Chairperson, hon Minister and other Ministers present today, Deputy Ministers, MECs, hon members, honoured guests, Director- General Thabane Zulu and your team, the 1994 democratic breakthrough ushered in new conditions, providing a unique opportunity to combine state and mass power in serving the interest of the people. This is the 18th year since the ANC as the ruling party attained control of state power to improve the quality of life and begin to roll back the legacy of apartheid and colonialism.
The following analysis presents the budgetary and policy landscape of the Department of Human Settlements. It seeks to link the department's policy framework to its fiscal responsibilities, while highlighting the relative influence of the objective environment in which both are implemented.
Of equal importance to the budget analysis is a review of the performance of the department in terms of meeting objectives related to equity and adequacy, particularly in light of the imbalances of the past. A review of the impact of the Human Settlements budget will highlight whether set targets have been achieved in line with the stated outcomes and policy priorities.
Without doubt, the budget reprioritisation, together with the departmental strategic plan, serves as useful tools for understanding the contribution of the Department of Human Settlements to a national democratic society. As part of its foundation, the Constitution of South Africa draws attention to the values of human dignity, achievement of equality and advancement of human rights and freedom. Therefore the mainstay of the Department of Human Settlements is to address these values through its legislation, policies and programmes.
The provision of housing to all South Africans is recognised as one of the most ambitious projects in the transformational agenda of the ANC. This item on the developmental agenda of the ANC was outlined early in its political history. The Freedom Charter of 1955 prevailed on the former government to provide decent housing for all South Africans, to no avail.
In the 2009 Budget speech the Minister of Human Settlements highlighted that the concept of human settlements recognised the centrality of human dignity. He also noted that human settlements had been part of the global developmental lexicon for many years. The human settlements developmental philosophy was first adopted at the UN's Global Habitat Summit in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976. In 2002 the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, JPOI, affirmed the UN's commitment to the full implementation of Agenda 21, which was adopted in Brazil in 1992.
Furthermore, the JPOI affirmed the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other international agreements. The resulting programme of action was premised on the realisation that sustainable development is underpinned by the integration of the economic, social and environmental pillars. Therefore in our nation's quest to achieve sustainable human settlements, we have to consider how the three pillars interact and influence each other.
The 52nd National Conference of the ANC, held in Polokwane in 2007, provided further direction for the achievement of the MDG targets and indicators by 2014, a full year before the actual international timeframe. The Polokwane resolution also committed the government to promote human settlements that would build cohesive, sustainable and caring communities. The first step in giving effect to the shift from the provision of housing to creating sustainable human settlements required President Jacob Zuma to establish a new Ministry for Human Settlements, within which the Department of Human Settlements would be housed.
The "human settlements" approach is also in line with the ANC plan to create an integrated and socially cohesive nation and to transform the apartheid spatial framework of cities and towns. The paradigm shift to sustainable human settlements indicates a greater understanding that achieving comprehensive, integrated and sustainable service delivery would more holistically address universal access to basic services and access to transport, economic opportunities and social amenities, including more efficient land utilisation. The approach is a radical departure from the mere provision of housing.
The transition to a "human settlements" framework further gave effect to a response that enabled the reprioritisation of the national Budget towards a greater investment in social infrastructure. Such a philosophy is also in line with the recognition that poverty, inequality and unemployment are deeply intertwined with infrastructure deficiencies.
Furthermore, this paradigm shift from housing to human settlements resulted in a strategic reallocation of the departmental expenditure patterns. The outcome was a change in programmatic foci from houses to settlement patterns and institutional restructuring necessitated by the paradigm shift and the inclusion of a sanitation component in housing planning and delivery.
Earlier this year, in the ANC's January 8 Statement, President Zuma announced that the first step towards greater social and economic development is the reprioritisation of the budget towards greater investment in social infrastructure. While eradicating poverty, unemployment and reducing inequality have consistently been ANC priorities, there is also the realisation of the need to fast-track service delivery and align developmental outcomes for all departments.
As a result, Cabinet adopted an outcomes-based approach, which translated into a set of 12 outcomes. This approach encourages all departments to review their strategies and plans aimed at achieving the government's transformational and developmental agenda. The intensive focus on infrastructure development is one of the national priorities towards which the Department of Human Settlements is expected to contribute over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework period. In his 2012 Budget Speech the Minister of Finance announced that the investment in municipal infrastructure and human settlements will amount to R120 billion in the 2012-13 financial year and is set to increase to R139 billion by the 2014- 15 financial year.
The major thrust of the 2012 state of the nation address was the launch of an ambitious Infrastructure Development Programme aimed at reducing the triple burden of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In this respect, the government will focus on four geographically focused programmes and projects.
Of relevance to the Human Settlements sector is the Mthatha Revitalisation Project, which is a Presidential Special Project. The department reported good progress towards improving, among others, sanitation and human settlements development. In response to the new-found opportunities in infrastructure, the Department of Human Settlements has identified potential investment opportunities that correspond with the infrastructure development nodes identified by the President. Just to mention them, in this respect: Out of the R25 billion allocated to Human Settlements, more than R1 billion has been granted to the development of infrastructure nodes in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The allocations further apply to the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal agri-corridor, the Sishen-Saldanha rail expansion and the North West railroad. There are a number of priority projects that support infrastructure initiatives, and these include Lephalale, Cornubia and Duncan Village.
