Housing Delivery Dialogue

Meeting report

HOUSING PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
05 September 2007
HOUSING DELIVERY DIALOGUE

Chairperson: Ms Z. Kota (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Development Action Group Project [Part 1][Part 2]
South African Women In Construction
Rainbow Housing Project
Thembelihle Housing Project
City of Cape Town Housing Directorate presentation

Audio recording of meeting

SUMMARY:
Five groups briefed the Committee on their work on housing delivery projects. Each group outlined the housing projects in which they were working, the progress made, the challenges faced and the way forward. Common themes were disputes with developers, difficulty in getting positive responses from the local municipality on the issue of land acquisition, and questions of funding. South African Women in Construction indicated that they were established in nine provinces and focused on empowerment of women in the housing and construction industries. It aimed to establish branches in all municipalities, to create jobs, mentor members and assist with negotiation. Training would be linked to projects and organized groups would aid maximum participation. It aimed to complete building 1500 houses in the Newrest area. Members aksed about the involvement of youth and the disabled, questioned the focus of the group, and participation with Peoples Housing Process (PHP) projects.

Thembelihle Housing Project, the Rainbow Housing Project, PHP Newrest and Muzenberg Savings were all projects that consisted of live-in domestic workers who aimed to save and acquire and develop land close to their workplaces. They had all experienced problems in acquiring land, largely due to lack of funding, the desired property being owned by someone else, or inability to find out the owners. All felt that they were being undermined as they could not find out who to approach and one commented that the City of Cape Town was undermining their efforts by not giving due attention to the representations. Members questioned whether the members of these groups knew about the government grants they could apply for, and asked about servicing of the land. Officials from City of Cape Town indicated that there was a problem in that the specific land requested had been earmarked already for other projects. The greatest challenge was affordability. The Committee specifically requested City of Cape Town to investigate matters and report back by the end of October on any progress made.

Development Action Group noted that it was a non-profit organization focusing on housing, settlement and upgrading urban development. It was working throughout South Africa to end poverty and promote integrated urban environments and communities. It had built more than 2500 houses, had managed to attract assistance from the private sector, and had unblocked projects and subsidies. Its challenges included the need for grants and financing, and the setting of policy and procedures around the traditional and managed peoples housing process housing.

The Department noted that it aimed to assist low income earners to build houses and upgrade urban development, set out the achievements over the past few months and stated that it was prepared to support innovative approaches at a municipal and provincial level to encourage PHP delivery. The Department was asked to investigate and report back to the Committee on the disconnection of water at a particular project.

MINUTES
South African Women in Construction (SAWIC) Briefing
Ms Nomsa Skweyiya, Chairperson: Western Cape, South African Women in Construction, gave an overview of the objectives of the group, the stakeholders involved, their approach and the partners they were involved with. She noted that the organization was launched in 1997 and funded and supported by the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA). It was established in all nine provinces . The main purpose was to alleviate poverty and uplift the standards of living for the low income groups. It would also enhance the role of women in the construction and housing industry. It aimed to establish networks, partnerships and joint ventures, to establish branches in all municipalities, to create jobs, mentor members and assist with negotiation. The stakeholders and partnerships were set out in the attached presentation.

Ms Skweyiya indicated that SAWIC aimed to establish a partnership with each municipality and to set up a peoples housing process (PHP) centre. Training would be linked to projects and organized groups would aid maximum participation. IN the Newrest project, SAWIC was working with the stakeholders National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), City of Cape Town and Thubelisha Homes. It had identified a project manamgement company and this was to raise funds for appointment of a CEO. Members would work for the company and get a salary and share dividends. The PHP groups would be supported, and they would be encouraged to go for training to NHBRC. SAWIC would also train them on home ownership. Other stakeholders such as the banks were showing interest in supporting and assisting. The project aimed to complete building 1500 houses in the Newrest area..

Discussion
A Member of the Committee asked why disabled people and the youth were not included specifically in the development plans. He further asked how many women had been capacitated as independent builders and trainers for this project, and whether the municipalities were involved. He also asked whether SAWIC had been made aware that some individuals were not in favour of the PHP project.

Ms Skweyiya replied that 23 youth contractors were involved, and they had made progress towards building a department of their own, and even had purchased a vehicle, and were doing well for themselves. There were also a number of disabled people working on the Information Technology side, and they too were doing well.

