SPEECH DELIVERED BY MS N DAMBUZA IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ON BUDGET VOTE 29 - HOUSING

Chairperson
Honourable Members
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to be given an opportunity to take part on this budget vote (Vote 29 - Housing)

One feels proud to mention that the prime focus of the government, is to build a caring and people centred society, In order to address the current and future housing challenges to house the nation in a sustainable human settlement, government has created various opportunities to all role players in hosing including the consumers to participate in housing programmes and activities.

The people's contract of the African National Congress spells out clearly the movement's commitment to the alleviation of poverty and housing is amongst the key fundamental aspects in service delivery component that will contribute to the reduction of poverty in this country. It is important to note that, government has adopted quiet a number of legislative and policy guides that inform the strategic management on the implementation of the National Housing Development process to redress the apartheid legacy: just to mention a few that relates more to budget programme, in ensuring adherence to norm and standards: -

• Sec 26 - The Constitution of RSA (Act 108 of 1996)
• The National Housing Act (107 of 1997)
• The Housing Consumer's Protection Measures Act 1998, which provides for the establishment of a statutory body for homebuilders.
• The National Housing Code 2000 that sets out Norms and Standards in respect of quality housing development.

Madam Chair, It is also imperative to mention that, equitable access to adequate and sustainable housing for all and secure accommodation within the context of access to services, social amenities and economic opportunities has always been an integral part of our government. Although government has attained a huge progress in housing delivery for the past decade, it is of very importance to highlight a couple of persistent shortcomings in the National Housing programme as a result of limited capacity to take up new programme and make adjustments to existing programme by various stakeholders:-

• The inconsistent quality of the subsidised housing products and residential environments (expand in Xhosa).
• Consumers not well vested about their rights and roles to play (XHOSA)

These challenges drew the attention of the present Minister Cde Lindiwe Sisulu who actually came up with a reviewed accelerated service delivery strategy and she has adopted five (5) pillars that will ensure provision of improved quality housing, for instance:- To embark on emergency housing delivery of: " BUILDING GOOD QUALITY HOUSING" THAT ENHANCES THE DIGNITY OF OUR PEOPLE. In a nutshell, this means a shift from proving shelter but building sustainable human settlements.

In my view -------- the current budget allocation seeks to address the challenges that have been identified, hence the department focus is increasing on making:

1. Policy adjustments and research
2. Integrated development that promotes efficiency and offers better access to job opportunities and proving social amenities in housing environments, including expanded public works programmes.

The following programmes are in place to ensure implementation of the new policy shift in government and strategy in order to achieve the objective of the government.

• Strengthen capacity in all spheres of government and introduce a centralised, co-ordinated and integrated information system.
• Extensive Housing Consumer Education programme has been initiated in several provinces as a pilot project, and we need to instil culture of savings and pride in house ownership in beneficiary communities.
• Improving traditional building Mechanism.
• Comprehensive Communication and education campaigns to the public on their rights etc.
• Strengthen capacity in housing institution - The extension of the National Home Builders Registration Council's warranty to the subsidised upmarket will also ensure better quality products. Houses delivered through project linked subsidies are now cove by NHBRC structural warranty cover of 5 years and are subject to its warranty inspection process. This warranty is also extended to houses provided under all other subsidy mechanism including people's Housing Process (PHP's)
• Build capacity on emerging contractors
• Improve subsidy administrative systems to eliminate maladministration and mis-management and also prevent subsidy fraud by individuals. (Xhosa)
• Evaluation and monitoring of policies include visits to the housing development. Close evaluation of builders to ensure that they abide by the contractual agreements, and strengthen reporting systems.
• The DPT has also initiated a scholarship programme for matriculants who wish to persue a career in housing in order to develop the required skills in the sector - a housing sector skills plan is envisaged to be completed during 2004.
• The development and management of a "Code of professional practice: for housing practitioners and co-ordinating standards to ensure that the sector becomes more professional.

IN CONCLUSION

Having identified all the challenges facing government in regard housing development, the present Minister has resolved to strengthen the partnership with other social clusters and other department to streamline developmental needs.