Order! Hon members, I want to welcome the hon Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, who will introduce this subject on behalf of the Minister of Housing.
Chairperson, hon members, I suppose Home Affairs and Housing are almost the same with not much difference. I was in China some time ago and was advised by one Chinese gentleman that I met there, when he was told that I was a Deputy Minister of Home Affairs; he advised me to keep my affairs as far away from home as possible. [Laughter.]
Chairperson, I am privileged on behalf of the Minister of Housing, the hon Lindiwe Sisulu, to table this amendment Bill before this august House. This Bill is important in that it addresses itself to the measures to protect the rights and interests of housing consumers.
The Bill seeks to rectify certain interpretations and implementation problems encountered since the promulgation of the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act, 95 of 1988. It addresses the issues of the owner- builders and clarifies the application of the Act with regard to this category of builders.
Owner-builders are persons who build homes for occupation by themselves and as such do not necessarily need protection against shoddy workmanship by the builders. In the amendment, allowance is made for the late enrolment and the non-declared late enrolment of houses. Such being houses enrolled with the National Home Builders Registration Council after construction has already started as against the desired prerequisite that houses must be enrolled with the council prior to the commencement of the construction. In the past these issues were dealt with in regulations and they are not defined in the Act.
The Bill provides for the insertion of a definition of late enrolment and makes specific provision thereafter in clause 14(a). Definitions for the National Housing Code and the People's Housing Process projects have also been inserted as they are contained in substantive provisions proposed in the Bill.
Section 7 of the Act dealing with measures that the council and the Minister may prescribe is amended in order to include measures pertaining to late enrolment, nondeclared enrolment and late enrolment fees. A new section 10A is being inserted to enable owner-builders to apply for exemption from section 10 - that is, with regard to registration of homebuilders, and section 14. A new section 14A is inserted to provide for and to regulate late enrolment and nondeclared late enrolment.
Section 17 of the Act is amended in order to extend the cover provided by the council's warranty scheme to include roof leaks and to enable the council under certain circumstances to make payment to the housing consumer in final settlement of a claim.
The list of the contraventions in the Act that constitute offences, as set out in section 21 of the Act, is amended to include the section 18(2) duty of a conveyancer to ensure that a home builder is registered before attending to the registration of a bond.
Section 22 of the Act is being amended by the insertion of a new subsection that enables persons who are aggrieved by a decision of the council in terms of section 29 to lodge an appeal with the Minister. This is necessitated by the amendment of section 29. Section 29 is also being amended to allow the council to grant or refuse applications for exemption currently in the power of the Minister.
This is necessitated by the amendment of section 29. A safeguard in the form of an appeal process is, however, built into section 22 of the Act in order to ensure that exemptions are not refused unreasonably.
The Bill was published for public comment on 25 August 2006.
Invitations were also extended to various institutions, including the National Home Builders Registration Council, the Banking Association of South Africa, all the major banks, the national Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the nine provincial housing departments, the SA Local Government Association, the Master Builders Association, the Building Industry Federation of South Africa and the SA Property Owners' Association. Thank you. [Applause.]
I will now call upon the hon B J ... I mean, R J Tau, the chairperson of the select committee. [Interjections.]
Chairperson, I've observed that I've been given the name of B J, but nevertheless, it's OK. [Interjections.] No, the smoking debate is over now. [Laughter.]
Chairperson, hon members and comrades, as we present this piece of legislation before this House for adoption, perhaps it would also be important for us to remind ourselves of the fact that it is this very same House that adopted the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, Act 95 of 1998, hereafter known as the principal Act.
It was as a result of that Act that the Minister of Housing was able to establish an institution referred to as the National Home Builders' Registration Council, with the sole mandate of protecting housing consumers and in this instance the poor. In terms of section 14 of the Act, all houses of which construction commenced after 1 December 1999 should have been enrolled in or registered with the NHBRC in a manner prescribed in the Act.
It is worth noting that this Act was not passed in this House first by mistake. It was as a result of a commitment that our government had made to our people in 1994. It was a further reminder of, and also consistent with the Freedom Charter's clause that states that there shall be houses, security and comfort. At the passing of this Act we knew very well that the Freedom Charter did not say there shall be houses with structural defects and leaking roofs, or unsafe and unfinished houses for all, hence the enactment of the Act.
