Department of Human Settlements Budget & Strategic Plan 2009/10 (cont)

Meeting report

Presentation 1: Project Information and Statistics
Mr Johan Minnie, Chief Director: Management Information Services, outlined the insufficiency or inaccuracy of statistics on housing. Statistics from certain quarters reveal that the average household size in South Africa was 4.5 to 3.8 persons per household. However, there were equally valid reports that put the average household size at 5.2 persons per household. Statistical figures could be manipulated in order to create or strengthen perceptions and that perceptions were what were viewed as reality. If 3.8 persons were multiplied by the 4000 houses delivered then plus minus 11 to 12 000 000 extra people had been housed in the recent past. Provincial delivery differed from province to province and even at municipal level within the provinces. He suggested that some provinces were better presenters of their work, made better use of the available money and were concentrating on delivery to those in need. In addition certain municipalities could not execute their mandates with responsibility effectively. The projects differed in size, suitability of areas, municipalities, and provinces, all of which varied. He suggested that a more analytical view of Housing should be taken. Where the project sizes were decreasing there was better management, of completion and delivery and above all, financial management. There should be a review of both the projects and project phases within a project. Certain projects had seemingly stopped but this was in reality the change to another phase of that project or the introduction of a new phase and the project was continuing. What was of ultimate importance, and impacted upon delivery of housing, was high quality administration and management of the administration processes. Where there was an appreciation of this, together with a competent driver then housing projects were being completed satisfactorily, both as to time and quality. He emphasised that it was insufficient to have merely good intentions. Equally important was that the intended beneficiaries must be available There were too many sad stories of houses being intended for certain persons and when the houses were complete and ready for hand-over the intended beneficiaries had passed away, relocated or occasionally secured employment and thus no longer qualified for the houses. It was, he suggested, a more complicated situation or problem than was envisaged by critical persons who concentrate solely on their own private agendas.

Associated with this was the whole question of housing subsidies. Where the list of intended beneficiaries had been blocked for a long time, he felt that it should be cancelled and started afresh. Currently there were blocked payments of plus minus 229 in South Africa and this required a special effort and intention to clear away the cause of the blockage. It was often a question of not following correctly the procedures. He referred to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) where there was not follow through. He suggested that this was ‘corruption’, not in the monetary sense but because some party involved in the process had sentimental reasons for holding up the EIA. He suggested that these selfish persons should be made conscious of the greater good rather than their small personal agenda and the need for the good of the greater number.

What was required was an analytical approach in which there would be planning over a longer period, and he suggested four to five years as the minimum and stabilized planning over two to three years as a minimum period.

Reporting by and from the provinces could be expedited and this was an aspect of administration that required attention in order to expedite delivery. This could be extended to reporting by and from the municipalities to the provinces. There were too many opportunities for backlogs for which the National Department was blamed. He emphasised that in the end it all “boiled down” to money and its use so that the best possible use of every rand was made. Effective hands-on administration was the only means of achieving this goal. Areas such as administration processes, subsidy applications, conveyancing processes, transfer fees, rates and taxes payments, law drafting, provincial and municipal management could be better managed. A sea change did not occur overnight but if such areas were manager driven, vast improvements could be achieved. He warned that the providers of professional services required payment, even if only part, as against completion of their tasks for no one can be expected to work for nothing. In addition there was a concentration on the number of completed houses, viewed in isolation. He said that prior professional and construction costs and tasks were equally important. By way of analogy he suggested that there was more to housing delivery than admiring the roof tops of completed houses. Those houses where the foundations were being excavated were as important steps in the provision of housing as the provision of completed houses and their handover to the ultimate beneficiaries.

Collaboration between all parties involved in the delivery of housing were equally important and to this effect a new management approach had been embarked on whereby there would be alignment reviews quarterly and half yearly and Performance Reviews at these time interval. If any blockages were ascertained, task teams would be sent to clear away the blockages. He conceded that such enhanced managerial approaches would still be open to challenges but the problems would be more quickly identified and attended to. This required collaboration between all three levels of government, National, Provincial but especially Municipal. This new approach was termed the Integrated Development Programme (IRDP). This was conceived as an early warning system and reports would be required on a monthly basis.

