Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister and honourable members, in his farewell speech to the late Judge Herbert Msimang, President Zuma said:
There have been a number of judgments where the legislature had been directed to review certain pieces of legislation and calling for the service delivery departments to enhance delivery. These we appreciate as necessary interventions which serve to deepen our democracy. One of these judgments is the Joe Slovo informal settlement matter, which the Minister has already alluded to, but we in Cope observe that this seems to have annoyed and frustrated the Minister of Human Settlements. He seems to be accusing the Constitutional Court of usurping the functions of the legislature and the executive.
As we all remember, the N2 Gateway Housing project in Cape Town was launched in March 2005. The aim of the project was to replace informal settlements along the N2 highway with formal houses and flats. It started as an excellent housing model that is referred to as the "comprehensive housing plan pilot project", but today the same cannot be said of the project.
The Auditor-General's report, completed in 2008 and tabled in Parliament in April 2009, revealed that the project had, among others, "not been managed economically, efficiently and effectively". The following other shortcomings were listed by the report: the identification and securing of sufficient land was not finalised prior to construction; detailed geotechnical surveys were not completed prior to starting the project; the selection of beneficiaries was not finalised before construction began; the time-frame for the completion of the project was not realistic; affordable housing was not provided for the identified target market, and funding arrangements were not finalised and secured before the project began.
Now, Cope would still like to know - and this is in spite of what the Minister has said already - whether the department has dealt with all the issues raised by the Auditor-General before rebuking the courts, or whether it has dealt with the failure to meet the timeframes or with the planned design changes that have a direct impact on the costs and timeframes, or dealt with the dissatisfied residents of the N2 Gateway who are complaining about the N2 project being a dumping place without any basic services. Residents are also complaining that the N2 Gateway project has not transformed their lives. Children are not safe, houses are falling apart, and residents have to deal with health issues, overcrowding and crime.
Also of concern to us is the inadequate coordination and alignment of programmes between the three spheres of government. From the latest reports given to the portfolio committee on what is called the provincial business plan, and outcomes and targets, the Eastern Cape, for example, has allocated R279 848 million, the equivalent of 12,85% of its budget, to informal settlement upgrading. But according to Statistics South Africa, the Eastern Cape as a rural province does not have a substantial informal dwelling problem, yet it has given so much of its budget to this item. In comparison, as a rural province, the Eastern Cape intends to spend a mere R135 537 million, the equivalent of 6, 2% of its budget, on rural housing. We would have considered that more important than, for instance, the upgrading of informal settlements for a rural province like the Eastern Cape. Taking the example of the same province, a whole 10% of its budget is to be spent on rectification, in other words, correcting shoddy work done previously. Although new jobs will be created by such rectification, funds will still have been wasted. What does the national Department of Human Settlements say? Other rural provinces such as Mpumalanga and North West intend to spend very little on rural housing - 2% and 4,6% of their total budget respectively. Compare this with the other typically rural province, Limpopo, which is to spend 58,3% of its budget on rural housing and only 4% on informal settlement upgrading. This, in fact, should be the trend in all the rural provinces - that is, spending more on rural housing and less on informal settlement housing.
The Rural Housing Infrastructure Programme aims - I am sorry, but I am suffering from, the flu here - through a Schedule 7 grant to provide basic services to the remote rural areas by providing on-site sanitation and water facilities when necessary to rural communities. A total of R350 million has been allocated for the current financial year. The beneficiaries are supposed to be involved in the implementation of the programme, as well as the CBOs, NGOs and other bodies in the community, so as to instil a culture of ownership towards sustainable communities. This is a very noble idea indeed, and it is what Cope promotes in its policies. [Laughter.]
Thulani, thulani! [Please keep quiet!] We say, we shall be a government of the people by the people for the people, but also with the people. [Time expired.]