House Chairperson, the Minister of Human Settlements, Mr Toyko Sexwale, in his Budget Vote speech for the financial year under review, said the following: "I urge the committee, including the select committee, to redouble its efforts in coming down hard upon those responsible." Today is such a day - to come down hard on the Minister and his department, who have certainly failed to ensure that the Human Settlements budget is spent optimally and effectively to the advantage of millions of people still waiting for houses.
It is unacceptable that the national department is unable to effectively monitor and evaluate the spending patterns of provinces and accredited municipalities. This has led to billions of rands being underspent on grants, such as the R4 billion which has been spent on the Urban Settlement Development Grant and R886 million of the Human Settlements Development Grant which has been returned to the National Treasury. The Rural Housing Infrastructure Grant, which since its inception in 2009, has been suffering chronic underspending, leaving thousands of rural people in South Africa without basic sanitation.
Further to be noted is the wasting of almost R1 billion on rectification every year, and the inability to fast track the thousands of beneficiaries who are still without title deeds and houses.
With these facts, the Minister and his department must get their house in order and deliver. Surely, South Africans deserve better.
Tot dat daar nie verantwoordelikheid geneem word nie, kan die DA nie hierdie begrotingspos ondersteun nie. Ek dank u. [Applous.] [Until responsibility is taken, the DA cannot support this budget. I thank you. [Applause.]]