The remaining challenges, he conceded, were structural and service defects, building material supply problems, project management competency, but above all skills. It was not going to be sufficient to have the most admirable management systems in place, if the bricklayers, plumbers electricians and artisans on the ground were either not available, or were not competent, or were disaffected and hence not performing their functions acceptably. Associated with this was beneficiary identification, a lack of bulk infrastructure and skills among the contractors and in this regard emerging contractors were a special problem. By way of an example just because a man was an excellent bricklayer it did not follow automatically that he would be an adequate or excellent contractor. Another problem was the transfer of land ownership.

Discussion
The Chairperson thanked Mr Minnie for an excellent oversight of the challenges involved in human settlement achievement.

Mr B Steyn (DA) endorsed all that Mr Minnie had set out. The challenges outlined were well known to any one involved in or associated with building construction but the problem was the overcoming of such. He added that he had been present at another presentation by the Department where there was concentration on the oversight function. But he wished to emphasise that the big bugbears were the lack of concurrence between the numbers, the misleading information available and the misleading use thereof and the skewed public perception arising. He added that the concentration on completed as opposed to under construction units impacted upon the budget breakdowns provided regularly and he felt that there was a danger of double accounting creeping into the budgets which were the inflated with flab which was not present in reality. He added that as between beneficiaries and delivery there was a discrepancy and the figures provided would seem to suggest that there was more delivery than beneficiaries awaiting housing units and on the ground this was not so. There were no vacant houses and the waiting lists for housing increased annually. He asked that this be addressed. He further asked that audits be done to establish the real figures.

Ms M Borman (ANC) stated that she was greatly encouraged by the presentation. However, she asked what departmental efforts were being put into assisting those municipalities identified as weak in their delivery. Further, the reasons for the delays with the EIAs should be established and attention be directed to clearing up such blockages. She asked for the identification of these blockages to be made known to other role players so that the wheel did not require to be invented over and over again. Further, she highlighted the perception of the poor quality of the houses handed over to the beneficiaries. She stated that there was too great a reliance on the Department, whether national or provincial, attending to the reparation work. She was of the opinion that the beneficiaries should be educated about their responsibilities in cherishing their benefits. Reparation work and the constant upkeep which houses require was an unexploited area for job creation. She asked that the persons concerned, in any capacity be educated to make use of such advantages. For example, once a house was handed over and the glass in the windows was broken this was not a departmental responsibility but an area of economic endeavour for the individual glazer and those capable of running a glazing service enterprise. Such an example could be expanded upon a thousand fold. Housing delivery should be viewed by all concerned as job creation and job skills development for entrepreneurs.

Mr E Mtshali (ANC) stated that of the houses delivered 99.5% were of poor quality and he for one had a special horror of the VIP toilets which was utterly disgusting and further more he felt that they should be attached to the houses. He emphasised that the poor quality of the housing was not improving and he felt that the constant use of consultants means that the State employees were not doing their work and the Government was viewed as a milk cow. He wanted consultants stopped.

The Chairperson then stated that, as the department had not been with the current Minister for a long period it would be up to the DG to interact with the Minister and she felt that the consultants were adding to the issue of job creation.

In reply Mr Minnie said that he agreed with the points raised by Mr Steyn who clearly had invaluable practical experience and he would be raising with the Minister the question of providing a breakdown between completed and in construction units in the Budget and in such a manner as to eliminate the possibilities of double accounting. As regards the question of beneficiaries as opposed to delivery he said the department was building without immediate beneficiaries being identified and he felt that the move to a three-year cycle would bring beneficiaries and construction closer. With regard to identification of problems the department had utilised a 30% sample, which was felt was sufficiently widespread and this was showing that the beneficiaries were satisfied with the quality of the delivered article. However, they required backup and the intention was to had constant and never ending improvement CANI. In this regard once the weak Municipalities had been identified assistance was rendered to such, even if it means task teams from Departmental Headquarters were to be deployed to oversee the work and problems in a hands on capacity, but he conceded that in the presence of empire building this was problematic. With blockages, especially those arising from EIAS there was co-operation and training among all the role players and the accumulated knowledge was being shared and utilized but there were many ad hoc reasons for blockages which were unique. With regard to the quality of the houses delivered the department was aware and ever conscious of the need and opportunity for job creation and skills upgrading and was determined to change for the better what was poor.

