Chairperson, I want to respond quickly to Mr Steyn regarding the National Home Builders Registration Council. I am sure you are aware that the issue of protecting consumers is high on our agenda, and we urge the NHBRC to respond timeously, because if we respond timeously, we save millons of rands. The matter is high on the agenda of the department, and we will deal with these matters and some of the issues you have just raised with the NHBRC.
With regard to the issue raised by Cope, we do understand that land from state-owned enterprises, SOEs, is given at market-related prices. We believe that that matter is one we have been handling as government, because we believe these houses are meant for the people. So, we do not agree with the issue of market-related prices because the department does not have the budget.
The issue of hostels is a work in progress and we will always be in agreement with you on this. I just want to assure members that we stand together on the issues of human settlements. Your robust oversight helps us to do more work in terms of our mandate as a department.
Chairperson, allow me to greet the Minister of Human Settlements, hon Tokyo Sexwale, the Deputy Ministers present and Members of Parliament. It is my great pleasure to welcome the officials from the department led by Acting Director-General Dlabantu, as well as CEOs of housing institutions and all honoured guests and comrades. I salute the chairperson of the portfolio committee, Nomhle Dambuza, and the MEC in the Western Cape, hon Bonginkosi Madikizela.
This Budget Vote is taking place when all roads in South Africa are leading to the 2010 Fifa World Cup. This year, we will also be marking the 55th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, the historic document of our people. Once more, we reiterate our commitment, as Human Settlements, to making the aspirations of the Freedom Charter a reality. Our thanks go to President Jacob Zuma for giving us the mandate to be responsible for the entire housing market, when he proclaimed the Department of Human Settlements. Our ability to fulfil this mandate depends on us, as this collective, and all relevant stakeholders being able to work together.
It is the duty of government and leaders at all levels of society to provide the requisite resources and to make the necessary investment in order to provide sustainable human settlements. For that reason we call upon all sectors to contribute in whatever manner in order to tackle this mammoth task. Working together, we can do more.
Last year we acknowledged the importance of making the people an integral part of our planning and implementation. We are still firmly committed to this approach. It is the only way to make us realise our dream and the dream of many South Africans who are anxiously waiting to have a physical address. Human settlement and the improved quality of households can only be realised and sustained through planning together and co-ordinating together. However, I believe that given the outcomes-based approach of this developmental state of the ANC, all departments are forced to plan and work together, including the provincial departments. Give us time. We will be able to arrive with that approach. That is our mandate and together, by following that approach, we can deliver on that mandate.
We have committed ourselves to moving away from the ethos of chasing numbers when we build homes for our people. Instead we are focusing more and more on the quality of the units we build. Ours is to build homes that we can be proud of; homes that will contribute to changing the lives of our people for the better.
The accelerated delivery of housing calls for the streamlining of our funding mechanisms, as the committee chairperson has said. All housing grants, namely the provincial infrastructure grant and the municipal infrastructure grants, the PIG and MIGs, must be consolidated into a single grant. This means there is a need for more effective co-ordination as far as land development, the provision of bulk infrastructure, servicing of the land, transport and social amenities are concerned.
One challenge we face, as the hon member for Cope has said, is the fact that the land that comes from state-owned enterprises is being acquired at market-related prices. This has, indeed, put an extra burden on the Human Settlements budget, and it leads to delays in building houses in well- located areas. Our mission as Human Settlements includes integrating our communities by bringing people closer to their places of work.
The Minister has spoken at length about the new mandate that we are now all about: giving our people a complete product of good quality - that is, a house that is near social amenities. After all, this is what you and I always consider when we are buying a house or looking for a place to rent. In other words, in this process, we must move away from the apartheid spatial framework, where houses for the poorest of the poor were built in areas far from towns. Our call is to develop megacities, as envisaged in the Breaking New Ground strategy. Wherever houses are built, there should be clinics, schools, local economic development areas, community halls, etc.
It should be borne in mind that government-subsidised housing is indeed asset creation. This is a value-added exercise with regard to socioeconomic growth. Many families are being rekindled as they now have a place they call home. It brings back the dignity of our people. When building materials are bought and houses are constructed, this leads to a boom in the construction industry. In other words, human settlement provision enhances the development of manufacturing industries.
According to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, all people have the right to adequate housing. In South Africa, there is a need to overcome historical imbalances. Over the years, our government has tried to protect the more vulnerable sectors in our society. This is done through the government housing subsidy. In so doing, we will continue to give our people hope as we take part in the war against poverty. Our participation over this weekend, when we joined the anti-poverty campaign in Lubala village in the Eastern Cape, led by the Deputy President, is a case in point.
As we carry this torch forward, we are committed to building partnerships with all those who are ready to hit the ground running. As we dream of a South Africa free of slums, the Department of Human Settlements is calling on everyone to be agents of change in our communities and in our neighbourhoods. Let us cross this bridge of transformation together.
The building of human settlements is a public investment because it contributes, as I have said, to growth as a whole. Our goal is to ensure that we have permanent investment by making sure that our human settlement projects are of good quality and can stand the test of time. There is a need to do this kind of work in an integrated way. We have to make sure that it is intersectoral, leads to economic opportunities and job creation, and contributes to building social cohesion.
