Thank you very Chair, the Deputy Chair, the Ministers and Deputy Ministers present, the special delegates from our provinces, the South African Local Government Association, SALGA, delegations, colleagues good afternoon. The ANC's approach to state power is informed by the Freedom Charter and the principle that The People Shall Govern. The attainment of power by the ANC is a means to fulfil the will of the people and ensure a better life for all. Thus, the primary priority of the ANC-led government, insofar as
managing municipal spaces for radical socioeconomic transformation is concerned.
We acknowledge that while urbanisation has many benefits for a country's population, it increases the burden on government to provide the key social services such as adequate housing and shelter, running water and sanitation. The delivery of low cost houses has been the ANC-led government's success story since 1994. We cannot run away from that - with nearly four million houses built for the poor. Yet an estimated one million people do not have registered title deeds for their homes they already live in.
In the past, the department experienced challenges in addressing the backlog of issuing of title deeds. For instance, in the 2017-18 reporting year, there was a total of 81 929 pre and post 1994 title deeds issued as reported by the provinces. Yet, the national department verification exercise totalled to 41 841.
The inconsistency in reporting outcomes thus resulted in a stand alone grant which was recently introduced to improve the national department's control over the performance outputs. In order to fast track the eradication of the backlog in the registration of title deeds for beneficiaries of subsidised housing, a special title deed
conditional grant has been implemented from 1st April 2018 to finance this programme.
We echo the sentiments outlined in the report on the high level panel in its recommendation:
Well situated urban land must be prioritised for social housing, both through expropriation, and through reviewing the conditions under which State-owned enterprises, SOEs, hold and dispose of well situated land.
It is to this end that the Housing Development Agency and the Social Housing Regulatory Authority are at the forefront of reclaiming well located state land and property situated in urban areas. This is the right direction and the progressive collaboration required as we journey towards dismantling historical spatial patterns and constructing integrated communities in South Africa.
Another initiative driven by the department is that of the Social Housing Programme, with an aim of creating affordable rental housing stock in South Africa's major urban areas which will ultimately free its occupants from ongoing government dependency, and will contribute to the restructuring of urban areas. The Department of
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME's impact assessment of this programme found that -
The programme has delivered values for money in relation to the conversion of public funds into viable rental stock in the medium to long term. The relatively high levels of directed purpose, transparency, control and regulation, and delivery of accommodation in relation to the public money invested, exceeds most other public subsidy programmes.
The provision of housing opportunities through state subsidies also forms a key element in the work of the department as it bridges the gap between the haves and have nots and promotes inclusion in an otherwise exclusionary economy. These housing opportunities are unlocked by the initiatives such as the Government Employees Scheme, Finance Linked Subsidy Programme and the Rural Housing Loan Fund. Together, these funds facilitate access to housing credit to low income households and those in the gap market. The availability of these funds is a response to the ANC's manifesto where we committed to working with financial institutions and social partners to increase the provision of capital for housing.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in February this year, equally announced that -
The Housing Development Agency will construct an additional 500 000 housing units in the next five years, and an amount of R30 billion will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates.
We acknowledge that our people do not have full knowledge of these progressive finance initiatives aimed at ensuring that our people have housing opportunities and are not discriminated against, based on class, gender or economic status and location. We urge the department to extend its reach and ensure awareness programmes are implemented so that our people can take full advantage of the housing opportunities provided by the ANC-led government.
With the world fast approaching the fourth industrial revolution, the role of the Development Finance Institutions, DFI's, in terms of ensuring that Africa is not left behind will be crucial. To this regard, the ANC welcomes the launch of the Human Settlements Development Bank that was announced by Minister of Human Settlements in 2017. As reflected in her 2017 Budget Speech:
The bank will facilitate the increased provision of finance across the human settlements value chain, and the specific priority for the bank in this respect is the mobilisation of and the provision of finance for all planned catalytic projects.
We also want to see the operationalisation of the Human Settlements Development Bank in this financial year as this bank will play a significant role in changing the face of human settlements in South Africa. Chairman Mao has this to say:
Our duty is to hold ourselves responsible to the people. Every word, every act and every policy must conform to the people's interest, and if mistakes occur, they must be corrected. That is what being responsible to the people means.
Thank you very much.