Chairperson, housing remains a contentious issue for us as millions of households in South Africa have inadequate shelter. My question is: Will we be able to cut into the 10-year backlog, as the Minister has mentioned in his speech? We would like to assure the Minister that we remain positive. This department is faced with the undesirable task of a set of demands that far outweighs government's capacity and resources for delivery.
During the Budget Vote hearings we were told by the Rural Housing Loan Fund that they needed ministerial intervention because of the fact that they didn't have a CEO. Minister, if the hon Steyn is correct and there was intervention and an appointment, we would like to congratulate you because this institution has been without a CEO since August 2008.
The ID is concerned about the snail's pace of the accreditation process for municipalities. The reason given to us was a lack of capacity. However, this is also slow in high-capacity municipalities.
Corruption is one of the biggest challenges in housing. The Greenfield project in Tlokwe in the North West, where a company was awarded a R140 million contract to build 1 000 houses, of which 415 were not enrolled at the offices of the National Home Builders Registration Council, NHBRC, is an example of this. This kind of disregard for procedures compromises the quality of houses and also expands the cloud of suspicion hanging over contractors. The ID also applauds the NHBRC for not approving these houses due to the contractor's failure to enrol them, despite the rumoured political positions of the company's owners.
The department of human settlements in the Northern Cape has failed the Siyanda District Municipality, the second-largest district in the province, as far as servicing sites and building of houses is concerned. The ID would like to see a more transparent and equitable process.
The migration of people from one province to another is also of great concern to us. Gauteng and the Western Cape are mostly affected by this and there is a desperate need for a central housing database that prevents ownership of government houses in more than one province.
Hon Minister, you have the ID's support for the promise that your department has made to clamp down on the sloppy work of contractors. You also promised to act against corruption when you said, and I quote, "Watch this space". We are watching this space, Minister, and today you have shown that you are a man of your word as far as these actions are concerned. [Applause.]
Minister, at one time you shared with us your horrific experience of children playing with condoms in a dumping site next to a human settlement, and of children having to cross a street filled with human waste when going to school. We cannot allow a situation where contractors have the luxury of sleeping comfortably and having nice food ... The ID supports this Budget Vote. [Time expired.] [Applause.]