Mhlalingaphambili namalungu eNdlu ahloniphekileyo ... [Chairperson and hon members of the House ...]
... I rise to take part in this very important debate in this august House and to kick-start this important discussion on the N2 Gateway project.
I would want, upfront, to set the scene, raise some contextual issues and table some important facts so that the matter is laid to rest once and for all. In creating that context, I think it is important to make the point that I also rise to stand here representing the provincial government of the Western Cape, led by the ANC - a party that has saved this country from the brink of collapse.
We have turned this economy around, an economy that was inward-looking and was never competitive. Not only did we do that in the economic sphere, we also did so in the case of many other things, including the issue under discussion today.
In terms of the Western Cape itself, this is a province where black people, and Africans in particular, were never allowed to settle or to work, let alone have homes. When we speak about this issue today we have to bring that historical perspective into this kind of discussion, because it is likely that some of those people who might raise problems here today have a certain nostalgia and want to take us back. Therefore I do want to make that point.
From 1994, during the past 12 years of our democracy, it was essential for us to turn things around and deliver in numbers. It was necessary to do so. We moved from quantitative access to what we now call qualitative access. We had to build more than 1,8 million houses because they were needed. We have learned key lessons out of that, in terms of how we need to improve on quality issues.
The Western Cape is a province that has many challenges. When going around this province daily, I meet people who share their own space with animals. In the city of Cape Town, if you go to Site C in Khayelitsha, people live with rats as big as cats. Nobody makes a noise about that because to some of us it is acceptable that we must live under inhuman conditions.
If you go around this province to Bonteheuwel and other districts, you will find that our communities spend time in pigsties. That is not the history I want to dwell on today, but it is important to create that context.
It is in that context that the champion of the poor, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who is not with us today and is also dealing with these matters abroad in Canada, introduced to us the policy Breaking New Ground. In terms of its objectives, it is aimed at assisting us progressively to eradicate informal settlements, facilitate inter- and intra-settlement integration; enable urban renewal and restructuring of urban renewal; improve settlement designs; implement mechanisms that will assist with eradication of poverty; facilitate greater responsiveness to livelihood strategies; and also ensure that the active participation of all three spheres of government does achieve a common goal.
In terms of that context, we have a policy and the N2 Gateway project is a national pilot project of that policy. It is aimed at fast-tracking housing delivery. "Pilot" itself means that we needed to do things in a fast- tracking way and without going through the normal routes of red tape and bureaucracy. It is possible therefore, in terms of this N2 Gateway pilot project and the speed at which we move and the way we do things as pioneers in this field, that we will learn the lessons I am going to speak about at the end of this discussion.
I think it is important for me to make the point that the N2 Gateway pilot project was designed as an exercise in co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations, and was guided by a memorandum of understanding signed by the Minister of Housing, the MEC for local government and the Mayor of Cape Town.
The project has also sought an urgent but sensitive response to Cape Town's housing needs that I have just outlined, particularly along the N2, between the airport and Langa. It is a pilot project of the Department of Housing's Breaking New Ground Policy. It incorporates rental ownership units to accommodate 22 000 households.
The first element comprises Joe Slovo Phase 1, which borders Langa and consists of 705 units that have been completed, in terms of two- to three- storey blocks ranging in size from 27m to 48m. This project's units, as I have just said, are complete and ready for occupation. As the MEC for local government in this province, I will make that announcement with no pressure from anybody. [Applause.]
We are already in the process, as I speak here today. Tomorrow I will be addressing the entire community of Langa. We are excited about this project and looking forward to the occupation of this first phase. We are talking here about 705 units and family members in their thousands, because each family unit is going to bring many family members who never had this opportunity before.
We have heard a noise from people complaining about this and that, but the people of Langa and the surrounding areas are excited and looking forward to this. We will engage them tomorrow in a meeting. There are some of us who are saying there is going to be war and chaos and I stand here to say there is going to be none of those things. We are going to deliver houses to our people.
It is also important for me to make the point that, contrary to what the public, the print and other media have been reporting, the N2 Gateway project is not the only project in this province and city of Cape Town. This is a pilot project and there are other housing opportunities that people are going to access.
In terms of the N2, beyond Phase 1 there are other phases such as Joe Slovo Phase 2, which will be a mixture of bonded housing and what we call "Breaking New Ground" houses, and will involve banks. We are going beyond what was created in this province such as the houses at Delft and the matchbox houses that were created by some of the people who will be making a noise here today. [Interjections.]
Along that strip, we aim to build 1 000 units in the combination of GAP housing units and BNG houses. Alongside Gugulethu, in the New Rest area, we are already involved in upgrading an in situ project which will comprise 1 200 households. Work has already started on that project. In terms of Phase 2, planning has been finalised regarding Boys Town in Crossroads and it will go further down along there.
In Delft and Symphony the Greenfields project, which is aimed at accommodating 6 300 units, and will have 600 rental units, is already under way. There is another Greenfields project in Delft called Delft 729, in which about 4 500 housing units and 800 rental units are going to be built. That project as well as part of Phase 2 and other phases has already begun. We are already going beyond what you see with your naked eye. There is a lot of work being done.
It was also recently decided that Thubelisha Homes, as an agency of the Department of Housing, should be the developer of the N2 Gateway project and will be supported principally by the national and provincial governments. There has also been a commitment by the housing Minmec to contribute funds from all the provinces to help expedite the N2 Gateway project as a national pilot project.
I would also like to make the point that, as you are aware, the three spheres of government co-operated very well before the elections to take us to where we are. The process, with all of its challenges, ran smoothly.
It so happened that beyond the elections we had a problem in terms of how we address those intersphere relationships. The problem related to a new party that came and wanted to play petty politics, a party that does not care for the poor and leads a city that does not care.
As an MEC of local government, I am monitoring that situation and watching them quite carefully. All they have done so far has been to make noises about investigations; nothing else. Regarding all of the investigations they have talked about, we have had no results concerning all those kinds of issues. They have not put a brick in place or built a single house in about three or four months. [Interjections.]