The Act was also consistent with the Reconstruction and Development Programme and the election manifesto of 1994, which in the main called on government for a commitment to build houses for all our people. Through that commitment it was not just a question of building houses or structures, but building homes for our people, for whom such structures would restore the dignity of our people and reassure them of their humanness and their pride.
However, albeit with good intentions, the bad still surfaced its head, even with the existence of that Act. Like any other piece of legislation, there are those who at times will be left out and there are those people who will at all times seek to find ways of bypassing the law and continue with their ill deeds.
It is worth noting that at the national level we've seen many unfinished houses, and houses built and finished with major structural defects; we've also heard of contractors who just vanished without even having started on a single house, and worst of all, you then find the NHBRC, established for purposes of protecting the poor and the weak, being left extremely powerless, owing to the fact that in most cases these contractors are not even registered with the council, therefore leaving the poor and the vulnerable with these kinds of houses, and as a result a bad image is then created of our government.
As a result of the above observations the Minister has found it necessary to make amendments to the principal Act of 1998. In the main, the amendments seek to protect and further extend the protection that was found in the principal Act in order to protect the poor and vulnerable against unscrupulous home builders in our country and, furthermore, to give some more clarity to some definitions, for instance the inclusion of unregistered home builders such as the unemployed youth and women.
Noting that this is a section 76 Bill, we had to take our people along in the process of these amendments, because they are the major beneficiaries.
The House will note that for this year Parliament adopted a theme that says Masijule Ngengxoxo Mzansi, which in the main reinforces the principle as expressed in the Freedom Charter that says the people shall govern. As a result, as a committee, we held public hearings in most provinces, except for one province, of course. Through this exercise our people were able to make their voices heard on the said amendments. It was during these hearings that it became clear that our people expressed their profound appreciation for what government seeks to do in terms of protecting them against shoddy work during the construction of their houses.
Most provinces endorsed the amendments as proposed by the department, although some raised some concerns with regard to the role of the NHBRC. While they welcomed the fact that all contractors would have to register with the NHBRC and the fact that with this Bill, late enrolments would also be considered, including owner-builders, there was a common concern raised by provinces about the accessibility of the NHBRC.
We note, however, that this was a matter of which the NHBRC took note and further committed itself to ensure that it would enhance and improve on their work. Our people confirmed the fact that there was no better - over and above these concerns, I must emphasise this - insurance for them than the NHBRC.
It would be unfair of me not to make note of the fact that one of the most interesting and welcome amendments was the inclusion now of "roof leaks" as part of the insured work that would be covered by the NHBRC. We will know that in the principal Act only the top structure, excluding the roof, was recognised as insured by the NHBRC.
To quote, for instance, Mr Kobus in one of the public hearings I attended in the Northern Cape, he had this to say in terms of the roof leaks:
Van nou af sal ek dan nie meer probleme h met tyd nie, want in die verlede gedurende die somer moes ek onnodig vroeg opstaan, want die son skyn reg op my gesig deur die dak van my huis. [From now on I won't have problems with time anymore, because in the past during summer I had to get up unnecessarily early as the sun used to shine directly onto my face through the roof of my house.]
[Interjections.] The other concern raised by our people during the hearings was the fact that we needed to take note of the rural housing question and to ensure that no one was left out and marginalised. In that context our people believe that provinces should be empowered to deal with the unregistered contractors to prevent them from getting paid for jobs badly done or not done at all.
Therefore, with the late enrolments these are the kinds of problems that will be resolved. With the clause that deals with late enrolments, these are the kinds of problems that will, of course, then receive attention and our people's problems will be resolved and their dignity will be restored.
It is this kind of people's forum that assisted us as a committee to arrive at the conclusion that our people are happy with the amendments as proposed by the department.
The other interesting amendment that was introduced was the simplified process of appeal. Because of the complexity of this appeal process it also created a lot of confusion where you would find that our people would not even know what to do and end up giving up, remaining with this structure that you would call a house, but which would not necessarily be one.
In conclusion, as a result of these amendments it is the view of the committee that the department has truly demonstrated its commitment to the developmental goals of government. It is this kind of legislation that protects our people against unscrupulous builders who have no interest in building a better life for our people but who rob them of the last opportunity to be seen as a people capable of living a decent life with their children.
For that, as a committee, we put these amendments before this House for adoption, because we believe that this is the only way to accelerate the creation of a better life for the poor of our people. Lastly, as we further conclude, we have noted that this debate is taking place on a very important day, because of members who will be going back home to interact with the poor and vulnerable, and those who have in the main been affected by these unscrupulous home builders.
