Chairperson, hon members, comrades and compatriots, hon Minister and departmental officials ...
Nna ke ngwana wa gaMasemola. Ke golet?e Atteridgeville, ka ntlong ya go rentiwa, yeo motho a bego a e kolota bophelo bja gagwe ka moka, go bile go se seo a kago se dira go e tlogela. Go be go se monyetla wa gore baleloko leno ba ka go etela. Ge gona ba ka tla, pele ga ge let?at?i le dikela, maphodisa a tla be a tsene a tlile go ba swara. Gape pele ga ge let?at?i le dikela lapa le tla be le nyakilwe dipasa le dilo t?ohle. O be o tlamega go dula fase wa ipot?i?a gore gabotse re sent?e eng rena bana ba thari ye ntsho le gore re tlile go hlaka go fihla neng.
Karabo e be e no ba gore re sa tlile go hlaka go fihla ge ANC e t?eya marapo a pu?o. Mokgatlo wo wa batho ke wona o kago tli?a diphetogo t?eo di nyakegago. Wona mokgatlo wo wa go phekaganela batho o tla dira gore batho ka moka ba ipethe difega ba re aowa, ye ke ya ka. Yo a nyakago go tloga gae gore a batamele mo?omo gore bana ba gagwe ba hwet?e sekolo ka bokgauswi le gore a kgone go iphedi?a bokane, o tla tloga lokei?eneng gomme a nyaka ntlo mo a kago t?we a dut?e, moo a tlago re go fet?a mo?omo a ya a naba maoto gagwe, a iketle. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[I am originally from gaMasemola. I grew up in a rental house at Atteridgeville. This is a type of house a person would be paying for his or her entire life without any option of moving out. Our relatives were not allowed to visit us. When they did so, the police would come and arrest them before sunset. The family members would also be required to produce identity documents and everything. One would be forced to sit down and ask oneself questions such as, where did we go wrong as black people and till when will we suffer? The only answer was that this will continue until the ANC starts governing. This people's party is the one that can bring about the necessary changes. This party which protects people will make them proud and instil in them a sense of belonging. Those who want to move closer to their workplaces, bring their children nearer to schools as well as live a better life, will leave the township and acquire houses where they will settle and relax when their working days are over.]
Chairperson, the social housing sector has not been regulated for quite a long time by any legislation, which impacted negatively on the growth in the sector. The Social Housing Bill was developed and introduced to provide a legal framework for the regulation of the social housing sector.
The President announced in 2001 the government's commitment towards the regeneration of the inner cities of our country, the development of well- located land and the intention to broaden the current housing assistance programmes to accommodate higher density development and to address the increasing demand for rental housing in urban areas.
In 2004, the President referred to a Comprehensive Housing Programme which deals with human settlement and social infrastructure, including rental housing stock for the poor, and the broader question of special settlement patterns. An implication of this is our efforts to build a nonracial society. This is exactly what the Minister said.
Re nyaka go bona bana ba gaborena, bommagorena, batswala ba rena ba kgona go ba le go lokologa, ba iketlile ba dule mo ba nyakang, ka yeo ba nyakang. Ge ba nyaka go boela gae ba boele gae, go se ke gwa ba le gore o na le mokitlana wo mongwe wo o go imelago gore o palelwe le ke go hema.(Translation of Sepedi paragraph follows.)
[We want our people to feel free and comfortable - to live in places of their choices. If they wish to go back home, they should be able to do so without any problem due to heavy debts.]
Then, the department released a comprehensive plan for the development of sustainable human settlement entitled Breaking New Ground. This document reinforces the vision of the Department of Housing to promote the achievement of a nonracial integrated society through the development of sustainable human settlement and quality housing.
E sego t?eo re bego re di bona peleng. [Things should be different from what happened in the past.]
The Bill is expected to assign the responsibilities of national, provincial and local government on matters pertaining to social housing. It will also ensure that the relevant institutional arrangements and capacity required by social housing programmes are in place.
The Bill also deals with the establishment and functioning of a Social Housing Regulatory Authority as a statutory body. Its functions are to regulate social housing, accredit social housing institutions; advise the Minister on matters pertaining to social housing; administer and disburse capital and institutional grants; conduct compliance monitoring via inspections; and to intervene in the day-to-day management of social housing institutions in cases where regular inspections have identified maladministration.
In this regard, hon Minister, I would like to say this is a very big responsibility. They should ensure that our people are accommodated in houses that will not fall down. Furthermore, they should be monitoring that inspectors are reinforcing the mandate that they are given by Parliament, the department, and by this Bill in order to ensure that our people are not taken for granted as is the case at the present moment with other contractors. The agencies that we are establishing must ensure that they do exactly what is required of them.
The Bill makes provision for the accreditation of social housing institutions that will ensure that every person who is in need of housing gets housing, and that every person who applies for social housing rental stock gets that. But, hon Minister, there is a problem with the very same infrastructure in Limpopo. There is a place called Garena, near Polokwane. The infrastructure there is okay.
Bothata bjo bo lego gona ke gore maitshwaro a batho ba gaborena ka nako ye nngwe a re i?a fase. [Our people sometimes behave in a disappointing way.]
They behave in a manner that ensures that when government has provided accommodation it looks and wants to take them out of those houses.
Ba lwa ka gare ga dintlo t?eo. Ka yona nako ye ke bolelago ka yona motho yo mongwe o rwalet?we bookelong. Bjale ke dira boipilet?o go badudi ba Afrika Borwa gore mmu?o o leka ka maatla go ba fa madulo. A le rena re t?eyeng maikarabelo, re boneng gore seo mmu?o o lekago go re direla sona se a phethagala.
Ka wona mant?u a, Morena Modulasetulo, ke re ANC e thekga Molaokakanywa wo. Ke a leboga. [Legofsi.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[They fight in those houses. As I am speaking now, someone is being taken to hospital. I am making a plea to the citizens of South Africa that the government is trying its best to give them houses. We must then take responsibility to ensure that the endeavour by government becomes a reality.
With these words, Mr Chairperson, I say the ANC supports this Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]]