Chairperson, unfortunately this Bill is not going to be as exciting as the previous one. I think too much excitement for a day might not be too good for us. It's a fairly straightforward Bill. It's an amending Bill.
Against the background of unprecedented urbanisation and population growth, both of which have resulted in an enormous demand for housing, the Department of Housing has come to recognise the critical importance of the rental option. Accordingly, the department places stress on the efficient functioning of the rental housing market. It is in our interest that we ensure that this sector is given all the support we can give while, at the same time, ensuring that sufficient protection exists for the tenant. Having been sensitised about some of the problems of existing legislation, we have taken the necessary steps to amend it. Following Cabinet approval of the Rental Housing Amendment Bill in December last year, a consultative process was undertaken on the objectives of the Bill. A publication of the Bill was made in the Government Gazette in the same month for comments. Subsequently, it was revised, based on the comments that we have received. It has now been brought here to this House for further deliberation and approval.
Principally, the Bill seeks to make necessary amendments to the Rental Housing Act of 1999, where in particular it seeks to widen the definition of what constitutes unfair practice in the rental housing market. Thus, the insertion of a very important provision which states, and I quote:
In advertising a dwelling for purposes of leasing it, or in negotiating a lease with a prospective tenant, or during the term of a lease, a landlord may not unfairly discriminate against such prospective tenant or tenants, or the members of such tenants household or the bona fide visitors of such a tenant, on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.
In addition to the above, the Rental Housing Amendment Bill endeavours to address certain implementation problems which we have encountered since the promulgation of the Act in 1999 by effecting the following amendments.
Section 5 of the Act is amended to clarify aspects pertaining to the issuing of receipts by the landlord and the payment of deposits by tenants; the provisions pertaining to the composition of the Rental Housing Tribunals, as contained in section 9, are amended; section 13 of the Act is amended to allow Rental Housing Tribunals to make a ruling that a person must comply with the provisions of the Act and to provide that rulings by Rental Housing Tribunals must be enforced in terms of the Magistrates' Courts Act of 1944; and section 15 of the Act is amended to empower the Minister to make regulations, whereas in the past this power was vested in the MECs - this amendment has been necessitated by the need to ensure uniformity throughout the country with regard to procedures followed by the Rental Housing Tribunals as well as rulings made by them.
It is our view that these changes will bring about much-needed uniformity in the rental housing market which will enable it to be a dominant feature of resolving some of our problems.
As the consultations over the Bill have revealed, our interaction with the housing sector shows that the sector approves of and is ready to accept these changes. We want to catapult rental housing so that it is on par with the best in the market, as the rest of the world enjoys today. We are sure that it is possible for us to use this hugely untapped capacity - the potential of this rental sector - as a major provider of affordable rental housing accommodation that should not be underestimated.
In short, the Bill seeks to strike a balance between the security required by the landlord and the important rights of the tenant. It further seeks to curtail abuse of power by the landlord. The necessary steps have to be taken to seek recourse. It makes for a fairer instrument and we want to commend it to this House. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Chairperson, Ministers, comrades and colleagues, I greet you this afternoon. Allow me, Chairperson, to congratulate the Minister of Housing, Dr Lindiwe Sisulu, on the building of houses in Gugulethu-New Rest during the month of August - the women's month - particularly the fact that you said that volunteers should form themselves into a consortium so that they could participate effectively in the building of houses. Let me also thank SA Women in Construction, Sawic, for spearheading this process.
The Rental Housing Amendment Bill before Parliament is aimed at amending the Rental Housing Act, Act 50 of 1999. The Rental Housing Bill intends to make further provision for rulings by the Rental Housing Tribunals; to expand the provisions pertaining to leases and to extend the period allowed for the filling of vacancies in the Rental Housing Tribunals; and to provide for matters connected therewith, as well as to broaden the ambit of the definition of unfair practice.
Section 2(1) of the principal Act states that the government must promote a stable and growing market that progressively meets the latest demand for affordable rental housing among persons who were historically disadvantaged by unfair discrimination through the introduction of incentives, mechanisms and other measures that are aimed at improving conditions in the rental housing market; to encourage investment in urban and rural areas; to correct the distorted patterns of residential settlement by initiating, promoting and facilitating new developments in or the redevelopment of affected areas.