Mr A Steyn (DA) expressed his concern that SAWIC was a group of a number of offices, and that he feared that much resources and infrastructure would be needed before benefits would accrue. He expressed the idea that it would be better to integrate this organisation with other existing projects instead of starting a new project altogether. HE wondered what the participation or integration was with the PHP projects.

Ms Skweyiya replied that SAWIC was not attempting to integrate with other parties, but rather intended to be independent. It would also, as a larger group, be able to oversee projects, undergo training and be established. SAWIC stated that there was not a great deal of trust in the sector, and therefore SAWIC had changed its focus on assisting communities, which was why it was starting the PHP project.

A member asked how SAWIC would make profits and who it would be involved with.

Ms Skweyiya replied that to make profit in PHP, there was a need to build a certain number of houses, and that this project was involving 1500 houses. There was also a need to go to the N2 Gateway Project and talk with the groups involved there.

A member noted that the presentation had mentioned starting with 200 women. He wanted to know whether this figure would last throughout, or if the figures were likely to drop.

Ms Skweyiya replied that these 200 women already had houses so they wanted to assist and reproduce their work with other houses. They intend to form a consortium to develop and help other people.

Mr G Schneeman (ANC)noted that when PHP started years ago the focus was primarily to benefit people, so that they could build houses for themselves. It seemed that this focus had shifted because now there were 200 women who wanted to build houses for other people.

Ms Skweyiya replied that the focus and slogan of SAWIC was always to empower women. There had been no shift away from this focus.

Mr Steyn asked why, if all the provincial groupings had been established, there was currently a concentration on the Western Cape alone.

Ms Skweyiya replied that she was the Chairperson for the Western Cape and as such primarily focused on her own province.

Thembelihle Housing Project Briefing
Ms S Mbejani, Secretary, Thembelihle Housing Project, indicated that this organisation comprised about a hundred liive-in domestic workers. Its members from Claremont, Wynberg and Rondebosch met regularly in a church and put money aside so as to build houses for themselves. This movement was launched seven years ago. At the moment all were employed at living-in situations at their employers' homes and expressed their need for privacy, space and the fact that they were exploited by their employers, for instance being asked to do babysitting when off duty. They would like to restore their dignity and build houses for themselves and had tried to create opportunities for space and land, by calling upon bodies such as the City of Cape Town for assistance. Several attempts to obtain land had been unsuccessful due to a lack of funding. The members of Thembelihle Housing Project felt undermined by the City of Cape Town as they were domestic workers. The Council had not attended their meetings nor made an effort to hear them out. There seemed to be more problems between the municipality and the provincial government in terms of releasing land for the local housing projecs, and the lack of modeling and non-development of financial instruments to help people in these attempts were not assisting. Most of the domestic workers were earning less than R3 500 and they felt that their social development projects were not taken seriously.

Discussion
Mr G Schneerman (ANC) congratulated these women for the initiative they are taken and wanted to know if they were aware of the existence of government grants available to them. He also expressed disappointment that they were facing challenges with regard to getting attention from officials.

The Chairperson made it clear that what these groups wanted was land, and they needed cooperation from the provincial governments and the municipality, and nothing was being done. They did not need to create another financial instrument; what they were in fact seeking was a plot of land near their workplaces so as to integrate with the community.

A government official present at the meeting said that the problem was one of opening land. The land that this group had requested in Claremont was already earmarked for another project. Although there was space available elsewhere, physical constraints made it difficult to develop. Land outside the urban area was a problem with the municipality, but there was some progress in developments there. The greatest challenge was affordability because land in the urban area was expensive. The Department was happy to sit down and engage with these groups.

An executive from the Housing Department stated that she had been involved directly with the project since early 2006. She had indicated that Pam Golding Properties were happy to spearhead the initiative. The Rainbow Group was invited to talk about these problems but the beneficiaries did not come back. The Department had had some personnel problems, which had made the follow-up a little difficult, but was happy to assist with them.

The Chairperson expressed her disappointment in the City of Cape Town which made a lot of commitments and did not honour them. She said that by the end of October there was a need for positive results. The financial instruments were available, and government could assist these people. She wondered if the group had been dealing with the right people; now, however, they were made aware of who they should contact.