It should be noted that the committee observed that there has been oversight on the side of the department in the Northern Cape's Eldorado Park priority project and therefore the committee recommends a review on the project.
It should be noted that about 97% of the budget of the Department of Human Settlements is dedicated to conditional grants located in the Housing Development Finance Programme. These include the Human Settlements Grant, the Urban Settlements Development Grant and the Rural Household Infrastructure Grant. It should also be noted, however, that during the previous financial year the Rural Household Infrastructure Programme experienced several challenges. This could be regarded as having been a learning curve, following the transfer of the sanitation function to the Department of Human Settlements.
The state of the nation address also highlighted the following key strategic objectives pertaining to the department: A subsidy of R83 million will be available to enable people in the gap market; solar geysers are to be installed; and there is a directive to all government departments to ensure that they meet the target of ensuring that 2% of all persons employed in the public service are persons with a disability. To date, considerable progress has been observed towards the achievement of these commitments. A R1 billion guarantee fund for low-income earners who struggle to access housing finance from the banks will come into effect by April 2012. The creation of such a fund was announced in the 2010 state of the nation address and will be managed by the National Housing Finance Corporation, NHFC. This initiative has resulted in the establishment of a Mortgage Default Insurance Fund intended for the working class and lower-income families earning between R3 500 and R12 000 per month.
An initial agreement has been reached with some accredited financial institutions to participate in affordable housing with funding of R150 million to finance the development and sale of 5 000 affordable units. Linked to Mortgage Default Insurance is the Finance-Linked Individual Subsidy Programme, which aims to improve affordability for the end user. The NHFC is also using the Government Employee Housing Scheme as a facilitator for the MDI, because once new developments for public servants have been located they will require insurance to back the provision of their housing funding.
The MDI will be developing risk management, audit and monitoring processes. The Financial Services Board will be increasing its oversight on how financial institutions co-operate with their borrowers in future. To date, some provinces have already signed protocol agreements with the NHFC for the implementation of Flisp. The Eastern Cape province, for example, has already indicated that it would initiate Flisp through a pilot project of 400 units in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. Gauteng identified 4 000 units in Protea Glen and 1 000 units in Ekurhuleni.
South Africa's energy economy requires new energy capacity. Projections indicate that electricity demand will outstrip the base load capacity within a few years. Consequently, investment in new capacity is required and it is appropriate to evaluate options and opportunity costs of different supply.
Renewable energy technologies offer quantifiable potential for creating and sustaining new and decentralised employment in South Africa, which can offset some of the employment shedding that is a current trend in the conventional energy sectors. As Human Settlements we need a serious reduction in the emission of green-house gases, as this can be indicated by manufacturing processes or electricity generated by coal. Human Settlements should be seen as a department that cross-cuts with all other departments.
Although the South African government has made major strides to improve water supply over the past decade, much less progress has been achieved with regard to sanitation. Major hurdles are the financial sustainability of investments, sanitation technologies, quality, as well as a lack of attention to maintenance.
According to the General Household Survey, the highest proportion of individuals having to do without toilet facilities or having to use bucket toilets is in the Eastern Cape, which has to pull up its socks. Limpopo follows, then the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. However, the portfolio committee has welcomed the initiative by the Minister of Human Settlements in establishing a national task team to audit the status of access to sanitation in the country. We await the report. The committee further recommends that sanitation must be a top priority in this country, with specifically ring-fenced funding.
Human Settlements has a most important role to play in curbing the effects of climate change at household level. It is suggested that growing one's own food, recycling liquid and solid waste, using decentralised energy and water supplies, and generally living green is possible only at household level.
Reducing the cause and mitigating the effect of climate change will require effort by the entire cluster and MPs must play a key role in ensuring that government does not lose sight of the targets, because other issues often compete for attention. During these tough economic times we need to ensure that climate-change mitigation remains a priority. In order to galvanise real action on climate change, there is a need to link up individual effort, and value policies and international agreements for climate-change mitigation.
The portfolio committee noted with great concern the appalling conditions under which many farm workers are living, including the lack of security of tenure, ongoing evictions from farms despite the promulgation of legislation to protect tenure security, as well as poor housing conditions. The committee also observed inadequate collaborative planning among the departments, irrespective of the existence of delivery agreements.
It must be noted that plans to work together are hugely rewarding for all involved and are very much a two-way relationship. Innovative cost-sharing initiatives are coming into place to leverage funding to deliver more for less and provide best value for taxpayers' money at the same time. It is also important to recognise that there are untapped opportunities in the field for closer co-operation between the departments. Such initiatives are essential, given the downward pressure on finances and the rising pressure to meet the increasing demand for service delivery.
The committee noted with concern the Auditor-General's findings with regard to the departmental performance in the following IT focus areas: IT governance, security management, user-access management and IT service continuity. These factors pose a risk to the department in general and the housing subsidy system in particular. Having noted these concerns, the portfolio committee reaffirms its commitment to intensify its oversight mandate. This will include oversight on how the elderly, orphans and child- headed households, and people with disabilities access housing.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank the Minister of Human Settlements and his department for their co-operation. I would also like to thank the ANC caucus, members of the portfolio committee ...
Sisebenze kahle, zingekho izinkinga ... [we worked well, without any problems ...]
... the parliamentary support staff and my family for their continued support and encouragement. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. [Applause.]