Therefore we take this opportunity to ask that members will take note and utilise the following two weeks to also seek to popularise these amendments that have been brought about in the principal Act. I thank you. [Interjections.]
Chairperson, hon members, since I am short and sweet, I am going to deliver an equally short and sweet speech. [Applause.] The duty of the House in regard to this Bill being tagged a section 76 Bill, is really only to consider and debate the final mandates of provinces, but that task will probably be taken well care of by other speakers representing provincial perspectives.
I am furthermore advised by my colleague, hon Armiston Watson, that the majority of provinces have approved the Bill without further amendments. My input is therefore limited to a party perspective.
The Bill sets out to amend certain definitions in the principal Act and to define certain words or expressions; to make provision for late enrolment and nondeclared late enrolments; to enable owner- builders to apply for exemption; to amend provisions pertaining to the granting of exemptions and the lodging of appeals; to extend claims to include roof leaks and to provide for matters connected therewith.
In essence, the amendments are aimed at tidying up loose ends and tightening control, ultimately to achieve better quality housing for our people.
During the portfolio committee process, the Democratic Alliance spokesperson on housing, hon Butch Steyn, successfully argued for some further amendments to be effected in regard to risk management and the NHBRC's duty to protect consumers against flawed construction that had been paid for in good faith.
The select committee has since also heard evidence of sufficient public hearings that have been conducted by the majority of provinces. The DA is therefore happy to support this Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson and Deputy Minister, the Department of Housing is faced with problems in issuing tenders to contractors because of shoddy workmanship. Other contractors do not finish their work and abscond.
The aim of this Bill is to rectify certain interpretation and implementation problems, which have arisen since the promulgation of the Act. This Bill also assists in addressing remedies in the event of contractors absconding or passing away before completing the building, and this is the guide for the department on measures to be taken when such a thing does occur.
However, the department must ensure the availability of funds in the event of the contractor not being able to complete building a house or a project. Government must ensure that proper consultation with the relevant stakeholders has been done. The failure of contractors to comply with the requirements may lead to the expulsion of those contractors.
The monitoring of builders and paying them in terms of looking at the progress in stages rather than paying upfront, before even the foundation is laid, will help in curbing loss that usually occurs when the builder disappears into thin air.
The role of municipalities should be clearly addressed, especially in building RDP houses. They must play a vital role in the process of the building and distribution of houses for accountability purposes. Also, because they will be working closely with their contractors, they should enhance the quality of housing products so that they can improve. There must be co-operation among the relevant stakeholders and no repetition or duplication of duties.
Iqembu leNkatha liyothokoza uma abahloli bengaqikelela ukuthi izindlu ezakhiwayo ziyizindlu eziseqophelweni eliphezulu futhi kube ngezihlangabezana nezidingo zabantu. Ekugcineni, kufanele uhulumeni ahlolisise ukuthi ngabe abakhi bezindlu ngeke banikeze yini isiqinisekiso sokuthi bayolungisa noma umuphi umonakalo kuze kufike isikhathi esigculisayo, sisho igaranti phela. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[The IFP would be very happy if inspectors could ensure that the houses that are built are of high quality and are also houses that meet the people's needs. Eventually, government must check whether builders could give a guarantee to repair any damage until such time as the construction is satisfactory.]
The IFP welcomes the amendment of section 17 of the Act in order to extend the cover provided by the council's warranty scheme to include roof leaks and to enables the council, under certain circumstances, to make payment. [Interjections.]
Section 17, as I also indicated, includes roof leaks and enables the Council, under certain circumstances, to make payment to the housing consumer in full and final settlement of a claim.
Furthermore, the Bill is clear in its guidelines that any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the council may lodge an appeal with the Minister.
Iqembu leNkatha liyazisekela zonke lezi zichibiyelo esezenziwe. Ngicela ukwehlela ngenzansi; wena wakomkhulu! [Ihlombe.] [The IFP supports all these amendments. Thank you, Chaiperson.]
Modulasetulo, Motlat?atona ya t?a Selegae, maloko ao a hlomphegago, ... [Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister of Local Government, hon members, ...]
... comrades and compatriots: There shall be houses, security and comfort.
Ke seo se bolelwago ke Freedom Charter, e lego tokomane ya batho, go tii?a lent?u la set?haba gore se nyaka go dula le go phela bjang - ka boiketlo.