Mr Ntambana then illustrated the three options for social housing being a category where earnings were lower than R3500.00, greater than R3 500.00 and as much as R15 000 per month and provision for such determination was in the Housing Act of 1999 and Social Housing Act, Act 16 of 2008 and in the light there of there was need to upscale delivery rateability and affordability and the provision of such housing was to be in line with transport infrastructures and employment opportunities. Thus was the development of the National Rental Strategy 2008, which was used as a guideline in approaching the task. In short this amounts to the supply of housing and the affordability of housing. This approach has highlighted that there was a great demand from the informal settlements as the statistics provided on page 6 illustrate which was translated into a significant demand for housing from the lowest income groups However, there has been an impact by the National Credit Act on the question of eligibility for subsidized housing. Part of the costs associated with the provision of housing were the remuneration costs of the staffs employed which were built into the costs of housing and which remuneration levels need to be adequate for a decent standard of living and to align themselves with the Presidential imperative of good jobs and above all the availability of suitable land. A significant problem was the collection of rentals and building levies from the beneficiaries which was less effective than was required but above all the demand for housing exceeds the supply he suggested that the department needed to be proactive about the dysfunctional ties in order to develop a financial strategy to turn matters around.

He went on to suggest that there was a need for multidisciplinary approach and that the Provinces should top up the monies made available by the national department by 50 % in order to reduce the debt equity and to did so requires exploration of other funding mechanisms such as looking to the private sector to collaborate with the National and Provincial Governments and approaching international donors for assistance he added that increased and necessary regulatory support was being implemented with a focus on the role players.

The Chair said that she felt that the use of acronyms lead to misunderstanding or faulty understanding of the programs and asked that such be avoided wherever possible.

Mr Steyn than added that while all the role players seemed to be on the same page not all of them were reading it and he wondered whether there was total commitment by all parties. In the recent election campaign all aspirant parties were advancing housing as being a great need but with the election campaign barely over the provision of housing to those, who need it most, seems to be becoming secondary to other interests. There was mention of Rental Housing and Public and Private partnerships PPS and Municipalities and the fact that the provision of Rental housing was not the core function of municipalities which had other responsibilities to a wider range of interested parties than those in need of housing, and subsidised rented housing at that, Municipalities also had Budget constraints and were required to produce balanced Budgets and adhere to such. He felt that the jobless were not being drawn into the picture and that the jobless could be skilled and utilised for maintenance thereby leading to job creation and unless such an all-embracing approach was taken rental Housing was not going to be a success.

Mr B W Dlamini (IFP) said that there was talk of social housing but the Hostel dweller had a need to OWN their housing and they did not want to leave the hostels to which they were accustomed and yet nothing were being done to accommodate them as a group. He felt that the hostels as such were not designed for the new South Africa especially as hostel dwellers did not qualify as beneficiaries

Ms A C Mashini (ANC) pointedly asked for elucidation of the 100 000 referred to in the documentation and she wanted a provincial breakdown.

Mr Mtshali asked whether consideration had been given to a rental to buy scheme.

Mr Dlabantu replied that there were many challenges and many subordinate agents in the process all leading to the national government and the question of sustainability. He felt that the idea of drawing on the pool of the jobless was a novel and good idea and added that 50 % of the department’s time and attention was devoted to preventing misuse of the schemes and funds. He added that the conversion of hostels into self owned units had never been contemplated and they were intended to be 100% subsidised forever. He added that all units were to be adequately maintained in all spheres, as there was too much potential for conflict otherwise; and that there was need for a Regulatory body to maintain the peace.