It is important therefore to note that this amendment will assist in the implementation of the Social Housing Bill, whose intention is to fast-track the building of rental housing stock. It will also create a conducive environment for rental households, particularly as far as the relations between landlords and tenants are concerned.
This amendment, in particular, will also facilitate sound relations between tenants and landlords as it prohibits landlords from performing unlawful lockouts of tenants. It also prohibits them from shutting off basic services such as water and electricity to the rental housing properties. But it states as well that tenants must also honour their obligations to pay rent and the good maintenance of rental housing properties.
According to this amendment, the issue of bona fide visitors will be left to the discretion of Rental Housing Tribunals. This amendment states very clearly that the issue of evictions must be referred by the Rental Housing Tribunals to competent courts. Competent courts must deal with this so that the Rental Housing Tribunals themselves do not deal with the issue of evictions but the orders they grant must be executed by competent courts.
What has been reported to the committee, in particular, is the fact that many of the orders granted have not been carried out by the judiciary. This is an area that needs our continued engagement with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in order to find out what the problem is, because the inability to act timeously renders the work of Rental Housing Tribunals ineffective.
In our visits as a committee to the Rental Housing Tribunals in the Western Cape, it became clear that more resources were needed to deal with the backlog. But what also became clear was that both tenants and landlords did not take these Rental Housing Tribunals seriously, particularly the respondents or the plaintiff. Some of them did not keep their appointments. This is a resource provided free of charge by government to these beneficiaries to resolve conflicts that arise between landlords and tenants. It is important that those affected make use of this mechanism for the speedy resolution of any conflict that arises from this relationship.
One of the challenges faced by the Rental Housing Tribunals is that of filling vacancies. The Act states that it should be done within a period of a month. This creates difficulties in getting competent people to fill these vacancies. This is why this amendment states that we recommend doing so within a period of three months.
Somlomo, mninzi umsebenzi owenziwa ngala maziko alawula uxambuliswano phakathi kwabaqeshi bezindlu kunye nabaninimzi, kodwa bakwabaninzi nabantu abangalufumaniyo uncedo kuwo, ngoba abawazi la maziko, kwaye urhulumente uzizisa simahla ebantwini ezi nkonzo. Kuyafuneka siwuqaphele kakhulu umba wabantu abangathathi ntweni nabahlawula amaxabiso aphezulu erente phaya ezilokishini.
Ngoba kaloku aba abantu baqashisa abantu abangaziintsapho ezisuka kwisibhozo ukuya kwishumi kwindlu emagumbi mane kuphela. Bathini ngemeko yokuba abantu abahlala apha bahlamba njani, kwaye baphila njani kulo mbodamo, ngoba maxawambi aba baqeshisi okanye oomastandi bona abahlali nalapho, kwaye abanankathalo ngabantu? Loo nto ibeka iimpilo zabantu esichengeni ngoko masiwuqaphele loo mkhwa.
Nokuba uhamba phaya ematyotyombeni kuxinene ngoba oomasitandi bona bafuna nje imali abacingi ngabantu. Abacingi nokuba umlilo ungavela, nto leyo engadala abantu abaninzi baphulukane nemiphefumlo yabo. Xa kutshe abantu bona baza kutyhola urhulumente nangona ingabo abantu abathatha ezi mali zingekho mthethweni.
Iyafuneka kakhulu intsebenziswano phakathi kwabantu, ooceba kunye neenkokheli zasekuhlaleni ukuze senze impilo engcono yawo wonke ubani. Urhulumente kaKhongolozi uthe qgolo ukwakhela abantu izindlu, kodwa akakwazi ukwakhela wonke umntu ngexesha elinye. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, Rental Housing Tribunals have a lot of work to resolve conflicts between tenants and landlords but there are also many people who do not get help from these institutions and the reason is that they do not know about them and that Government offers these services for free to the public. We must take note of poor people who cannot afford rentals which are very high in our townships.