Ntlo ke mothopo wa bophelo bjo bokaone. Legae leo le nago le lethabo ke leo motheo wa ntlo ya lona o sa tekatekego, yeo leboto la yona le se nago bosodi, yeo marulelo a yona a dut?ego gabotse, a balet?wego ka bothakga le botswerere. Se se tii?et?a seo batho ba se nyakago - e lego go ba le legae le borutho. T?e ka moka ke t?eo Molaokakanywa wo wa Housing Consumer Amendment Bill o tlilego go se dira. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[This is what the Freedom Charter states; this is the people's document, to affirm the voices of the people regarding the way they should live. A house is a basic need. A happy household is one with a decent house. It has a house with a good foundation, without cracked walls and with good roofing. This shows what the needs of the people are, that is to have a decent house. The Housing Consumers Protection Measures Amendment Bill will be able to help in solving all the challenges pertaining to housing.]
The Bill was introduced to bring about solutions regarding the implementation of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act of 1998. It further provides definitions for late enrolment and nondeclared enrolment to enable construction of quality houses.
The Bill stipulates regulations in tackling measures pertaining to interventions to be made by the Minister or the National Home Builders Registration Council. It provides for alterations for utilising owner builder definitions. In addition, the owner builder provision in this legislative framework enables the building constructors to attain entitlement to an application for exemption from the provisions of the Act.
It also enables the NHBRC to grant or refuse applications for exemption. Presently, the Act empowers the Minister to consider applications for exemption based on the recommendations made by the NHBRC. The new provisions intend to ensure robust construction of quality housing in a manner that will impact intensively in enabling sound infrastructure investment. E sego t?eo re di bonago ge re sepela le lefase. [It is not what we have observed in some places.]
The approval of this Bill will pose no financial implications to the parties concerned. It is crucial to indicate that granting of all powers to the NHBRC in enabling effective inspection in housing construction will not address the existing challenges. Therefore, it becomes imperative for the NHBRC to indicate to Parliament, prior to the approval of this Bill, the methodologies it has in place to ensure effective and efficient inspection of the Breaking New Ground strategy. In its present form, it does not provide measures to maximise inspection for enabling effective construction of housing subsidies by the NHBRC.
The intention of the Bill is to clarify the scope of application; to make provision for late enrolment and nondeclared late enrolment; to enable owner builders to apply for exemption, and to extend claims to include roof leaks; to make further provision for the use of money in the funds contemplated in the said Act, to extend the offences created under the Act and to amend provisions pertaining to the granting of exemptions and lodging of appeals.
Section 19(2), which is very critical, says an inspector may, for purposes of inspecting a home during construction, enter and inspect the premises constituting the site of the construction at any reasonable time. For investigation purposes, an inspector may require the production of the drawings and specifications of a house or any part thereof, including plans approved by the local authority and plans and specifications prescribed in the rules, or the home building manual, for inspection from the homebuilder, and may require information from any person concerning any matter related to a home or any part thereof.
An inspector may also be accompanied by any person employed or appointed by the council who has special or expert knowledge of any matter in relation to a home or part thereof. The council may recover the costs of any examination or test contemplated in subsection (3)(c) from a home builder where he has failed to comply with NHBRC technical requirements.
The construction of poor quality houses emanating from a lack of effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation strategies to ensure NHBRC compliance in housing construction is one of the key critical areas. The second one is that of the methodologies used by the national Department of Housing to co-ordinate between the NHBRC and the provincial and local housing department.
T?hirelet?o ya bahloki ke mo?omo wo Ntlo ye e swanet?ego go o gatelela.
Ka go amogela Molaokakanywa wo, dintlo t?a go swana le t?a gaMaponto, t?a L9 go la Se?hego le Eldorado, ka Limpopo, di i?a seriti sa Ntlo ye fase. Go a nyami?a go hwet?a motho wa go dula ka gare ga ntlo ya majabajaba, ye kgolo, ya mabato a go phadima boka seiponi, a jabet?a bahloki bao ba inyakelago fela ntlonyana ya RDP yeo mmu?o o ba neago gomme ba ikgant?ha ka yona. Re dira boipilet?o go bao ba ikhwet?ago ba jeledit?we ke batho ba mohuta wo gore letsogo la molao ke le letelele le gore ba o ?omi?e gobane wona molao o a ba emela.
