Sihlalo, oNgqongqoshe abakhona, osekela Ngqongqoshe abakhona, amalungu ePhalamende nezihambeli zethu ... [Chairperson, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Members of Parliament and distinguished guests ...]
... in terms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, housing is a basic need. Therefore the creation of sustainable human settlements and the eradication of informal settlements remain at the forefront of the ANC and the government's key strategic objectives.
The development of integrated human settlements is a critical element in the government's fight against poverty and in improving the quality of life of our people. A number of the ANC's 2007 national conference resolutions have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented, including the establishment of the Housing Development Agency, HDA, legislation to address the proliferation of informal settlements, interventions to cap the cost of construction, and a central planning approach for directing resource allocation to human settlements.
Chairperson, we are committed to improving the quality of life of our people and to building stronger, better planned and sustainable communities. In this regard, the Housing Development Agency has been established to assist provinces and municipalities with the acquisition of appropriate land for human settlements development. It is tasked, among other things, with the responsibility to identify, acquire, hold, develop and release state-owned and privately owned land for residential and community purposes, as well as the creation of sustainable human settlements.
The rationale behind the establishment of this agency is that it would assist in cutting down on the red tape that prohibits the acquisition of suitable land - something that will be very difficult for municipalities or provincial departments to do on their own. The Act provides for an agreement between the agency and the municipality where a council lacks the capacity to acquire, hold, develop and release land for residential or community development.
Such an agreement will allow the HDA to undertake this task on behalf of the municipality. The agency will also be empowered to assist municipalities to complete unfinished projects. The agency's role to facilitate the rapid release of land is fundamental and key to the implementation of the comprehensive plan on the creation of sustainable human settlements and will improve the efficient location of the human settlements.
On the financial side, the agency will facilitate relationships between the housing departments attached to different spheres of government and the commercial banks, particularly with regard to the putting together, financing, and implementation of projects. The agency will also provide project management expertise in human settlements and facilitate development through accelerated and innovative project packaging.
There remains a lot of work to be done to ensure that development at the local level is properly planned, co-ordinated and integrated, but to date the HDA has already received the land and assembled a plan for six provinces and three metropolitan municipalities.
Approximately 70% of households in South Africa are currently excluded from access to housing credit through the formal banking sector. However, through the housing subsidy scheme, the lower 40% of households for whom housing credit is not a viable option are provided with a housing unit.
The upper-income bracket of the subsidy scheme requires end-user finance to access a housing product. Thus, 30% of the South African population are underserved or unserved, because of the conventional banking sector being unable to service them due to structural incompatibilities, insufficient capacity in the emerging, increasingly successful but inadequately funded specialised lending sector, or insufficient focus by the government and the private sector on alternative forms of tenure.
Following intensive local and international research, the national Department of Housing, the predecessor of the present Department of Human Settlements, concluded that four mutually comprehensive and supportive approaches should be adopted in order to assist the underserved or unserved portion of the population to access housing. These were: a government initiative aimed at facilitating and encouraging the formal banking sector to increase lending to the lower end of the housing market; proactive steps to further the growth and development of the emerging alternative lending sector; a major initiative to stimulate the provision of housing under a variety of tenure options, and mechanisms to substantially promote and expand the amount of personal savings mobilised in the housing process.
In order to assist in the achievement of these objectives, and in addition to the role provincial governments and municipalities play, the ANC-led government has established a number of national institutions with various roles and functions to facilitate the specific housing and housing-related needs of the market. Conscious of the fact that housing is one of the critical drivers and tangible indicators of progress and development in society, and painfully aware of glaring neglect and skewed spatial development patterns, the ANC government will continue to address the existing housing disparities and increase access to ensure and secure decent housing for all. It will do so by normalising the housing market through the implementation of various programmes and the strengthening of partnerships with financial institutions and the private sector. I support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]