Ms Mbejani clarified that the land was near the railway between Pamville Road and Stegman Road.

The Rainbow Housing Co operative Briefing
A member of the Rainbow Housing Cooperative noted that this organisation was made up of live-in domestic workers in the Atlantic Ocean line.. These include gardeners, security guards and waitresses. It was formed operated and registered in 1991. The members had joined ownership schemes with equal rights and obligations and were shareholders in their company. They had saving schemes and ha acquired sponsors. Their objective was to empower women to develop skills and talents and build houses for themselves. They had made efforts to talk with the City of Cape Town to find available land for them, but to no avail. They had been told that the land they wanted was owned by someone else, but they had so far not been able to establish who owned this land. They stated that they wished to build housing in the areas where they worked as their salaries did not permit them to live elsewhere and travel far each day.

Discussion
Mr Steyn asked whether these members were listed on the Provincial Housing Subsidiary waiting list.

The group member replied that they were not registered there, but on the Beaufort housing list, and that they were still waiting for their red cards.

The Departmental representative indicated that the Department was trying to assist these people by developing houses in Observatory, and that she would engage with them, and follow through.

A member of the Committeee indicated that discussions with the Rainbow Group had indicated that its members could not afford to be placed in the areas suggested by the Department. There were substantial affordability challenges.

The Chairperson commented that it seemed the government was excluding domestic workers from help. The new Bill that would shortly be passed should take account of these problems and challenges and try to incorporate the needs of the people in the planning. The municipal structures, especially City; of Cape Town, was saying that it was working for domestic workers, but at present had no solution and they felt undermined. With the social development project, 20% should be put aside to cater for these domestic workers.

Mr D Mabena (ANC) hoped that the work expected would be done.

Mr Steyn expressed that all branches of government needed to work together as one to solve these problems.

Muzenberg Savings Group oral submission
This savings group started in 1998 and was made of live-in domestic workers, who wished to locate and build on land close to their places of employment. They had been able to locate an 18 hectare piece of land and the City of Cape Town inspected it to see whether it could be released to them. However, there was a land claim of 5 hectares over portion of that land. The group had been discussing the issue with the Land Claims Commission, who had not been particularly helpful, but now a Mrs Togo had been very helpful with regard to acquiring the land.

Discussion
Mr Steyn asked if there was any infrastructure near the land, or any provision for services like electricity and water.

The group member replied that there was no infrastructure but the government has promised R1 million to develop infrastructure around the area. It was noted that the land was near the railway line.

PHP Newrest oral submission:
[PMG note: This submission was made in Xhosa and no translator was provided]

The entire conversation was held in Xhosa but the Chairperson summarised that the aims and challenges of this group were similar to those expressed by the other groups.

Development Action Group submission
A member of the Development Action Group stated that this group had been in existence since 1986. It was a non-profit organization focused on housing, settlement and upgrading urban development. It was working throughout South Africa to end poverty and promote integrated urban environments and communities. It was happy to report that it had built more than 2500 houses, had managed to attract assistance from the private sector and had unblocked ten projects and released 2000 subsidies. It summarised the difference in approaches between a contractor house and a self-help house. Challenges faced included the need for grants and finance, and the setting of policy and procedures that should distinguish between managed PHP and traditional forms of PHP.

Discussion
Mr Steyn (asked where the organization obtained its funding.

The group member replied that it obtained funding from European churches, the People Housing Trust Committee and the savings of members of the group.

A Committee Member asked how large the houses would be.

The group member replied that there were two sizes: 36 and 44 square metre houses.

Department of Housing Briefing:
Mr Maqutuka, Department of Housing, gave a presentation updating the Committee on the housing delivery project, its aims, objectives and progress. He noted that the Department aimed to assist low income earners to build houses and upgrade urban development. He noted the achievements over the past few months, and what the department was aiming to do over the forthcoming months. talked about what they have been able to do so far and what they are hoping to achieve in the next few months (see attached presentation). The Department was prepared to support innovative approaches at a municipal and provincial level to encourage PHP delivery. They would continue to play a strong monitoring and evaluating role to the needy.

Discussion
The Chairperson indicated that she had been appalled by reports on the disconnection of water at a particular housing development soon after handover by the Minister, and asked Mr Kotsoane to provide a deadline for the fixing of the problem.

The meeting was adjourned.