Molawana wo o tla tsent?ha boitshepo le seriti go batho ba gaborena ka ge o tsebi?a mmu?o ka ga dijagobe t?e, t?eo di ratago go ipona e le t?ona di le no?i go hwet?a se sekaone. Diphe?amare t?e t?a go t?habi?a namana t?e mmele ke t?a ge maboto a gona ka nako ye nngwe le nngwe a ka wela bao ba dulago ka gare ga ntlo ya mohuta woo.
Ka moo, bjaloka lekgotla le legolo la ANC, re re a re ?omaneng le batho ba ba go nyat?a le go telela batho ba gaborena. Molaokakanywa wo o re fa matla - ke sebet?a sa rena go bona gore re loki?a moo go senyegilego. Ke a leboga. [Legofsi.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[It is the responsibility of this council to protect the poor. By accepting this Bill we will be helping people who live in houses such as those in the Maponto, Seshego and Eldorado areas, in Limpopo. It is quite disturbing to realise that rich people, who stay in decent houses, are defrauding poor people who only need an RDP house. We are assuring those who have been defrauded by these unscrupulous people that those defrauders will be brought to book.
This Bill will bring back the trust and the dignity of our people because it exposes these selfish people who only think of themselves. The shocking thing about this kind of housing is the fact that they can collapse at any time, endangering those who live in them.
The ANC, as the majority party, says: Let us deal with these disrespectful people, who undermine our people. This Bill empowers us - it is our tool to correct where things were not done properly. I thank you. [Applause.]]
Chairperson, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, all protocols observed, on Tuesday, 17 September 2007, the Cape Times reported that studies have found that only 10% of the families in the Western Cape live in shacks. The 10% represents 286 000 families. In future these families are going to be accommodated in houses. Hence, these occupants need to be protected. This is not only the Western Cape.
The new Housing Consumers Protection Measures Amendment Bill is a welcome gesture in relation to the complaints from the disgruntled Hanover Park residents. The complainants point to defective government-built houses. It also seems as if the MEC for Housing in the Western Cape, Mr Dyantyi, already is in line with the amendment. According to the paper, he made available R45 million to fix the defective houses. The amendment measures make provision for that.
My questions are: What about the defective houses that are built in Victoria West in the Northern Cape Province, where people received only R200 to fix defects? Will these amendments speak to incidents such as those as well? These defects were noticeable even before the occupants could move into the houses. When builders disappear after building defective houses, are the councils going to take financial responsibility? This seems to be the trend now. If the amount of money becomes a disputed factor in an appeal where the defect was reported, is the Minister's judgement going to be accepted? If not, what can the poor person do who does not have the means to go to court?
The report states that there are 2 400 houses being built over a period of seven years in Hanover Park and that the plans were approved only afterwards, hence the welcoming of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Amendment Bill. The ID trusts that this Bill will give a better deal to occupants by the home builder in relation to consumer protection measures. I thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon members and hon Minister, in fact, there shouldn't be houses with defects. It's a long story to explain because it means something is seriously wrong with our system. A builder casts the foundation or digs the trenches. Before the builder casts the foundation, the inspector must inspect and say the trenches are in order and the builder can now cast the foundation. After casting the foundation, the inspector must come back and give a letter for payment. That's how the builder proceeds.
Again, the builder is paid for the work done when he has dug the trenches, and a certificate is issued. One cannot get payment for the trenches one has dug and money for the foundation before one has cast the foundation. So, something is wrong with the system. If things were done accordingly, I don't think we would have so many defects. But we have defects because inspectors are not doing their work. We will also pose some suspicions that they might be receiving something - why do they allow defects to be paid for? This says much should be done before we pass all legislation. These laws were in place before the attainment of democracy. I don't know what went wrong. Therefore, we must help our people so that they shouldn't live in defective houses, with a possibility of them falling upon them.
The Housing Consumers Protection Measures Amendment Bill reflects the commitment by our ANC-led government to ensure compliance and uniformity in the housing construction sector as a whole. The Bill, in terms of its basic tenets and among other things, seeks to provide an improved protection framework for particularly vulnerable groups in exercising their right to housing and on entering the residential market.
I would therefore today like to emphasise the plight and the needs of particularly vulnerable and marginalised groups - rural women, the youth, the elderly, people affected and infected by HIV/Aids and people with disabilities - and how we as government are promoting and responding to their needs.
