Department of Human Settlements Strategic Plan 2009 to 2014

Meeting report

Department of Human Settlements (the Department or DHS) Five Year Strategic Plan 2009-2014
Mr Mziwonke Dlabantu, Acting Director General, Department of Human Settlements, noted that this Five Year Strategic Plan should have been presented last year, but had been delayed in light of the transformation of the former Department of Housing, with a new mandate, as the Department of Human Settlements (DHS), which incorporated an additional mandate of sanitation. Some aspects from the presentation the previous year would be included in this one. In the following week he would present on the budget for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and detailed information on activities for 2010/11 would be included in that. The current presentation covered the key aspects that came out of the strategic calculation for the five years, and also reflected on those aspects emanating from the State of the Nation Address.

Mr Dlabantu introduced the delegation as Mr Martin Maphisa (Deputy Director General); Ms Julie Bayat (Chief Director); Ms Nelly Letsholonyane (Deputy Director General, Corporate Services); Mr Diet von Broembsen (Chief Director, Policy); and Mr M Maclean (Chief Director, Capacity Development).

Mr Dlabantu said that the aim of the Department was to determine, finance, promote, coordinate, communicate and monitor policy in respect of housing and human settlements. The Constitution recognised a house as a shelter and a home. It also recognised that there were other issues of sustainable human settlement that completed the requirements for sustainable settlements.

Core values of the Department were accountability, fairness and equity, choice, quality and affordability, sustainability, innovation and values espoused in the Batho Pele principles. It was recognised that quality was a problem. Section 26 of the Constitution stated that access to adequate housing was a basic human right. Government had to ensure an environment conducive to the progressive realisation of that right.

Mr Dlabantu touched on the new sanitation mandate, which depended on the Water Services Act (WSA). A lot of work was currently being done with regard to the model, to ensure it was aligned to the Department’s programmes, with particular emphasis on dealing with rural deficiencies in sanitation. The urban programme already had provisions for household infrastructure required to deal with sanitation issues, including vulnerable aspects around sanitation in informal settlements that might not be fully developed soon.

The legislation proposed for processing during the current cycle included the Housing Amendment Bill, which would attend to matters so far unattended to in regard to the new mandate. The Sectional Titles Schemes Management Bill sought to address problems in administration. In addition, the Community Scheme Ombuds Service Bill, and the Rental Housing Bill would be put forward.

Regulations and guidelines would include The (New) National Housing Code, Guidelines for Human Settlement Planning and Design (Red Book), and Guidelines for Environmentally Efficient Low Cost Housing. The latter would look to further aspects of energy efficiency, beyond those currently included, in conjunction with other key departments responsible for dealing with the green challenges and energy issues, and the mainstreaming of aspects dealing with solar energy, into the programme. Over time the Department would be able to see what the savings were.

Mr Dlabantu then said that he wished to give a strategic overview of some of the programmes.
There was response to the issues of rapid urbanisation and migration from rural areas, population growth, household formation and diminishing size of households. However, although there were smaller households, they were greater in number, and unemployment and other social pressures resulted in more people needing to be fed, and the growth of informal settlements, which also lacked basic services.

Cape Town had some of the best performing high income markets in the world, yet in some areas these were also extremely low. There were widely divergent types of housing. The need for properties to acquire value in the market was a challenge.

In terms of settlements, Mr Dlabantu indicated that formal settlements were generally good areas. However, informal settlements, in which there were about 1.2 million households, were set up on land not proclaimed properly, and on uninhabitable ground that had not been surveyed, regulated or serviced. A number were in dangerous locations, although some were well located. N2 Gateway had taught the Department that in order to develop properly, there was a need to remove soil, as this area had formerly been used as a dumping ground. In District Six, for example, the land, prior to development, would need to have 1.5 metres of subsoil removed. Other types of settlements were on Tribal/Communal Land and on farms, which required a different approach>

Mr Dlabantu outlined the challenges to basic services, setting out the figures for needs in respect of water, sanitation electricity, and refuse removal (see attached presentation).

