Ms Lindiwe Sisulu, MP,
Premier of KwaZulu-Natal – Mr Senzo Mchunu, MPL,
Mayor of uMgungundlovu District - Cllr Yusuf Bhamjee,
Mayor of Msunduzi Municipality - Cllr Chris Ndlela,
Provincial Secretary of the ANC – Comrade Sihle Zikalala,
Acting DG KZN Province - Ms Primrose Khumalo,
CEO of RTMC –Adv Makhosini Msibi,
Raubex construction,
Community Care givers,
Officials from all spheres of government,
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen,
2015 marks sixty (60) years since the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955 at Kliptown. The ideals of the freedom charter are the founding principles of the constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The African National Congress government is still abiding by the principles of the Freedom Charter. We are here today to officialy hand over the houses that have been built for our ordinary South Africans.
The Freedom Charter says that there shall be houses, security and comfort. There will be special care for mothers and young children. Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, creches and social centres.
The aged, the orphans, the disabled and the sick shall be cared for by the state. During the Presidential Imbizo of 20 September 2014, the President committed the ANC and government to make our today better than yesterday, hence the immediate task we embarked upon to attend to the dire situation of the Vilakazi; Gwala; Khumalo; Mncwangi; and Mbanjwa families. Handing over these houses today symbolises the restoration of dignity to our families and manifests the notion of a caring government on a mission to build a caring and cohesive society.
This also represents our National Development Plans’ aim to attain a decent standard of living through the elimination of poverty and reduction of inequality in our society.
The coordination of all infrastructure delivery projects under one umbrella has brought great improvement in the focus on most deserving areas of infrastructure provision, placing our communities first while emphasising the need to provide infrastructure that yields massive economic benefit such as roads and transport infrastructures.
Steadily the Presidential Infrastructures Coordinating Commission is setting us on a path of our 2030 vision. Ensuring shelter over the heads of our people has become an obsession of our government, as it is borne by the presence of the Honourable Minister of Human Settlement, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu in our midst today. This handing over also serves as a stuck reminder that it is at the local and district municipalities where service delivery becomes concrete and meaningful to our people.
It is within the 278 municipalities throughout the country where housing, transport, education, health are delivered on a daily basis. It is in this context that I want to raise a few issues that have become our major priority during the current term of government for the betterment of the lives of our people.
Firstly, you will recall that President Jacob Zuma has on a few occasions spoken about government’s concerns regarding the improvement needed at local government level to ensure service delivery. Recently, the President even went to an extent of convening a Local Government Summit. It is against this background that the ANC government is now implementing what we call a Back to Basics approach which is our new strategic method to address challenges faced by local government and to strengthen municipalities, and instil a sense of urgency towards improving the lives of our people.
This approach is also based on the recent review on all 278 Municipalities. The Back to Basics approach is setting clear benchmarks for performance in our efforts to ensure that all municipalities perform their basic responsibilities, every day, without fail. The aim is practically to ensure functional municipalities. The handing over of these houses today is a great reminder of the vital work being done to ensure such improvements in our local communities. We are here to say that as Government we are acutely aware of the difficulties many people face in achieving their basic housing aspirations.
It is clear to us that we need to maintain and increase the supply of new houses, even though the challenges ahead are immense but we intend to do so. Our ability to deliver new homes is made difficult by the challenging economic times we are often faced with. But despite these unprecedented economic times, Government has announced more money for housing with additional budget of more than 33 billion rand. Most of this money is meant for the development of houses, infrastructure and land acquisition.
It is also important to mention that in the past 20 years of our democracy, we have made serious strides in the provision of shelter for our people. We have delivered 3.7 million houses, which has benefited 12 million people. But the sobering reality is that we still have a backlog of more than 2, 3million houses.
It is in that spirit that we are set to deliver one million houses we have promised in the manifesto of the ruling party - but also make up for the backlog of the last 5 years. All in all as Government we have committed to 1.5 million houses in the next five years.
That requires enormous effort and the doubling of the capacity of instruments and vehicles we are using. It requires a mobilisation of all of society to be a partner in the building of such houses.
Sanitation
But a point also has to be made that simply building houses without any regard to factors such as the availability of water, sewerage and storm water management considerations - will not be a sustainable solution to our problems. We must get the balance right - across the country, between and within provinces and municipalities, - so that we build the right houses, the right numbers and in the right places. It is against this background that in the sanitation front, the eradication of buckets and rural sanitation backlogs is our main priority.