Landlords give their tenants small four-roomed houses and do not care how many people occupy a house, and these numbers usually range between eight and ten family members. In many cases landlords are not responsible for the needs of the tenants and sometimes they are not around to take care of them. Tenants find themselves in dangerous situations and all of us must be cautious about this bad behaviour.
In informal settlements shacks are very close together and there is hardly any space between shacks and the landlords are not worried about that as they are interested in the money. They do not think about fires which can destroy the entire settlement and result in the death of people. When the problem arises they blame government when they are the ones who benefit illegally from the rentals.
Co-operation between the public, community leaders and councillors is necessary in order that everybody can enjoy a better life. The ANC-led government will continue to build houses for people but not all at the same time.]
The Rental Housing Tribunals are still addressing the problems of these few people who are aware of this avenue. This amendment is aimed at strengthening the provisions of the Rental Housing Tribunals and to assist them in executing their mandate. The South African Department of Housing has eight years left to meet its objective of having a nation free of slums by 2014, and this is a deadline it intends to meet.
In his 2007 state of the nation address, President Thabo Mbeki said that government remained committed to intensifying the integrated housing programme. Furthermore, the President emphasised the need to speed up the eradication of informal settlements in South Africa, in line with the Millennium Development Goals of 2015. He added that this fast-tracking must integrate communities and build a nonracial society.
So, this piece of legislation, together with all other related pieces of legislation, will assist the Rental Housing Tribunals in addressing the challenges of rental households. The ANC supports this amendment. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, hon members, the original Rental Housing Act, Act 50 of 1999, provides for the establishment of provincial rental housing tribunals, through which conflicts between tenants and landlords can be speedily resolved and at a minimum cost to the parties.
The Act went so far as to confer the powers of a magistrate's court on the Rental Housing Tribunals and that is: a ruling by the tribunal is deemed to be an order of a magistrate's court, in terms of the Magistrate's Court Act of 1944.
However, once an order has been granted, it is then up to the justice system to implement and enforce such an order. The lack of enforcement of such an order has been identified as one of the shortcomings of the Act.
Another shortcoming identified was in the composition of the tribunals. The Act provides for a chairperson and deputy chairperson to be appointed by the relevant MEC. Due to the fact that the tribunal members are not full- time appointees, it has been experienced, on occasion, that both the chairperson and the deputy chairperson have been absent from a scheduled hearing, and therefore the hearing had to be postponed.
The Rental Housing Amendment Bill before us for approval today seeks to specifically broaden the definition of what constitutes an unfair practice, and the Minister referred to it. It also seeks to make further provisions for rulings by rental tribunals; to expand the provisions pertaining to leases; to extend the period allowed for the filling of vacancies in the tribunals.
It must be noted at this point that rental tribunals have not, to date, been established in all nine provinces. Nevertheless, it is encouraging that they have indeed been established in the most populous urban provinces and are reported to be working particularly well in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
It is also interesting to note that the number of cases handled by the tribunals has escalated exponentially despite very little, if any, marketing done by the tribunals to advertise their services.
Another housing-related Bill - the Social Housing Bill - is scheduled to be tabled before this House in October. The effectiveness or otherwise, as the case may be, of the outcomes achieved with the Social Housing Bill, will have a direct bearing on the workload and efficiency of the rental tribunals.
I make this statement because the aim of the Social Housing Bill is to promote the supply of rental housing. It therefore goes without saying that the role of the tribunals will become more important as the objectives of the Social Housing Bill become a reality.
I briefly want to touch on some of the amendments before us, one of which is of section 13 of the Act, which states that a ruling by the tribunal is deemed to be an order of a magistrate's court. Unfortunately, the shortcomings related to the implementation of such orders cannot be addressed in this Bill. It has to be done in the justice cluster, and I appeal to the Minister to liaise with that cluster in this regard.
What is of concern to me, however - and the Housing department has not commented on this at all - is this: One of the submissions by a magistrate indicated that the magisterial powers given to tribunals were a violation of section 170 of the Constitution. Indeed, he suggested that "a tribunal is not a court and cannot in this clandestine manner obtain that status". The State Law Advisers did not concur, and this clause was amended by adding a subclause that said, "The tribunal does not have jurisdiction to hear applications for eviction orders."