As I speak, the national Department of Housing is in the process of ensuring that the historical approach in relation to housing delivery is changed significantly. This shift has been necessitated by the need to deepen the understanding on the potential role of women in the housing process, either as residents, as implementers or as regulators. In this regard, we should ensure that more attention is given to the diversity of needs in the housing process as women may have different needs than men.
Furthermore, as the NCOP, we believe that the housing industry is losing out on potential capacity that might contribute towards improved rates and quality of delivery in the face of the growing housing backlog because we are failing to strengthen the representation of women in the housing delivery industry, either as contractors, developers, building material suppliers, financiers or other service providers.
In this regard, we have taken note of the Minister of Housing, Comrade Lindiwe Sisulu's endeavours, particularly with the launch of the National Gender Guideline during the opening of the Women's Build on 14 August 2007 in Orange Farm. These initiatives are indeed laudable and we would like to pledge our support and commitment to other similar initiatives in other provinces. Also, as the ANC we must ensure that it is communicated to our communities in order to generate mass participation.
Let me now return to this Bill before us. Apart from its objects, it further aims to address one of the key objectives of the comprehensive plan for the development of sustainable human settlement, namely enhancing efficiency and capacity for housing delivery as adopted by our government. At the heart of this comprehensive plan is the objective to improve the socioeconomic and environmental quality of South Africans. What is particularly significant to us is the participation of a wide spectrum of stakeholders across the financial, social and government spheres during the writing of this piece of legislation.
We hope that through the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Amendment Bill, a consciousness is developed in relation to social responsibilities and statutory compliance. Furthermore, we trust that it will foster stronger interaction and relations between house builder and house owner, and that it will not, as in the past, unfairly disadvantage the homeowner. The ANC supports the Bill. Amandla! [Applause.]
Chairperson, I wish to thank all the hon members who participated in the debate for their comments. I pre- emptively want to thank the House for supporting the Bill. The comments will all be conveyed to the Minister without amendments or spin-doctoring on my part. [Laughter.]
The matters we have addressed here are vital to our people, to protect them and enhance their rights. Indeed we are all aware of the fact that there are many houses that have been built and constructed with defects, where unscrupulous contractors have cheated our people. If, as Parliament and as government, we kept quiet and folded our arms in the light of this, we would be conniving in the act of robbing our people. This Bill is therefore important.
As the hon Tau correctly stated, it is about restoring the humanity and dignity of our people. We must therefore remain consistently committed to these ideals, for which our people were prepared to lay down their lives and which form the bedrock of our people's democracy. As public representatives, we must continue to serve the interests of our people as loyally as we can so that they are not abused.
We must continue to ensure that Parliament becomes a living and robust tribunal of our people, with bias towards the poor, the underprivileged, the vulnerable as well as those at risk. These amendments indeed, hon Matlhoahela, will address all our people and will not discriminate against the constituencies, which you represent.
It is true that strategic stakeholder partnerships involving our people's participation will be important to ensure that we are able to fulfil the ideals of the Freedom Charter, upon which this new South Africa is being founded. Therefore, it was important that we should take the steps that we have taken and we are indeed happy that there were no dissenting voices in supporting the Bill that has been presented before the NCOP. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
I shall now put the question. The question is that the Bill be adopted. As the decision is dealt with in terms of section 65 of the Constitution, I shall first ascertain whether all delegation heads are present in the House.
In accordance with rule 71 I shall first allow provinces the opportunity to make their declarations of vote if they so wish. We shall now proceed to the voting on the question. I shall do this in alphabetical order per province. Delegation heads must please indicate to the Chair whether they vote in favour or against or abstain. Eastern Cape?
Eastern Cape supports
(Mr T S Setona): Free State?
Vrystaat ondersteun. [Free State supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): Gauteng?
Elethu. [Supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): KwaZulu-Natal?
Siyavuma. [Supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): Limpopo?
Ha seketela. [We support.]
(Mr T S Setona): Mpumalanga?
Supports.
(Mr T S Setona): Northern Cape?
Ondersteun. [Supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): North West?
Ke ya rona. [Supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): Western Cape?
Wes-Kaap ondersteun. [Western Cape supports.]
(Mr T S Setona): All provinces voted in favour. I therefore declare the Bill agreed to in terms of section 65 of the Constitution. [Applause.]
Bill accordingly agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.