He mentioned the urbanisation and demographic trends. Some households had dual residence, retaining a rural base while sojourning in urban areas. Migration to urban areas was becoming increasingly permanent. Urbanisation was irreversible and growing, and there had been consolidation in urban areas since 1960, when employment was pulling people to those areas. Informal settlement dwellers had no addresses, and this exclusion had negative effects on safety and offering of emergency services.

Service Delivery Priorities for the Five year period to 2014 were then outlined. The objectives included upgrading well located informal settlements, and providing proper services and land tenure to 500 000 households by 2014. The Department aimed to increase the rate of affordable rental housing delivery of at least 20 000 units per year. It planned to set aside 6 250 hectares of well located public land for low income and affordable housing (accommodating approximately 400 000 units by 2014). It would accelerate provision and upgrading of bulk infrastructure networks to prioritised settlements by 2014, and would accommodate people whose salaries were too high to get government subsidies, but earned too little to qualify for a normal bank mortgage.

The Department was mapping out the process it would need for other departments to be included in the planning processes, their contributions, and the delivery agreements that would give particular contractual focus and accountability for each of those delivering departments. Discussions had been held, through the Human Settlements Basic Services Delivery Forum, under the Social Services Cluster. Provinces were required to structure themselves so that they could have their own Delivery Forum that would also contribute to the call.

Mr Dlabantu then proceeded to take the Committee through the strategic goals, objectives and planned outputs for each of the Department’s programmes (see attached presentation).

He focused on the planned outputs for Programme 2: Housing Policy, Research and Monitoring. Here, the Finance Linked Subsidy Programme was being reviewed, because the current programme did not have a good uptake. The review would address the brackets based on income levels, the stock available on the market and what agreements would be made with financial institutions on accessing of guarantees. Further announcements would be made by the Minister in the budget speech. The Department would conduct structured workshops with stakeholders on the National Housing Code and Regional Policy Model. The Code was approved, and a programme would be developed to promote its understanding across the country, with the Department’s Capacity Development Programme. The Department was also able to do at least four Research reports on various issues. Monitoring and evaluation would allow the Department to produce reports on what was seen on the ground, linked to policy, and the Department was to produce two occupancy findings reports on identified provinces and projects, and two impact evaluation reports.

Mr Dlabantu said, under Programme 3: Housing Planning and Delivery Support, that delivery support was given to stakeholders, provinces and municipalities. The objectives included Human Settlement Planning, stakeholder mobilisation, programme implementation support, rental housing and People’s Housing Project (PHP), capacity building, priority projects, and sanitation, with the emphasis on rural sanitation requirements.

In terms of Human Settlement Planning and Delivery, the Department was to develop and maintain planning frameworks and instruments. This was a very critical area, because for the first time power interruptions and engagements foiled the plans of provinces. Support must be rendered to municipalities in the preparation of human settlements sector plans. Parliament had been critical of the Department’s lack of assistance in ensuring that municipal plans were appropriate. The Department was to participate and do an annual review of Municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), and ensure that the objectives were being met. It would also participate in promoting institutional alignment with other sectors.

The Department was also intending to produce reports on a number of information sessions conducted with Provinces, around unblocking of stalled projects. Provinces had developed plans and the programme helped to ensure the follow up of those plans, with guidance and assistance from the Department. It was hoped that the blocked projects would all be unblocked by the end of the term. The Department also hoped to produce an early warning system to identify projects that may be blocked.

Rental Housing and PHP had not been sufficiently supported in the past, and it was now mainstreamed to the Department.

Stakeholder mobilisation continued to be a key aspect to ensure that the Social Contract was managed appropriately. In the coming year the major emphasis would be on the banking industry and the construction sector, although the Department would also engage with other sectors. The Department had reopened engagements with the Cooperative Sector to see what opportunities could be incorporated in the Department’s programmes, and also to ensure there was an appropriate policy response to the support required.

