Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members, as government and as part of our broader agenda of transforming our society and empowering people, we decided that we were going to build houses for the people. We went further and said that there should be security of tenure.
Modulasetulo, ntumelele ke re batho ba go dula le mago?i a bona ba tseba gore ge ba agile dintlo lefelong leo ba le filwego ke kgo?i ya bona, ba lema ma?emo ge nako ya temo e fihla. Ba buna dinawa, mafela, marotse le ditloo. Yo a di hlokago o i?et?wa ka dirotwana le dit?hiwana t?a akaret?wa ke ba leloko le baagi?ani. Ka go rialo, batho ba ba t?welet?a seema sa gore "bana ba motho ba abelana hlogwana ya t?ie."
O ka se tsoge o bone ba dut?e ka fase ga maporogo goba ba robet?e mebileng ka ge ba tla be ba reki?edit?e dipanka dintlo t?a bona. Se se ra gore batho ba swanet?e gore ba fiwe mangwalo a semolao ao a laet?ago gore ke beng ba dintlo. Ke kgopela gore batho ba ba rutwe pele, gore ba se ke ba re ge ba di humana, ba felelet?e ba reki?it?e dintlo t?a bona, mafelelong ra ba bona ba dut?e ka thoko ga mebila. Se sengwe gape seo se ka thu?ago batho ba ke gore bodiidi bo lwant?hwe, ba humane me?omo, gore ge ba e humane ba kgone go ithu?a ka t?helete yeo ba tla go be ba e ?omela mo me?omong yeo.
Ke kwele le Mna Groenewald a thaba kudukudu, gape ka kwa gore o thekga gore mmu?o wa rena - ke mmu?o wa go theelet?a, ka lebaka la gore gona bjale re sepela le diprofense re eta re theet?a ka mokgwa wo e lego gore batho ba borena ba sokola ka gona. Mohlomongwe ge re be re na le boGroenewald ka nako yeo re bego re sa le ka fase ga ketapele ya kgatelelo, re be re ka se ye diprofenseng t?a rena. Bjale re tshepa gore mmu?o wa rena o tlo re kwa. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, allow me to say that people who stay with their kings know just the right time to start ploughing the fields. During harvest time they will then reap mealies, African pumpkin, soya and jugo beans and share with all the relatives, neighbours and orphans, freely providing the food in baskets, hence it is said, "The people shall share."
One will never see them struggling for shelter, sleeping on the streets or under bridges, after selling their houses. People in the rural areas should get title deeds. They should also be well informed before they are granted houses so that they do not fall into the trap of selling them and be left destitute, seeking shelter under bridges. Poverty alleviation through job creation will also help in this regard. People can use their salaries to fulfil their own needs.
I have heard that Mr Groenewald is extremely excited about this, and that he supports our government - the government that listens to the needs of people. As we go around the provinces, conducting public hearings, we could pick up the plight of the people. If we had the likes of Groenewald during the apartheid era, we would not have conducted public hearings in our provinces. Now we are hopeful that our government will heed our call.]
Another phenomenon that one observes when driving through the country is the mushrooming of nice-looking RDP houses, but when you get closer, you see that they are unoccupied. This makes one wonder whether a thorough and integrated development plan was undertaken to establish the needs in these communities.
This matter touches on the issue of the need for an integrated system of governance, where the three spheres of government work together effectively. It raises this question: To what extent can national and provincial governments play a role in the sphere of local government without eroding their powers and functions?
The pertinent issue is whether the Department of Human Settlements and local government have forged a link or formulated a strategy to monitor or assist local municipalities in order to avoid this kind of situation, which, at face value, appears to be wasteful expenditure. It appears that a decision has been taken to build houses without first identifying whether there were beneficiaries.
Another very serious matter in the process of delivering houses to our people is that of people selling their houses only a few years after occupying them. I wonder whether the Ministry or the department has a perspective on how to deal with this situation. If I may, I would like to suggest that in cases where beneficiaries who are in the process of occupying their houses find that their situations change for the better, these beneficiaries should avoid the temptation of selling the houses. They should rather inform the authorities and hand the houses back.
Minister, another challenge that continues to face our people in the rural areas is informal settlements that are situated in waterlogged areas, where the water table is probably too high for human habitation.
In conclusion, we applaud the Ministry and the department for the interventions undertaken thus far. However, more needs to be done because housing is a basic need. The backlog is growing day by day and our rural communities are the most disadvantaged.
Ke a go leboga Modulasetulo. [Legoswi]. [I thank you, Chairperson.] [Applause.]]