Chairperson, the IFP supports Budget Vote No 31: Human Settlements. We also commend the Minister and the department for the new development initiative on affordable rental housing in Gauteng, namely at Dube, Mzimhlophe, Jabulani and Buyafuthi. However, Minister, after 18 years of democracy and freedom this is not nearly enough. People are living under conditions of abject filth at hostels like those in Thokoza, Alexandra, Benoni, Nancefield, Sebokeng, KwaMashu, Dalton, Jacobs, Wemmer Unit 17 and Thokoza ladies' hostels. They experience living conditions that can only be described as being fit for pigs. There is no budget allocated to this inequality. Why is this not prioritised?
We are further concerned that there is no budget for new affordable rental housing development. Allocation is provided for their maintenance and repair only. This is totally unacceptable. Hon Minister, the promises you make to the people of this country are promises we expect you to keep. Last year, you addressed this House and informed us that you were working on a turnaround strategy to address the poor living conditions in our hostels. Where is that strategy? How long must our citizens continue to live in unfit, filthy and degrading living conditions? Our hostel dwellers have been left behind. They seem to have been labelled as a problem that nobody from Human Settlements wants to deal with. This can only show us that the ANC-led government wants to get rid of hostels. [Interjections.]
Ngikhumbula-ke ukuthi kwake kwaba nenhlabamkhosi ngo-1990 eyathi kufanele kuqedwe amahostela, kusho ukuthi sekuqalile ukufezeka lokho. [I recall that a call was made in the 1990s that hostels should be done away with; this is the indication that this is coming to pass.]
They are free of the oppression of apartheid, but are now bound in chains by socioeconomic constraints. A large percentage of them are unemployed. The Community Residential Unit, or CRU, is not an answer for our unemployed, because 90% of people living in CRUs are unemployed. Another problem that occurs is when development takes place in the CRUs, the people who are living there are displaced. Provision must be made to accommodate those people elsewhere, to minimise the impact that such development will have on their daily life.
Backyard dwelling is fast becoming an acceptable form of residence in South Africa. In most instances there is massive overcrowding, insufficient sanitation, water and electricity and generally unhygienic living conditions. Budget funds must be prioritised and allocated for the alleviation of the poor living conditions of our backyard dwellers, because no part of the budget addresses this matter currently.
Our bulk infrastructure continues to be wholly insufficient and incapable of dealing with the current demand placed on it by our population. There is no budget to address this challenge. Why is that, Minister?
We have more than 2 700 informal settlements in the country, but no formal measurement mechanism to determine the extent of the mushrooming of structures and edifices within those informal settlements. No budget is currently allocated to address this challenge. Why is that, Minister?
Rectification and rerectification remain a drain on an already tight budget. Besides the wasteful expenditure, what is the time frame for stopping such rectification? When will we take a stand and not pay for faulty, poor and negligent workmanship? The IFP says no more budget funds should be allocated for rectification. Quality development the first time around must become the norm and not the exception.
We are 18 years into our constitutional democracy, and enshrined in that Constitution is the right to human dignity. How dignified is it when we have to use a bucket as a toilet and relieve ourselves in front of a passer- by? The bucket system is one of the cruellest forms of degradation to our people and must be eradicated immediately.
Mhlonishwa, sizabe zenza iphutha uma singathi ungabongi uMqondisi Jikelele, uMageba nekomidi lakhe asebenza nalo ngemisebenzi ayenzile, nakho konke akwenzile ukukhombisa ukuthi uyabalalela abantu, uyabezwa futhi uwuzalo lwaseNdlunkulu. Ngiyabonga kakhulu. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Hon Minister, we would be making a mistake if we told you not to thank the director-general, Mageba, and his team for the work they have done and everything that he has done. This shows that he listens to the people, that he hears them and that he is of royal blood. Thank you very much. [Applause.]]