After tea Mr Dlabnatu continued by re iterating that what was desired above all else was sustainable human settlement and to achieve this required participation in the whole process, along with all the other role players so that the was a People's Housing process PHP which was community driven, and not by sweat equity, so that transfer of skills, of all kinds was achieved, leading to poverty alleviation with special attention to the most vulnerable groups that were exposed to extreme risk an that this involved micro finance and best practice thereof. The overriding concern was sustainability.
To achieve this would require new funding mechanisms and a need to monitor and evaluate every step involved in the process thereby building an enabling environment based on adequate planning done in advance and thoroughly. If such were achieved the communities would on their own initiative build and maintain food gardens so that what was eventually delivered were modelled upon the habitats for humanity programs

The Chairperson stated that PHP was an improvement on PHTP

Mr M R Mdakane (ANC) gave thanks for the delivery and said he for one was encouraged thereby. However, he saw two challenges being land identification and he saw no reason for any land being in private ownership for it all belonged to the community and the other being adequate planning, he felt that there were too much top down planning and not enough consultation of and with the communities so that the planning came from the bottom upward and in this regard he pointed out that the NGOS often did not meet the needs of the communities on the ground. What concerned him was that everyone happily talked of a long process forgetting that people wanted housed NOW

Ms Borman admitted that it seemed to be a good plan, on paper.

Mr Steyn said that he fully endorsed the types of projects but that the provision of housing in actuality was a complete failure and thus he cannot see a difference between the old and the current. Fine words did not add up to delivery and he associated himself with his colleague Mr Mdakane’s sentiments.

Ms T M A Gasebonwe (ANC) said that everything seemed satisfactory but she wanted good quality houses.

Mr Dlabantu replied by saying that subsequent to 2008 there was a concentration on public participation and everything possible was being done to get the communities on board, this included proper management of NGO funding and that CRO was a combination of entities and that what was being concentrated on now was planning, the approach being a failing to plan was a plan to fail and further that everything was directed to sustainability.

The Chairperson warned against merely having road shows and stated that many municipalities had their own agendas and that the benefit of the community on the ground might not be the ultimate aim. As time were of the essence she also asked what would be dealt with in the remaining time.

Presentation 2: Preventing maladministration and corruption in housing delivery
Ms P Mabunda addressed the members on misadministration and Corruption She pointed out that the Department had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding MOU with the Special Investigative Unit SIU in order to verify all aspects of the provision of housing. She stated that many interesting facts had emerged. As an example the SIU had been concerned about the numbers of persons whose ID revealed that they were born in 01, 02, 03 etc etc and so were apparently not eligible to receive house. Investigation on the ground revealed that the department of Home Affairs did not differentiate in centuries with IDs and so 01 could mean born in 1901 or 2001. Also persons who were unemployed at the time of grant later became employed, often at salaries of R100 000.00 per month and so there were questions about their eligibility but if such persons were only living in and owning one house the department were of the opinion that the constitutional imperative overrode all other considerations. In the light of such many of the statistics provided in the hand out were seen to fall away. However, she concerned that there were still too many instances of questionable behaviour and that the concomitant disciplinary processes were too prolonged. She emphasised that a culture of compliance with the laws and regulatory programs had to be inculcated and maintained

Ms Borman said that corruption was too widespread and needs to be eliminated and that this was extremely important and a huge challenge but thanked the speaker for the explanations.

Mr Steyn vociferously stated that the figures provided by the Department and those provided by the Auditor General were at odds and that according to the AG there were more corruption than the department conceded and he felt that this should be investigated, explained and ended.

Mr Dlamini asked whether there was a breakdown of municipal corruption and associated himself with the sentiments expressed by Ms Borman.

Mr Dlanbantu assured the members that the department was now co-operating with SCOPA the AG and the other regulatory bodies and advised that those accused of corruption were entitled to the defences in terms of the constitution and further that members of the departments and Municipalities were further entitled to the defences afforded by the Public Service and similar Acts and so disciplinary processes were naturally prolonged in order to preserve the interests of those who might be accused incorrectly. He added that although there had been a measure of co-operation with SARS in investigating and comparing data bases SARS were required to hold its information data basis confidentially inviolate but he gave the members the assurance that there were constant ongoing investigation monitoring and evaluating of data and action against miscreants.

The Chairperson said that corruption was a big problem and urged the members to get their hands dirty.

The meeting was adjourned.