Chairperson, as a prefix to what I am going to say; I am just going to raise one issue with hon Steyn. Hon Steyn, your party has never presented any better policy than the ANC's. Our engagement as Members of Parliament should be based on policies rather than ambush politics.
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, hon members and hon presiding officer, we are participating in this Budget Vote fully aware of our responsibility. As Members of Parliament, we contribute to the nation's effort to build a nonracial, nonsexist, united, democratic and prosperous society.
Mrs Njobe, this is very important: in 1955, during the adoption of the Freedom Charter, the Congress of the People clearly stated that, and I quote:
There shall be houses, security and comfort. All people shall have the right to live where they choose, be decently housed and to bring up their families in comfort and security. Unused housing space shall be made available to the people. Rent and prices shall be lowered. Slums shall be demolished, and new suburbs built where all have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, crches and social grants.
With this in mind, the people of our country continue to have confidence in their movement, the ANC, trusting that it will do its best to improve the quality of life of all South Africans, irrespective of race, colour or creed. Hence the ANC considers the provision of houses as a basic need.
Therefore, as a result, the Department of Human Settlements has embarked on a radical change to change the tide in housing delivery in our country. According to data from the department, 2,7 million houses have been built in South Africa over the last 14 years, giving shelter to over 10 million people, a quantity of housing provision unprecedented in our history.
This success has been the work of the ANC and government, forging partnerships with the private sector, as well as looking at other avenues to help in the development of housing projects. This is in accordance with the Human Settlements Vision 2030, which is about speeding up the development of sustainable human settlements for all South Africans, based on the provision of our supreme law.
However, notwithstanding the unprecedented success of the delivery of housing post 1994, South Africa marked the beginning of an unprecedented demand for houses as more people moved to urban areas in search of new economic opportunities which are being created by the democratic order. This resulted in the mushrooming of over 2 700 informal settlements throughout our country, with a rough projection of housing delivery for 2010-14 estimated at 230 000 per year. However, this indicates the greater need for increased housing, despite our good delivery record.
To build on the unprecedented success in housing delivery, the ANC has adopted an integrated housing programme for the next decade, in which it will aim to work towards building a united, nonracial and integrated community across our towns and cities. Work has been ongoing to ensure that new settlements are nonracial and that they involve the creation of mixed- income communities. Our programmes of public transport infrastructure are helping to transform our cities and towns so that they can contribute to the ending of apartheid spatial development. As a result thereof, today we are witnessing the realisation of our objective of ensuring that people who earn between R2 500 and R7 000 are provided with appropriate accommodation closer to work opportunities. This is evident in the rejuvenation of Kempton Park, as the hon Minister has indicated. Cape Town's social housing government programme to provide affordable accommodation in cities, as well as housing projects for people to live in places closer to work and other amenities in Tshwane, Johannesburg and other parts of our country is also evident.
The development of integrated human settlements is a critical element in our fight against poverty and improving the quality of life of our people. Therefore, for the ANC government to be able to speed up the delivery of houses requires new areas of funding. Both the public and private sectors should be explored to provide a sustained fiscal injection over the long term to address the housing backlog and growth in informal settlements.
There is a need for continual government engagement with the private financial sector to facilitate its transformation and diversification, including the development of co-operative financial institutions, as well as ensuring that the sector contributes to the investment and development goals of our country. Therefore, this raises the need for urgently revising the current funding model, as well as technical and programmatic options to produce the desired impact of increased human settlement delivery. State-owned enterprises and development financial institutions or bodies need to play important roles in achieving the goal of a better life for all. These institutions must have a clear and concise developmental mandate.
The ANC and its government will move towards a serviced-sites mode of delivery, so as to encourage people to build their own houses in the form of the Peoples' Housing Project. This can stimulate local economic development and result in better quality homes. The ANC government is assisting people with building materials to encourage their involvement in the provision of housing needs, more so in rural areas.
An affordable rental housing strategy has been approved.
Already the ANC government has made strides in making sure that funding is made available for the realisation of a united, non-racial, integrated community across our cities and towns through the following undertaking: the President announced a R1 billion guarantee fund to assist prospective home owners earning between R3 500 and R9 000 to access home loans. The Rural Housing Loan Fund continues to provide financial opportunities to rural families. The rural subsidy voucher scheme was finalised. In conclusion, if we do things differently we can realise our vision of a united, nonracial community for everyone. [Time expired.] [Applause.]