Prof Nick Kleyn, Head of Gordon Institute of Business Science;
The MEC for Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Honourable Jacob Mamabolo;
Chairperson of Human Settlements Portfolio Committee, Honourable Phutas Tseki;
Executive Mayors and Members of Mayoral Committees; Heads of Departments and other senior officials; Representatives of Rand Water and Eskom;
Developers and private sector representatives;
Community organisations and civil society representatives;
Ladies and gentlemen;
It gives me great pleasure to be part of this Conference where as various stakeholders we will focus our attention on the important subject of Human Settlements and cities in the context of a post-apartheid South Africa.
We look to this conference to develop a common roadmap in our journey towards a new human settlement paradigm, which is a central pillar of a more transformed spatial and economic landscape in Gauteng.
This new paradigm is about planned development, building and sustaining partnerships with the private sector and community participation in all development processes.
The new paradigm also seeks to ensure that all new developments of Human Settlements and post-apartheid cities should be in line with our vision to turn Gauteng into a seamlessly integrated, socially cohesive and economically inclusive City Region; a leading economy in the continent underpinned by sustainable, green and smart industries one which promotes a responsive, clean and transparent government that works in partnership with an active citizenry.
In order to take forward this vision, I tabled a comprehensive programme for the transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation of the Gauteng province, during my first State of the Province Address in June 2014.
On 23 February this year during my second State of the Province Address, we outlined a comprehensive spatial perspective along five development corridors - Central Corridor (City of Joburg), Eastern Corridor (Ekurhuleni Metro), Northern Corridor (City of Tshwane), Western Corridor (West Rand District) and Southern Corridor (Sedibeng District).
We indicated that we are serious in pushing for radical spatial and economic transformation through, among other things, mega Human Settlements and post-apartheid cities and public transport infrastructure.
To us, mega Human Settlement represents a decisive departure from the uncoordinated, small scale, low impact, sporadic as well as unsustainable housing developments.
Our goal must be to achieve diversity in Human Settlements by emphasizing mixed income, high density human settlements that place emphasis on social and economic inclusion as well as promoting spatial justice. This is what we consider spatial transformation, wherein we transform and develop new cities.
Programme Director, it is indeed our intention, over time, to do away with RDP housing developments. Towards this end we are, together with the private sector, implementing large scale, sustainable mega human settlement projects on well-located land with socio economic opportunities.
In addition to this, our direct contribution as government in implementing mega human settlement projects includes the consolidation of current sporadic projects into mega projects of no less than 15 000 units.
We believe that this approach will lead to better management ofour human settlement delivery efforts and will promote social and economic inclusion.
Programme Director, in our view, a post-apartheid city must mirror our overall commitment to a society that is truly equal, where there is expanded access to socio economic opportunities and where there is dignity and prosperity for all.
We take this opportunity to applaud those in the private sector who have embraced our vision of building mega human settlements and post-apartheid cities, and are already implementing this vision.
This conference must pave the way for the faster implementation of the identified cities and for the additional major human settlement developments across the Gauteng City Region.
This conference must also clearly define the roles that will be played by individual stakeholders in human settlement delivery and agree on targets that we will jointly work towards.
As we deliberate at this conference, let us be reminded that Gauteng is home to 13 million people. This number is projected to increase to 15 million by 2020 due to rapid migration and in-migration, among other things.
Let us also be reminded that despite the massive progress we have made over the past twenty-one years to deliver houses to our people, the challenges ahead are equally massive.
We estimate that our human settlement backlog in Gauteng is over 1 million units and the new paradigm and delivery model will help us respond to some of these challenges.
It is significant that this conference will culminate in the signing of a Declaration between us as stakeholders that will bind us to specific and joint action towards the goals we have set for ourselves.
We trust that this Declaration will be the basis upon which we combine our actions towards delivering on the current and future commitments we have made to the people of Gauteng.