Government has allocated 1.9 billion rand for the next two years for this programme. It must be mentioned that while we have made good progress in global terms we still remain with a backlog of 2, 4million households without dignified sanitation. Of this backlog, 282 000 households, both in informal and formal settlements, still rely on the bucket sanitation system, mainly in the provinces of Gauteng, Free State, Western Cape, North West, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape. Our current focus however is on the 88 127, of which we have already eliminated 14300 bucket system. We are therefore making serious progress in that front.
Transport
While the importance of good quality housing and sanitation cannot be overstated. Most importantly, the portfolio that I am responsible for, acknowledges the vital link between housing and transport. It is a link that as government we are proud to restore.
We are very much aware that the supply of houses must also be matched by good quality transport infrastructure and public transport system. Without this match, this will frustrate the hopes and ambitions of individuals and families who are unable to live near their places of work. We are therefore determined to ensure seamless public transport and road infrastructure. We have set our site on improving our provincial roads through our flagship project, S’hamba Sonke programme.
This project has created more than 70000 jobs countrywide since its inception. In the current financial year we have already created more than 23000 jobs and maintained thousands of kilometres of our roads with a budget of 9, 3billion rand. Our public transport system is also of paramount importance. We have literally seen a record increase in the public transport investments.
That’s why we have developed new systems for local transport delivery, for example through BRT we have been able to create thousands of jobs and spend over 25 billion rand on infrastructure and bus fleet, over 5 billion rand is invested in the bus subsidy system to subsidise our people on a daily basis.
We are also renewing our passenger rail system with an investment of 53 billion rand.
The key message at the heart of these transport projects is that wherever our people live there has to be a strong transport system - because we believe that public transport is the coalface of transport delivery.
Vulnerable groups
Let me turn briefly to the challenges facing our children today. Their challenges are markedly different from what we use to have in the years gone by. Some of our children today have found themselves having to become the heads of households - not by their own choice. Some are facing poor parenting, alcohol and substance abuse, sexual abuse by those they trust and teenage pregnancy. These challenges are ravaging our communities and do demand our collective and urgent action. As Government, we have also established that there are about two million eligible children who are excluded from our social grant system.
We have embarked on the implementation of the Integrated Community Registration Outreach Programme (ICROP), in 250 poorest wards in the country so that we are able to reach out to these children.
We have also allocated a 113 billion rand in the current financial year for the payment of social assistance grants and 120 million rand to expand the Household Nutrition and Food Security intervention. This budget reflects the ANC's commitment to the most vulnerable, with particular emphasis on our children, youth, older persons and people living with disabilities. But our appeal to all South Africans is that we must work jointly in taking action of protecting our children.
The protection of children cannot be the sole responsibility of government. Our children must grow in communities that give them care, love and support. The time is now where we must stop hiding behind the past and begin to confront the realities of life.
Handing over of five houses
This brings us to the business of today. Our presence here today is not just to highlight the plight facing our children, but it is to showcase some of the interventions that would have a long lasting impact on the affected families in this community. Today’s handing over of houses is an important step in the Government’s commitment to provide decent and affordable housing to disadvantaged citizens. South Africa’s homeless know more than most that talk is cheap. What they want to see is roofs over their heads and the ANC Government is determined to do exactly that.
The success of this project illustrates how, through meaningful partnerships, government can achieve more towards improving the lives of our people. Our partnership with the Raubex Group Ltd to provide shelter for the five families is indeed a great milestone for us.
We are thankful to Raubex for the financial commitment of 1.2 million rand to make this project a success. It’s through your tireless efforts that we are today officially handing over these houses to the beneficiaries. The RTMC has also played its part by ensuring that Ms Zethembe Mbanjwa is afforded an education opportunity. I am therefore glad to announce that the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) will see her through high school and tertiary education. As we speak, the RTMC will provide a 20 thousand rand sponsorship for her current schooling year at a boarding school.
We are also grateful to our sister departments such as the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Department of Transport, Department of Education, Home Affairs, Social Development and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) as well as Community Care Givers for the role they have played in their various capacities in ensuring a better life for these families. It is also important to note that 30 jobs were created in the process of building these houses.
The role of Msunduzi Municipality cannot be overemphasised for ensuring that we acquire the land to build these houses. It is through your efforts that the Title Deeds will be issued directly to the five families.
In conclusion
As I officially hand over these houses to their new owners, I wish to also mention to the five families who will live in these houses. Please look after them. Take pride in them. Keep the surrounding clean. Because if you do so, it will not only mean a better environment and something good to look at, but it will also mean that the value of your property will increase.
As I conclude, let me also mention that as Government we remain extremely concerned about the current illegal occupation of land in other parts of our country. We would like to emphasise that such practice is indeed unconstitutional and will be met with the full might of the law.
I thank you.