The Sanitation Programme, a new programme, was being reshaped to fall into alignment, with proper responses, with the Department’s programme. However, other responses may still need to be given, such as support to municipalities in planning and implementation. The Department also provided Health and Hygiene activity plans, to ensure that as the Sanitation Programme was delivered, information around hygiene was also delivered to the people. The Department had been approached by bodies who were offering programmes to improve citizens and stakeholders’ awareness and understanding and prioritisation of sanitation.

Programme 4: Housing Development Finance: dealt with general management and supply chain management of provincial debtors, and support. The Department had to manage a system used by provinces, and consider that many of the debtors were “inherited” through being given loans, and were in the lower economic groups, historically, although the properties might, today, have high values. Other properties were managed through grant and benefit schemes. Financial Services, fund management and Housing Equity all fell under this programme. Financial Services was concerned with largely the provincial allocation for various grants. Housing Equity dealt with the Office of Disclosure function, which was not yet in place, but the Minister would be setting up a selection team to be chaired by the Deputy Minister. In regard to banks, regulations had been passed in 2008 but there remained challenges. Of the approximately sixteen banks, four had asked for exemptions, but all had provided reports in the last year. The Department could do a separate presentation on that. The Minister wished to ensure that each bank understood its responsibility with regard to the provision of loans. The Department’s strategy was that the guarantee would be linked to performance. It was trying to ensure that there was no duplication. The Department wished to reach a stage where there was a human settlements support that was not biased towards a particular institution.

In regard to delivery of housing, Mr Dlabantu said that the Department was hoping around 220 000 units to be delivered.

Programme 5 dealt with Strategic Relations and Governance, including both international relations and intergovernmental relations. On the international front, the Department supported the Human Settlement development in Angola. There were cooperation agreements, collaboration or technical support in the DRC, India and Brazil (through the India-Brazil-South Africa summit), the Netherlands (support to the social housing programme in South Africa), Denmark (alternative energy), Cuba, China and the World Bank and Cities Alliance. Intergovernmental relations were concerned with accreditation and capacitation of municipalities who demonstrated readiness, commitment and ability to deliver.

Mr Dlabantu finally stated that the Department was experiencing some challenges with the process of the database, due to an official leaving the Department.

The Chairperson thanked the Acting DG for a progressive presentation.
Discussion
The Chairperson thanked Mr Dlabantu for the presentation. She commended the work done so far. She noted that Members must listen carefully to strategic plans, and that the Committee must work hard to ensure that, through good oversight, the Department delivered on the Strategic Plan. She was pleased to hear of the Sanitation Programme, especially for the rural areas, where there was a need to spend to put infrastructure in place.

Ms D Dlakude (ANC) referred to the Rural and Communal Land Programme. She asked what plans were in place for the people in the rural areas, who were unable to complete their houses due to retrenchment or death of the breadwinner, but who might have children living in these incomplete dwellings, and need assistance to complete them.

Mr Dlabantu said that assistance for completion was accommodated, provided those people qualified in terms of the overall qualification criteria.

Ms Dlakude asked how the Department planned to monitor the building of houses, especially in the rural areas. In the past the building contractors used inferior materials and left the people with shacks rather than quality houses, and this must be avoided in future.

Mr J Matshoba (ANC) would like to have heard more on the supply chain management. He noted that the Health and Hygiene activity plans were developed and reviewed, and he asked when there would be delivery on those. He asked about the Department’s plan around the migration from rural to urban areas.

Ms A Mashishi (ANC) asked what was the approach to farm workers living on private land. Urbanisation was irreversible and growing, preventing people going back to their farms or rural areas. She also asked what was the Department’s monitoring tool to achieve the 20 000 units per year.

Ms M Mnisi (ANC) admired the Department’s ambitious projection, but was concerned about the three spheres of Government, as she felt that what was projected could well be a pipe dream.

Mr Dlabantu responded that this could well be included in risk assessment but should not change the need to plan properly. The plan was not over ambitious. He had sought to explain the difference between this year and last year, in terms of the new institutional market engagement. He had made the point that time was spent in correcting a structure that was not in line with what the administration framework wanted to achieve. He was confident that the Department could catch up.
 
