Briefing by the Department on Women in Housing and People’s Housing Process

Meeting report

HOUSING PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
09 November 1999
BRIEFING BY THE DEPARTMENT ON WOMEN IN HOUSING AND PEOPLE’S HOUSING PROCESS

MINUTES
People's Housing Process (PHP)
Ms P Vilakazi, from the Housing Department, who is involved in the PHP, made the following points in the slide presentation to the committee:

THE PEOPLES HOUSING PROCESS
·           People over the years have been organising and building and creating settlements by themselves

·           In fact the majority of people in South Africa are housed and settled in housing created by this process

·           People can achieve a greater value for money in a manner that
satisfies their needs and aspirations

·           This process of home building by the people themselves is referred to as the People's Housing Process.

·           In this process the key decisions regarding the building of the house are taken by the people themselves

RECOGNITION OF THE PEOPLE'S HOUSING PROCESS
·           Supporting the People’s Housing Process is one of the Strategic Thrusts in the White Paper

·           The National Housing Policy: Supporting the People’s Housing Process was adopted by the Cabinet in May 1998

·           The policy provides families with access to:
-           Land
-           Information
-           Housing Subsidies
-           Technical Assistance.
-           Financial Assistance

PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE POLICY
·           Primary resource - skills and initiatives
·           Key decisions by beneficiaries
·           Minimum intervention - maximum support
·           Flexibility
·           Maximum choice.
·           Simple and transparent processes

THE PROCESS
Project Preparation (a)
Activity Description                              
Prepare an inventory of suitable land for residential development and offer the land organised landless groups (Responsible Party - Local Government)

Organised groups conduct Information sharing Workshop and elect Housing Support Committee (Responsible Party - Local Government and/or groups of families)

Allocate blocks/areas of land to organised landless groups (Responsible Party - Local Government)

Beneficiary families form/identify a Support (Responsible Party - Families and Housing Support Group)

Project Preparation (b)
Land availability agreement (Responsible Party - Local Government and Support Organisation)

Decide on a layout plan and level of services (Responsible Party - Support Organisations and families)

Identify support functions and prepare a Business Plan for Establishment Grant or Establishment Grant (Responsible Party - Support Organisations and families)

Design and costing of houses (Responsible Party - Families)

Approval of house design         (Responsible Party - Local Government)

Prepare Project Application including Business Plan for Establishment (Responsible Party - Support Organisation)

Project application submitted to the PHDB (Responsible Party - Support Organisation)

Approval of project linked subsidies for individual beneficiaries (Responsible Party - PHDB)

Establish Housing Support Facility if required (Responsible Party - Support Organisations)

Construction of houses (Responsible Party - Families with technical assistance from support organisations)

Certification of progress (Responsible Party - Certifier)

Progress payment of subsidies (Responsible Party - Account Administrator)

POTENTIAL SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS
Provincial Governments
Local Governments
Community Based Organisations (CBOs)
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
Religious bodies
Development corporations
Building material suppliers
Technical training institutions
Employer organisations
Labour unions
Tertiary educational institutions.
Voluntary associations

FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAMME
FaciIitation Grant
Establishment Grant - up to R57O
Housing Subsidy

BENEFITS AND POTENTIALS OF SUPPORTING THE PEOPLE'S
HOUSING PROCESS
* Poverty Alleviation
* People Centered Development
*Empowers women in driving the process
* Stimulating local economic development
*A catalyst for transformation of thinking and approaches at all levels
*Mobilising local technical expertise
*Fostering partnerships with the private sector.

Questions on the People’s Housing Process
A member asked who sees to any defects which the houses may have and he asked where does the money for the defects come from.
Ms Vilakazi responded that the Local Authorities have resources to restore the houses.

A question was raised as to who applies for the facilitation grant.
Ms P Vilakazi responded by saying that applications are done through mechanisms that have been put in place.  She said there are many institutions that play the support role.  Those institutions apply for the grant.

Another question was raised as to whether people who want to upgrade their existing houses can be part of the process.
Ms Vilakazi reasoned that obviously those people have to be screened.  It has first to be established how the structure came about and whether it is suitable for human habitation etc.

Mr B Douglas (IFP) asked how would the problem be solved if people may infringe on someone else’s land and decide to build there.
Ms Vilakazi responded that this process does not encourage invasion.  We first make sure that the land people live in is legal or, the local authority must have authority to transfer it.                    

Women in Housing
Ms N Nxumalo-Nhlapo, the Director General at the Department of Housing, said that the Women in Housing programme is an initiative of the Department of Housing.  She stated that the Department wants to ensure that women are empowered and to facilitate effective participation in their development.  She said the Department has supported these women with training. The Women in Housing is a section 21 company formed to support women in their development.  She said its members are professionals and people on the ground.  She invited anyone who wants to join the company to do so.

She then made the following points in the slide presentation to the committee:

WOMEN IN HOUSING
HOUSING POLICY CONTEXT

·           National Housing Objective - sustainable housing and urbanisation process, with secure tenure, within a safe, healthy environment and viable communities for all

·The Capital Housing Subsidy -Transforming gender relations through the empowerment of women headed households, women in male headed households, women as professionals and women in construction.

· 47% of households in rural areas are female headed

· Judging from poverty profile - women form the majority of homeless people in urban areas

· Women form the majority of beneficiaries of the housing subsidy scheme

IMPLICIT BARRIERS TO WOMEN
·Although the Housing Policy does not discriminate against women, other policies and laws bar the effective participation of women in development

· Laws on contractual age bars young women from accessing housing subsidies in their own right

· Property laws that require consent of spouse before married women can own property in their right

· Limited access to financial resources, requirements for collateral and limited access to credit

· Limited access to information

DEPARTMENT INITIATIVES IN PROMOTING WOMEN IN HOUSING
· Group serves as gender sounding board

· Reference group produced an outline of Research Issues Relating to Women and Housing in October 1998, which focuses on research issues relating to women and housing.  It identifies the following areas to be envisaged:

· Established Reference Group comprising non-governmental organisations such as the Homeless People Federation, People's Dialogue, National Urban Reconstruction Housing Agency, Women for Housing, Bank Council, Women’s National Coalition

· Women's access to housing subsidies;
· Women's access to credit;
· Contractual age;
· Housing design issues in human settlements
· Women's role in the housing process;
· Women and savings;
· Women in rural areas; and
· Women in People's Housing Process

Questions on Women in Housing
Ms N Hangana (Chairperson, ANC): There is a concern that the beneficiaries of these subsidy houses subsequently sell them.  How are you addressing this issue.
The Director General relied that this is a matter we have been trying to deliberate on.  A number of beneficiaries sell their property after receiving them and go back to live in the shacks.  They are ignorant of the fact that once a person has gained access to a subsidy house, he or she will not get another subsidy again.  This selling of houses becomes a means of generating income by the poor people who have nothing whatsoever.  People would rather value more the money in their pockets than roofs on their heads.  Technically the solution is easy – impose a condition on the title deed.  The problem with imposition is that the rights of the people on subsidy would not be the same as those of the rest of the citizens.  I think there must be a general rule that one cannot sell his or her subsidy house then, exceptions should be allowed only when reasonable acceptable reasons are given.

The Chairperson apologised that there was no time left to discuss the Rental Housing Bill.  The meeting was adjourned.