Thank you, Chairperson. Hon Minister Sexwale, hon Deputy Minister Zoe Kota-Fredericks, hon Members of the National Council of Provinces, please allow me to convey greetings from our chairperson, councillor and Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mayor Masondo, and the Salga leadership to you on this historic occasion of the first Budget Vote for the Department of Human Settlements.
If we traverse our landscape of South Africa, we see the historic Cape Dutch houses. We see the decorative Ndebele houses, the humble stick-and- mud houses in the eastern part of our country and the so-called "matjieshuise" (mat huts) of Namaqualand. We believe that this is where our people have built their own houses. I trust that during your term of office you will bring hope and happiness to our citizens, having gained an almost two-thirds majority, and I hope that nobody is going to stop you when you get going.
If we take the intent of the Fourth Parliament, it is a time for renewal. It is a time for fresh implementation and a new style of governance. It is a time for innovation, new ideas and approaches to turn around the big backlog that we have. Funding has been secured, promises have been made and that funding will realise 2,2 million houses. We know that Minister Sexwale is the only Minister in terms of implementation who needs to deliver on time and on budget and a job well done. So, therefore, Minister, you will be the only Minister in terms of the construction and home-building industry who will be receiving happy letters.
Housing delivery is not merely about the delivery of houses, and we welcome the fact that intergovernmental relations have been secured through the integrated approach to human settlements. At Salga, we have also notices the efforts of our international donor community in so far as as the Dutch are concerned, who directly fund certain project on social housing, and were present yesterday. Our Cuban compatriots were also present at your Budget Vote debate yesterday.
We have also noticed that initiatives to build the capacity of the councillors through the Wits Business School have ensured that certain blocked projects have become unblocked. These are all matters that happened last year. I also believe that the unfinished business related to the public participation processes of the NCOP will be attended to.
In order to create sustainable human settlements, one needs to align housing delivery with other strategies such as infrastructure, Public Works programmes and basic services. With particular regard to basic services, reference has been made to climate change and the very high cost of services like water and electricity.
Many of these facilities are currently the mandate of municipalities. Therefore, it would be logical for municipalities to also carry the responsibility for the delivery of houses, as part of and aligned with all other aspects of the built environment. Furthermore, municipalities serve as a logical site for the effective alignment of interdepartmental and intragovernmental funding streams that eventually contribute towards the development of sustainable human settlements. I can share with you that in the many meetings on integrated development plans, the first thing that is said, is: "Mr Mayor, I don't have a house," or, "Mr Mayor, I am struggling." "Ek kry swaar; ons trek swaar." [I am struggling; we are having a difficult time.] These are the words uttered by citizens and we have the ability to respond to them.
Municipalities form the sphere of government that is closest to the communities and are, in most instances, the implementing agents for national and provincial government. We are, therefore, able to respond to local needs and to deliver tailor-made services. The other matters regarding consumer services, etc, can be attended to at local government level.
It is often said that municipalities do not have the capacity to perform the housing function. Yet, until now, municipalities have not been granted the responsibility of, or the funding for, housing and, therefore, have not needed to build their capacity for housing. Once given the full mandate with the necessary funding and the time to build their capacity, municipalities will be able to perform the function, as has been shown with other municipal functions in the past. This position we align with our linkage to united cities and local governments; we align it to the policy statements of the ruling party and, as such, we will pursue this matter of policy alignment.
Some municipalities, despite the fact that they do not have a funded housing mandate, see housing as their responsibility to their constituents and use municipal funding for the delivery of sustainable human settlements. We have demonstrated clearly that we do have the capacity to deliver.
In September 2005 a policy framework for the accreditation of municipalities to perform housing functions was adopted. Eighteen municipalities were prioritised for accreditation. Until now, no municipality has even been assigned functions for level 1 accreditation.
In addition, the housing Minmec resolved that the accreditation process will never go beyond level 2, not because of capacity constraints on the part of municipalities, but because it may mean assigning the function to municipalities - something which the provincial departments of housing are opposed to. This is a matter of concern to Salga. It is clear that the accreditation process is not working. There is a need to consider the devolution of the function to municipalities.
Last year, Cabinet took a decision to the effect that the housing function should devolve to municipalities. We hold the view that the Minmec will not assign the function to municipalities; it will only delegate functions in terms of accreditation levels 1 and 2. Accreditation will maintain the current division of responsibilities for housing between the provincial and local governments and will not improve the efficiency of delivery.
We are really concerned about this. Change needs to happen at the point of delivery, preferably at the project implementation level and not at the higher levels. Assignment of the delivery function to municipalities provides an opportunity for provinces to monitor and supervise delivery, and even intervene in municipalities and develop appropriate capacity to focus on this function. This is in line with the constitutional architecture.
Chairperson, Salga supports this Budget Vote No 26 - Housing. Thank you very much. [Applause.]