I thank the Whip for his generosity, Mr Chairman.
Chairperson, I do hope that the high hopes which the Minister has indicated to us here in her opening speech will be realised. It is absolutely vital for all of us that that should be. We have many statutory bodies, informal associations and professional bodies operating in this field already, and I do hope that we do not create further duplication with double or multiple jurisdiction. We have common cause that it is vital for us to free our construction industry to play its locomotive role in our society.
So much was said by the Minister about tourism. People always talk about tourism and the jobs it creates. Well, the construction industry is just as vital and just as promising, or more promising, an industry. It has a multiplier effect on the economy; it is labour-intensive; it does not generate imports or put a strain on the balance of payments; profits got are not transfer-priced out of the country; and raw materials are home- grown. The industry is ready, willing and able to deliver.
It is depressing to think that in a country such as ours, with our pressing housing problems, with our Rolls-Royce construction industry, large numbers of budgeted funds still go unspent, leaving people unhoused.
We in the Western Cape are one of only two provinces that have spent their entire housing budget. Other provinces have underspent by R400 million, in spite of the massive housing backlogs, and yet our building industry in the Cape faces further serious budgetary cuts. This year we were cut, and we will be cut again to R238 million in the year 2004.
The fact is that the greatest single asset that any nation has is its built environment: the existing stock of houses, the existing stock of public buildings, schools and hospitals, the existing roads and the existing physical infrastructure.
Also here we are falling behind. It will be a challenge to the board to see what we can do to meet these massive shortfalls for maintenance - maintenance that will become far more expensive later if we leave it too long. I can say to the Minister that we in the Western Cape also feel the impact of the fact that new housing starts in South Africa generally are 25% down on a year ago, and in the Western Cape we now have the worst situation since World War II, so for us it is a serious situation indeed.
Therefore, we support the measure. We support this effort on the Minister's part to try and arrest the situation and focus everybody on a common goal, hopefully a common national goal, with all of the elements of our society working together to the greater good, providing not only housing, but the whole plethora of what constitutes the built environment.
With that, we support the Bill and we wish the Minister well. We hope she will choose wisely and that she will choose people who will not only come here to represent their disciplines and be spokesmen for their interest groups, but also share her vision. [Time expired.] [Applause.]