The committee also inserted a clause giving the members of the tribunal the authority to elect a temporary chairperson for the purposes of a hearing if both the designated chairperson and deputy chairperson are absent.
The amending Bill before us addresses the shortcomings identified over which it has jurisdiction, and the DA therefore supports the Bill as amended. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chair, hon Minister, I am just a carbon paper for my colleague who unfortunately cannot be here to take part in this debate.
However, the IFP supports this Bill because it protects the rights of both landlords and tenants. We hope that this will resolve difficulties which are experienced between the two and lead to a better understanding and working relationship. The other arguments are reserved, but we support the Bill. Thank you.
Chairperson, hon Ministers and hon members, the Bill before us seeks to address certain shortcomings in the Rental Housing Act of 1999, such as widening the definition of an unfair practice.
The Bill seeks to clarify and extend the powers and functions of the tribunals with regard to eviction orders, rulings that a person must comply with the Act, the power of the tribunals to issue spoliation and attachment orders and interdicts, and that rulings by tribunals must be enforced in terms of the Magistrates' Courts Act. These important amendments will hopefully improve the functioning of the tribunals and the level of redress they can offer.
Another important matter addressed in the Bill is to shift the power of making regulations from the provincial level to the national level. The intention is to ensure uniformity in procedures and the rulings made by various tribunals. The UDM supports this Bill. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Thank you, Chairperson. Our national Constitution enshrines that everyone is entitled to adequate housing. With respect to South Africa's state of poverty, it is a harsh reality that a large number of South Africans are living in informal settlements with minimum access to basic services.
On another level, South Africans who do not have the means to own homes but rather have to rent also find themselves in financial difficulties in keeping up with rentals. In other instances, it is the landlord who is often compromised and with stringent eviction laws they often suffer a loss. Either way, the MF finds it crucial that the landlord-tenant relationship, be it private or public, is governed by legislation.
In respect of the amending Bill, the MF is supportive of all provisions, but would like the department to look into body corporates that often, with no legal authority, exercise rights over tenants and the occupancy of rental property.
There has been much aggression by persons awaiting state housing as well as by residents of informal settlements who are often relocated. We ask why the government has only opted to build freestanding houses, and not flats and apartments.
Government has a number of properties that are not in use. The MF suggests and appeals to the government that it investigate utilising these government properties that may be converted into flats for temporary or long-term occupancy. Minister, we hope that you look into this matter as well. The MF supports the Rental Housing Bill. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister and members, the demand for rental housing will be on the increase, with an expected 81 000 units needed per annum. As more people turn to the renting of property, the role of the Rental Housing Tribunals becomes critical to ensure that the tenants and landlords enjoy the best possible benefits rental housing can offer.
Controls on rental housing must be strengthened to protect residents against the drug trade and criminal elements. The effective functioning of the Rental Housing Tribunals is required if a fair and reasonable practice is to be enforced upon both tenants and landlords. The tribunals should be given sufficient authority, in co-operation with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, to enforce orders of eviction when required to do so.
Our courts are overstressed with case backlogs. It would be in the best interests of the relevant parties that the tribunals be given reasonable powers to effect efficient and timely justice in cases of any unlawful or unfair practice. The FD believes that the rental housing sector must be protected with the best legal framework possible and we, therefore, wholeheartedly support the Rental Housing Amendment Bill. I thank you.
Thank you very much, Deputy Chair. My Whips and I are in complete agreement that this is a very good note on which to end this session of Parliament where there is complete agreement between ourselves and opposition parties. I would like to thank everybody for their participation. I think we have had a very good session on this Bill.
I would like to say to the member of the MF that we are dealing with the matter you raised. I think the hon Steyn did say that there is a follow-up Bill, the Social Housing Bill, which will deal very directly with that.
We are extremely seized with this matter. Comrade Zo, this could only mean that your steering of this committee is a very good indication of things to come, and I am very grateful to you and to all the members here. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time.
The Bill will be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence. Before going to Member Statements, the Deputy Chief Whip of the Majority Party has requested an opportunity to move a motion. I now grant him that opportunity.