Deputy Chairperson, today we will hear the truth about the issue of the N2 Gateway Project. One can start by saying that housing is a second-generation right as enshrined in our Constitution. The ANC-led government believes in the rule of law. Because South Africa is a constitutional state, the Constitution should be followed to the letter and the spirit.
Housing in South Africa was based on apartheid spatial planning, which meant that the poor were located far from the places of opportunities and economic activities. Whites were closer to the city, the Indians a bit further away and then the coloureds, with the Africans the furthest away. This is what you had in this country. That also ensured that our people spent a lot of money travelling from their places of work, coming from those ghettos that were established.
The ANC-led government was faced with a choice, whether to perpetuate the status quo or reverse the apartheid planning and build a nonracial, nonsexist society. The ANC-led government chose the latter, namely that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. Cities and towns belong to all, including places of economic opportunities. Cape Town as a city cannot be exclusive. Cape Town cannot be in isolation and cannot be an enclave either; and definitely Cape Town cannot be a "Boerestad".
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa raised an issue in Chapter 3 that talks about co-operative governance; saying that all spheres of government are interdependent and also interrelated. We have passed a law here in this august House, which is called the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act of 2005. The provisions of this Act are taking co-operative governance further by ensuring that there must be co-operation at all levels of government in this country.
The Minister of Housing, Lindiwe Sisulu, established a structure called M3. This structure called M3 is a structure of the Minister, the MEC and the mayor. This structure had been working very well before we had the local elections. The intention of this structure was to ensure that decision- making is fast-tracked, and blockages and obstacles removed in order to ensure that delivery happens with speed.
In terms of facts, since the coming in of Mayor Zille, three meetings have been convened and she has not attended one of them. During the last one she sent an apology when the meeting had already started. On the same day, she leaked the information to the media about the letter that she had written to the Minister. This means she is undermining and violating the Constitution of this country and the laws of this country on co-operative governance, as stated in Chapter 3.
If she had an issue to raise, in terms of the laws of this country she was supposed to raise them at appropriate platforms, such as the intergovernmental structures. She should not use cheap publicity to outline her views. We are saying to Mayor Zille: Go back to the M3 structure because that is where you can raise your issues. You can't raise your issues and be heard if you use the media as a form of communication.
Ms Robinson says that the city will build more houses than national and provincial government combined. [Interjections.] This is a fact: The city cannot build more houses, as you stated. It has no constitutional or legislative powers to do so. The building of houses is a national and provincial function and therefore it means you will actually be acting outside the law and the Constitution of this land. We are a constitutional state.
The metros in Gauteng contribute to the top-up of housing to improve quality. On average, they contribute R4 000 per home. The Durban metro contributes R10 000 as a top-up per home so as to improve quality. Lets hear about the City of Cape Town. What is your contribution? [Interjections.] During Mayor Zille's reign, nothing has been budgeted for in terms of housing. During the reign of mayor Nomaindia Mfeketo, when the ANC ruled, they budgeted for housing. When Mayor Zille came into power, she took the last R50 million that was in the budget and shifted it somewhere else. These are the facts. How can she build more houses than the national and provincial governments combined?
I want to debunk another lie and myth. They say that there was no money, and that there was an overrun. A total of R900 million was budgeted for the N2 Gateway project. As we speak today, over R400 million has been spent. Can you say then that there was no money whilst in the budget there is the sum of R900 million and only R400 million has been spent? Can you talk about an overrun? That is not true. You are misleading the public and even yourselves; and you believe your own lies when you raise these issues. [Applause.]
All of us know that this project was an experiment that was saying, "Let us look at how can we ensure that the three spheres of government can work together at the highest level to ensure that they can take decisions faster at a policy level, and at the same time ensure that the officials can implement." These were the objectives of the project.
I want to read that to you, Mrs Robinson, because it seems that you don't know the truth ...