South Africa knows the role the international community can play in effecting positive change. We remember and appreciate the role played by our international partners in fighting with us against the oppressive apartheid regime and enabling us to proceed along a just path of democracy and freedom.
And while we acknowledge that we still have a way to go in overcoming the legacy of apartheid in terms of addressing the challenges of inequality, marginalisation, underdevelopment, and poverty, we have come a long way in the 18 years of democracy.
Ours is a formidable but not insurmountable mission: to create a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa. Where successive apartheid regimes sought to divide and banish the black majority to the inhabitable margins of society, the democratic government seeks to integrate.
Housing in South Africa is a basic human right enshrined in the Constitution. The State is obliged to ensure, within its available resources, that everyone has access to adequate housing.
The past 18 years of the democratic government saw the State investing about R100 billion, which is about 11,9bn US dollars, in providing over 3.4 million housing opportunities. However, the housing backlog is refusing to diminish as it currently stands at around 2.1 million units and innovative approaches are needed to overcome the high levels of need.
We know we are not alone in facing this particular challenge. And we are also not alone in believing it is a challenge that we must urgently overcome if we want to earnestly tackle the issue of poverty alleviation.
Along with the urgent need for affordable housing, comes the urgent need for infrastructure and for basic services – water, sanitation, electricity.
These needs are great in our country and in many others gathered here today. And we seek to meet these needs in the face of major obstacles in terms of financial constraints, governance and capacity challenges, rapid urbanisation, low economic growth and persisting joblessness.
We know the statistics in terms of global shelter needs. We know the statistics in terms of rapid and increasing urbanisation. We are becoming increasingly aware of the world’s youthful population. We know the persistent challenges of exclusion of women and youth in decision-making.
In light of these challenges in my country and perhaps in yours, what role is there then for South-South co-operation? What action can we take jointly to help one another look to the urban future without shuddering in fear? What actions can we take to address our peoples’ needs and their dreams of a decent quality of life?
Firstly, I think we can agree on a common approach. This common approach is one that is confidently and unapologetically pro-poor and inclusive. We need to acknowledge that people have a right to live free from fear of unfair eviction, crime, poverty, and destitution.
We can go a step further and acknowledge that people have a right to a better life, to enjoy health, education, and economic opportunity, social and cultural activities. We can go even further and agree that people should be engaged in partnership for finding solutions to our challenges.
In the words of President Jacob Zuma, human settlements “is about transforming our cities and towns and building cohesive, sustainable and caring communities with closer access to work and social amenities, including sports and recreation facilities.” Hence South Africa’s Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale says: “Where we live should be where we leisure, where we learn. Where we stay should be where we play, where we pray.”
Secondly, we can commit ourselves jointly to take action with regard to this common approach.
For example the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development was formed in 2005 and has held 4 successful Ministerial Conferences to address the common challenges and agree to concrete steps each country should undertake with regard to housing, slum upgrading, land, financial instruments, access to basic services and climate change.
Action plans have been crafted by us Ministers and every two years we meet to take stock of how far we have come and debate the issues of housing and urban development from a fresh angle. This is a step in the right direction. But I believe it does not go far enough.
We will not achieve success by merely talking to ourselves. We will never achieve the necessary collective and urgent action required to address the challenges of human settlements and the challenges of urbanisation unless we obtain the buy-in of our Heads of State.
We must find more ways of bringing the urban agenda into the spotlight in order to truly make it a global priority. Unless the African Ministers responsible for housing and urban development lobby for the housing and urban agenda to be included in the deliberations of our Heads of State in the African Union, it will not become an African priority.
Unless we bring the urban and housing agenda to attention of the world’s Heads of State, it will not become a global priority. And it needs to become a global priority.
We believe that we should be able to make some headway in this regard under the in-coming Chair of the African Union, Dr Nkosana Dlamini-Zuma, and commit ourselves to assisting the chair of AMCHUD, the Honorable Minister Soita Shitanda in this regard.
South-South Co-operation is not only about agreeing on joint actions and about creating a sense of urgency. South –South Co-operation is also about sharing knowledge. This, Chairperson and colleagues, is therefore my final point:
There is a vast body of knowledge contained in case studies, pilot projects, documented programmes from fellow developing countries all around the world. The experiences of the Philippines or Ghana or Bolivia may be highly relevant to South Africa.
Our technical partners such as UN-HABITAT and our development partners have extended resources and expertise in assisting many of us in policy development and programme implementation in the area of human settlements and urban development. Let us use these to learn from each other.
Let us promote a culture of horisontal learning of learning from each other, of sharing our experiences, both good and bad. South Africa, Brazil and India continue to work on a programme of exchanges with regard to improving our respective efforts in slum upgrading for example.
We could benefit so much from this kind of sharing and it would not require vast resources – the knowledge already exists. We can harvest it for our development.
