10 June 2004
Madam Speaker
Allow me on behalf of the Committee to congratulate the Minister of Housing - Comrade Lindiwe Sisulu on her appointment. We have confidence on your ability to deliver, we pledge our support to you Minister, as your success is indeed our success. We do note that you have even received support from our veteran Cde. Mama Albertina Sisulu. Allow me to quote you ma'm "My mother was the first person to congratulate me after the announcement. She was overjoyed and confessed that she now could tell people what my job is." I do welcome the DG of Housing Ms Mpumie Nxumalo and her delegation, distinguished guests from the housing fraternity and honourable members.
On this third democratic parliament it is now 10 years since we began the housing delivery programme, which is directed at improving the living conditions of millions of our people.
The ANC government is reaffirming its commitment to speed up the delivery of basic needs to the poorest of the poor in order to improve the quality of life of our people. In doing so it recognised the importance of a co-ordinated strategy that cut across all sectors and that pays particular attention to rural and disadvantage areas.
The ANC government continued to ensure that all government programmes work together. It also emphasised the need for all stakeholders to play their respective roles in the delivery of houses in order to effectively deal with the backlog that we have inherited from apartheid.
You are fortunate Minister because you will be building on the firm policy foundation laid by your predecessors namely: - the late Cde. Joe Slovo, Cde. Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele and who has won the UN Habitat award on behalf of the government and Cde. Bridgette Mabandla. Our challenge therefore is to use this experience that we have gained, the policies that we put in place and the instruments of state we have created to bring about even greater change than we have achieved in the first 10 years of freedom.
The historic housing accord adopted at Bothabelo bound every significant stakeholder in our society concerned with housing morally and politically in social compact that committed signatories to concerted unified action in addressing the plight of millions left homeless by the legacy of Apartheid.
The White paper for the first time established a long-term strategic framework within which institutional, funding and delivery for housing can be structured and planned from a stable foundation.
The strategy consists of seven key thrusts, which it believed would together expedite the delivery of houses.
The seven elements are: -
1. Stablising the housing environment and normalising of the housing market 2. Housing support 3. Mobilising credit and savings 4. Subsidies 5. Institutional arrangements 6. Land and services 7. Co-ordination of public funding and development activities.
It is a known fact that there are pieces of legislation, which have been put in place to make these strategies a reality.
Madam Speaker, this is why we are very proud of our government's achievements. As we are reaping the fruits of that hard work and not regretting the shortcomings thereof, that needs to be addressed within the next decade of freedom.
Allow me to highlight briefly some of these achievements. More houses were built to accommodate the poor of our country, whom our oppressors had treated as disposable commodities.
The housing subsidy scheme has benefited more than 6 million people. Housing delivery has restored the dignity of people who are property owners for the first time, which they can use as collateral. It is estimated that every house built one permanent and three temporary jobs are created.
The government works closely with the following housing institutions in order to expedite housing delivery. Namely: - Social Housing Foundation, National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), National Housing Finance Corporation (NHFC), Servcon Housing Solutions (Servcon), Thubelitsha Homes, Rural Housing Loan Fund (RHLF), National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency (NURCHA) and the Peoples Housing Partnership Trust (PHPT).
Emerging contractors with support of Nurcha have contributed 54% of the houses delivered, to mention just a few. Despite these resounding achievements more still needs to be done. The needs are enormous but resources are limited as a result of which difficult choices are to be made.
The government's vision of nation housed in sustainable human settlements was to be achieved by establishing and facilitating in collaboration with all stakeholders, a sustainable housing delivery process that provides access to housing with security of tenure options. What is meant by sustainable human settlement? It means that housing delivery can become a catalyst for creating sustainable human settlement. Through housing people can have access to water, electricity, sanitation, clinics, schools and bulk infrastructure. In fact the housing challenge ceases to be just the question of the number of units delivered each year. But that housing delivery and habitation are translated into vehicle to achieve multi-goals and outcomes over and above the requirements for shelter.
The sustainability in housing and human settlement can be understood in terms of four pillars that support sustainable development.
