Chairperson, hon members, guests and colleagues, good afternoon. I am truly honoured to be a member of this very aptly named Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements. I am honoured to serve the people of South Africa in this portfolio, as it is exactly that - a portfolio about people and not about houses.
As per the 2014 strategic plan, the mandate of the Department of Human Settlements is to determine, finance, promote, co-ordinate, communicate and monitor the implementation of housing policy and human settlements. In ideal circumstances, it is an excellent mandate to work towards, but given the previous track record of this department, it is an ambitious mandate at best.
This is a department which has been plagued by underperformance, coupled with poor monitoring systems, as is clearly evident in the state of the country's housing sector. This is especially true in regard to the appalling conditions that the poorest members of our society are subjected to live in.
According to 2013 statistics contained in the department's current strategic plan, there is still a huge backlog of 2,3 million houses. Now the Minister has committed to building 270 000 houses per year, which is approximately 1,4 million - or 1,5 million, as the Minister has just added - over the next five years.
This roughly equates to only about 50% of the backlog. My question to you, hon Minister, is: What about the other more than one million houses? What story do we tell the millions of people who in five years' time will still not be living in decent conditions in suitable human settlements, as per the delivery priorities that this department is expected to deliver?
A total of 1,8 million South Africans still live in approximately 2 500 informal settlements around the country.
The tightening of policies to regulate illegal land and building invasions needs to be fast-tracked, so as to avoid further violent evictions of residents, such as those we witnessed just last week in Zandspruit in Gauteng, where the Red Ants demolished over 40 homes in the middle of winter, in what was possibly the coldest spell that this country has witnessed this year. Of course, the violent protests that ensued are not to be scoffed at.
I'm sure the hon Minister has a plan to get personally involved in assisting these destitute families to get re-established in suitable premises, as she has recently undertaken in the Western Cape, especially the old gogo we saw with a baby on her back trying to find her belongings in the rubble after the Red Ants had left. [Interjections.]
A brief look at housing delivery across the provinces paints a very bleak picture. In the Eastern Cape, delivery has dropped by 12,1%; 15,7% in the Free State; 11,9% in KwaZulu-Natal; 27% in Mpumalanga; and a staggering 31% in Gauteng. However, we are encouraged by the Western Cape, the province with the highest influx of people from other provinces, all looking for a better life and better opportunities in a province where the DA-led provincial government is taking positive steps to root out corruption.
This is especially the case in regard to housing waiting lists and backroom deals, which often result in public housing going only to those with the right political connections and contracts going to the politically connected in other provinces. [Interjections.]
Chairperson, I furthermore share the concerns of the Statistician-General, and the Minister's own concerns, that houses are still being built according to apartheid spatial patterns. We have to wonder how on earth this is still possible, given that we have just celebrated 20 years of democracy as a nation. The fact that the ANC government has failed to address such a crucial aspect of development smacks of hypocrisy. I urge the Minister to address this issue urgently, ensuring that proper residential programmes are planned and implemented where the inclusion of social amenities, transport, education and employment opportunities are the overarching determining factors.
All this can be achieved and a better life for all ensured if the Minister and her department are committed to ensuring that allocated budgets are productively spent, oversight of all entities is efficiently carried out, title deeds are issued to the rightful property owners, vacant posts are filled, and contractors are held liable and to account.
Is this a tall order, Madam Minister, or an achievable mandate? Only time will tell. I thank you. [Applause.]