Unfortunately, the delivery of such homes cannot happen for everyone at the same time. These are the shared expectations of our people, which are legitimate. Therefore, in order to diffuse this situation, we will roll out the programme of the upgrading of informal settlements during this budget. We need the provision of water, electricity, refuse removal and roads. This will be the first step towards the final eradication of informal settlements.
As the Minister has mentioned, we have over 2 700 informal settlements across the country. As the national Department of Human Settlements continues with the enhancement of this upgrading programme, we have noted that slum organisations have become an important and permanent feature of human settlements policy. This is a positive step. The collective will of us as government and our people to eradicate informal settlements is needed.
Some of those informal settlements are situated in places that are not suitable for habitation. In cases such as those, our people need to understand the importance of relocating. This means that all those who have built their houses on river banks and on dolomitic land must be prepared to be relocated. When there is nothing wrong with where an informal settlement is situated, we will consider in situ upgrading. There is no need to uproot our people when we can improve their living conditions exactly where they are. Once again, the upgrading of informal settlements as a whole depends on the willingness of our people to co-operate with government. We will remain committed to working with municipalities in ensuring the provision of basic services. This unfolding process calls on us to revisit the issue of land use management. Beneficiaries must be active participants in the human settlement delivery process. This can only happen if they are given an opportunity to do so.
The People's Housing Process, PHP, is a useful tool of community involvement. The homes that are built through the PHP are bigger and, in many instances, of better quality. There are many forms of the PHP, one of which is the managed PHP, in which a contractor or developer builds houses for beneficiaries. But what has been clear is that these houses are no different from the BNG or RDP houses. This is, therefore, not the best option. The PHP housing delivery programme is a programme where beneficiaries should be actively involved in decision-making over the quality and design of the house, and also be involved through saving.
The PHP has undergone numerous review processes in order to enhance its impact on housing delivery as well as to contribute to the creation of sustainable human settlements. The review process has brought with it an enhanced PHP policy framework, which outlines a plan for the development of sustainable human settlements and embraces the people's contract as the basis for delivery. The people's contract makes a clear call to communities to become a partner with government in the delivery process. In this regard, we will continue to empower our people through this housing delivery process for more meaningful participation. We have moved with speed.
We are now going to provide our people with the technical skills to build their homes. Furthermore we urge provinces to ring-fence a portion of their budget allocation for the PHP. It would be of great significance if they could commit themselves to helping PHP formations around the country and encourage and support self-help initiatives.
One of the things we also suggest, and we think it is critical, is that there must be PHP units within departments. All PHP formations must enjoy equal support from the government. This will help us move with speed in delivering houses to our people. Our Deputy President put it into the right words during the anti-poverty campaign in the Eastern Cape last week when he said, "On matters that relate to service delivery, speed does not kill."
Social housing is also an important vehicle through which we can deal with our housing backlog. In this regard, we are also taking the ring-fencing route in our budget allocation for the development of affordable social housing units for our people. We appeal to provinces and municipalities to fast-track their planning strategies and finalise those land and stock audits so that we can move with speed on this one too.
Proper financial and technical support to municipalities should be central to the rolling out of this programme. We would also like to revisit the Treasury, Minister, regarding a once-off capital injection for the enhancement of this programme. In this process, we encourage provinces and municipalities to bear in mind the need for densification in order to deal with the issue of scarcity of land. Our goal is also to continue with the refurbishing of dilapidated buildings in the inner city, in order to begin integration in our society. Hence, we are proud of some inner-city development projects, such as Brickfields, Cosmos City and Emerald Sky, as examples of projects that need to be emulated.
As government, we will continue to support those contractors who build houses of good quality. Their participation in human settlement programmes enhances our ability to deliver on our mandate. It is equally important that the contractors are paid on time. Minister, we are happy to know that the provincial conferences on emerging contractors are under way as we speak. We hope these conferences will yield positive results.
From 21 to 26 March 2010, we had the opportunity to participate in the World Urban Forum held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. This conference was honoured by the presence of President Museveni of Uganda and the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, who delivered the keynote address. Our participation in the conference indicated our commitment to sharing our experiences in the building of houses for the poorest of the poor and to learn from international best practices.
The fifth session of the World Urban Forum focused on the theme of "Bridging the Urban Divide". According to UN Habitat, 227 million people across the globe have moved out of slum conditions since 2000. Unfortunately, the progress made in moving people out of slums has not been enough to counter the growth of informal settlements in the developing world. As a result, the absolute number of slum-dwellers has actually increased from 776,7 million in 2000 to 827,3 million in 2010. This means that 50,6 million new slums have been added to the new world population since 2000.
Sadly, sub-Saharan Africa has the largest population, with 199,5 million, which means 60,17% of its urban population is living in slums. It is followed by Asia with 190,7 million, which amounts to only about 35% of its population living in slums.
I want to thank Dr Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme, whose tenure has since expired, for working with us in creating the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development, AMCHUD. We have sent our congratulations as South Africa.
During our recent visit to Brazil, we also had the honour to stay in the same hotel as our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana. We assured them of our support and wished them well during their continued stay in Brazil. Bafana Bafana is ready to win the 2010 Fifa World Cup. We know that, as South Africa, we will win the game. [Time expired.]