Chairperson and Ministers, the ACDP welcomes the R1 billion housing guarantee fund, enabling banks to give home loans to "in- betweeners". These are lower-to-middle-income earners who do not qualify for government subsidies to the poor and, until recently, were also "in- betweeners" in terms of education grants.
The ACDP has cautioned against continually disadvantaging people who are productive and responsible. This sector includes nurses, teachers, wardens, police officers and people in general occupations requiring responsibility and commitment.
An analysis of human settlements over the last financial year is a sad litany of performances not relating proportionally to increases in allocation, unexplained variations from the norm in third-quarter results instead of full-year reports, declines anticipated in performance - where there have been more than inflationary increases to prevent that - and an apparent omission of numbers of rental units.
Hon Minister, in November you said you were sharpening your pencil. In that instance, it was to root out corruption, and contractors and officials who built shoddy houses for the poor. You said a national housing audit, headed by the Special Investigating Unit, had been instituted to take a rigorous look at housing delivery from top to bottom, focusing on issues like fraud, delays, corruption, absentee contractors, ghost houses, shoddy workmanship and corruption around waiting lists.
We welcomed your zeal and look forward to the publication of the audit. We also congratulate you on the successes you have reported in this area, and perhaps that pencil would be equally well utilised in checking the department's sums, so that we can better evaluate the budget allocation to your department.
To accelerate the delivery of housing and integrated sustainable human settlements and to utilise housing delivery as a catalyst for major job creation and economic growth, the Department of Human Settlements' budget allocation for 2010-11 is R16,2 billion. This is an increase of 8,2% in real terms. The ACDP would like to see this as a positive, but in view of the backlogs and other realities, we doubt that this budget will make the necessary significant difference needed.
The ACDP notes that the 2010 state of the nation address pinpointed a critical role for the department in the provision of public infrastructure, particularly given that the expanded mandate incorporates sanitation. In addition, the need for well-located informal settlements, proper service, land tenure to a significant number of households, and key responsibilities in the rural development programme were highlighted. It is imperative for the department to acquire the expertise, procurement capacity and human resources needed. The ACDP welcomes the department's commitment to enhancing institutional capacity at provincial and municipal levels, through training and skills development, measured by the capacity to undertake roles and responsibilities within applicable standards.
Continued refinement of the role of municipalities in the housing delivery chain is necessary and a preliminary housing quality audit, to focus on the persistent and chronic problems in the delivery of quality houses and allocation of subsidies to nonqualifying beneficiaries, is critical. The ACDP will support this Budget Vote in the hope of a breakthrough in the delivery of housing. We wish you every success, hon Minister. [Applause.]