Which states that projects should:
Ø Address environmental challenges Ø They should generate economic empowerment Ø They should enhance social capital Ø They should build institutional capacity
Madam Speaker, section 2 of the Housing Act, 1997, compels all three spheres of government to give priority to the needs of the poor in respect of housing development. We urge our Provinces and Municipalities to focus on developing houses on well located land within access of amenities and overcoming human settlement patterns based on group areas in isolation of the majority from the centres of the economy. Housing development should help to integrate the various population groups. It would be important that Municipalities prioritise in situ development within towns over new green fields developments. Houses should be designed in a manner that is environmentally friendly.
Provinces must take upon themselves the integration of society on non-racial lines. The allocation to provinces has a primary objective of redressing the imbalances of the past within the housing delivery process.
The development of the housing sector plans is one of the responsibilities given to municipalities as part of government integrated sustainable development objective. The Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 requires all municipalities to compile Integrated Development Plans (IDP) that will guide all the planning, budgeting and management decisions. In additions municipalities are required to develop sector plans of which housing is one, which showed from part of IDP's. If IDP's are in place and operational then municipalities will do away with this notion that housing is an unfunded mandate.
Through housing sector plans and integrated planning municipalities will achieve more than just provision of housing. The objective is to use housing to create an environment for local employment, stimulating the local economy, omama benze ibeads kugwetye indlela, addressing the needs of the aged, the disabled and HIV / AIDS affected individuals while nurturing a healthy and environmental friendly conditions.
Through consciously planned housing projects municipalities would also correct the spatial disparities of the apartheid era and ensure that there are integration of housing and of service provision such as infrastructure development, roads and transport, education, health, safety and security facilities, etc.
Planning that involves communities through their representative structures leads to overwhelming acceptance of the plan.
Mphatiswa ndivuya ukuba uyiqaphele into yokuba ezinye zezi zindlu zakhiwayo zincinci kakhulu. Enzinye azina patition 'ezinye ziyaqhekeka. UNHBRC uzakusincedisa kwezi ziqhekekayo. Lonto abakhi abakha izindlu ezingekho mgangathweni akafuneki baphinde bafumane nayiphine icontraka karhulumente. Ngoba wonke ubani kufuneka anyuse umgangatho azimisele ngento ayenzayo. Ukuba akukwazi ukwakha likhona ithuba lokufundiswa cela uncedo ngethuba. Umnyango wezindlu uza kukunceda. Ndifuna ukulumkisa abantu emakhaya. Abantu mabayeke ukusayina ihappy letter kwizindlu ezingazange zihlolwe ziinspectors ezine cracks.
Malunga nobuncinci bezindlu mphatiswa Naku ukwenza ezi zindlu zakhiwa ngumnyango wezindlu. Ingxaki yile ibulk infrastructure, indlela namanzi aphuma kwakule subsidy ibencinci imali eshiyekayo for i top structure. Ukuba i IDP ibisetyenziswa nedepartment zisebenzisana. Kuthi xa kusakhiwa izindlu idepartment yamanzi izenamanzi, idepartment yetransport yakhe indlela nepublic works yakhe izikolo, ipolice station neclinics njalonjalo. Nongxowa bafake igxalaba izindlu ezakhiwayo zingabankulu.
Sithi mazenethole kubantu bomzantsi afrika ngokuvotela iANC. Nangona behlala kwimeko ezibuhlungu. Nimvotele unkongolo kuba niyayazi ukuba nguwowodwa umbutho onokuzifezekisa imfuno zanu. Unithembisa kananjalo ukuba uza kusebenzisana nani ekuhlangabezeni ezingxaki esashiywa nazo ngula rhulumente wocalucalulo .
We thank those women and men who continue saving and building their homes. We urge provinces to assist them so that they can realise their dreams. I'm happy Cde. Minister that you have prioritised the informal settlements on the N2 as this will make the Western Cape a better destination for the soccer world cup 2010.
Let us all work together for a better tomorrow. The ANC supports this budget vote. I thank you.