This conference, therefore, represents a major step we are taking as stakeholders to strengthen partnerships among ourselves in delivering Human Settlements that are sustainable; settlements that help us make a decisive break with apartheid spatial planning; settlement where our people can live, work, and play.
Programme Director, as we focus on building new mega Human Settlements and cities of the future we will not turn our backs on existing cities and townships.
In this regard we will continue to pay attention to our on-going inner city regeneration initiatives as well as the revitalisation especially of our old townships.
In the State of the Province Address we announced that over the next four years we would, together with the private sector, mobilise more resources towards the revitalisation of inner cities.
Our Township Economy Revitalisation Project will also have a major impact in reshaping the landscape of our townships. Specifically, it will transform our townships into more livable spaces and into new, vibrant and sustainable nodes of economic activity, including manufacturing.
As we implement all of these projects we will, together with the private sector, seek to maximise their impact on our strategic objectives of growing the economy, creating employment, eliminating poverty and reducing inequality.
Accordingly, we will continue to pay attention to the use of labour intensive construction methods, skills development and transfer as well as expanding participation in the entire human settlement delivery value chain.
We estimate that more than 250 000 jobs will be directly created over the next four to fifteen years as we implement our mega Human Settlements projects and build new post- apartheid cities.
Equally, many of these projects are catalytic in nature and their impact will be felt across the Gauteng economy and space.
We will implement these projects in line with and guided by our overall commitment to the transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation of Gauteng.
Ultimately our efforts in building mega human settlements and post-apartheid cities must culminate in decisive spatial transformation, the modernization of our human settlements and urban planning; the modernization of our public transport and other infrastructure and they must assist us in our efforts to accelerate social transformation, support industrialisation and the radical transformation of our economy.
Programme Director, as government we are determined to strengthen partnerships between ourselves and the private sector in the delivery of both social and economic infrastructure.
We are also aware of some of the concerns raised by the It is our view that genuine and lasting partnerships with the private sector as stumbling blocks to increased private sector investment into our economy.
These range from perceived policy uncertainty, to crime and corruption as well as issues related to the labour market.
We fully recognise that about 80% of gross capital formation rests with the private sector.
We note that massive amounts of cash that could be used for investment are currently sitting in the balance sheets of many corporates.
We are also aware that the private sector accounts for more than 70% of total employment in Gauteng.
It is against this background, and despite some of the challenges that exist, that we continue to regard the private sector as our partner in development.
It is our view that genuine and lasting partnerships with the private sector and all other sectors of society are central to the achievement of the goals we have set for ourselves.
Indeed as indicated in the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, it is only through effective partnerships across society that a virtuous cycle of rising confidence, rising investment, higher employment, rising productivity and income can be generated.
It is in this spirit that we will continue to interact and engage with all our stakeholders, including business, labour and communities as we advance towards our shared goals.
Ultimately our objective is to forge a mutually agreed social compact with all stakeholders in Gauteng.
This compact must spell out the specific things we must do individually and jointly to move our province into a new and sustainable growth and development trajectory.
Programme Director, in the coming months we will host a Provincial Infrastructure Investment Summit.
Out of this summit we expect all stakeholders to agree on a road map in ensuring that we accelerate both social and economic infrastructure investment in our province.
Our message at that Summit will be that; Gauteng is open for business; that we stand ready to work with all those who have chosen our province as an investment destination; that we continue to pay attention to reducing the cost and enhancing ease of doing business. This includes the work we are doing with our municipalities to cut the red tape and shorten the time for regulatory approvals, including EIA approvals. It will now take only three months to get an EIA outcome. We are also working hard to improve the integrity of our government systems. This includes the work we are doing to fight corruption and to strengthen transparency within our tendering system.
Programme Director, we look forward to the outcome of this conference.
We trust that from this conference the delivery of human settlements and post-apartheid cities will be greatly enhanced. I wish you a successful conference.
Thank you.