Ms Mnisi asked how the Department would deal with the banks that were reluctant to raise housing loans. Agribank had now become a commercial Bank rather than the People’s Bank.

Mr Dlabantu responded that the Minister’s and the Department’s approach was about finding a mechanism and targeting those areas where there was an indication of substandard delivery. The Department was not asking banks to lend recklessly where they could not recover money; it was important that they lend in a manner where they were comfortable with the risk. The Department would play its role in dealing with mitigating that risk. He had indicated that the Department would give a summary of indicators, and the Minister would give further details about the engagements with the banks.

Ms Mnisi questioned why it appeared that the provinces were not allied with the municipal structures. She noted that the Committee, on its oversight visits, had seen that what was on paper did not apply, in many instances, to what was happening on the ground.

A Member agreed that there were certain aspects in the report that were not met by the realities when the Committee did its oversight function. It was difficult to engage on these, because the Department might feel that the criticisms of the Committee were unfair, or say that consideration was not given to all issues, or that there had not been any money.

Mr Dlabantu said that the Department did have funding and this would be used efficiently, with proper targets and priorities.

A Member complained that there were too many acronyms used in the report, which were not explained.

Mr Dlabantu apologised and would avoid using so many acronyms in future.

Ms T Gasebonwe (ANC) asked whether the Community Scheme Ombuds Service Bill would be introduced in all nine provinces.

Mr Dlabantu responded that it would not; it was at the first stage of the consultation process. Hearings had been advertised in the newspapers as taking place in Northern Cape and Free State. There would be another round of consultation. It would be taken to all nine provinces if it was deemed to have an effect on them. This would then be formally submitted to the Portfolio Committee, who would deal with the process.

Ms Gasebonwe asked if the National Housing Policy included persons with disability.

The Department responded that persons with disabilities were fully catered for in the Housing Codes. An additional amount was available with regard to people with physical disabilities such as hearing, and there was also wheel chair access. Extra amounts were added on to the subsidy amount and were fully stipulated in the Code.

Ms Gasebonwe asked if there was a difference between informal settlements and settlements on tribal or communal land.

Ms Gasebonwe believed that poor quality and lack of proper planning added to the challenges, because houses were being demolished because of poor quality, and that simply added to the backlog.

Ms Gasebonwe queried the contract documents and application forms for the Farm Residents’ programme. She said that many of these residents may not have been able to attend school and she asked if interpreters would be provided.

The Department said that most of the projects would have Community Development Workers, from the same communities, who would assist with information and capacity building, and who would be given information by the Department about the processes and the way things were supposed to happen, so that they could in turn convey this to the community. They formed a very important part of the way in which the project was delivered. They did explain the application forms.

Ms Gasebonwe asked if research covered rural, urban and farm dwellers.

The Department replied that it covered the impact in rural and urban areas.

Ms Gasebonwe said that she was pleased to hear of the programme to improve citizens’ and stakeholders’ awareness understanding and prioritisation of sanitation was good because it would also change the behaviour of the people.

Ms M Borman (ANC) asked if the document tabled was a draft, or the final document.

Mr Dlabantu said that this was not the final document, but was nearly at this stage. There were issues that would emerge from the coordination discussion with the Presidency, that needed then to be incorporated in the document, so the final document would reflect around the coordination and other issues.

Ms Borman said she was getting a mixed message about the role that was played by the spheres of National, Provincial and Local Government. It seemed that some of the roles had been taken from the provinces and given to the national sphere.

Mr Dlabantu said that the concerns about apparently transferring formerly provincial roles to municipalities, or to national government, was an issue that had been debated, and there were pros and cons. National Treasury expressed concerns about not duplicating the programmes of the provinces, which was seen as taking away from the provinces. However, the roles were defined in the Housing Act. The Department wanted the national Department to continue with support, including delivery support; and believed it should have the capacity to intervene and help a province and a municipality that was ailing. If there was not that ability, then things could well go wrong, as in the past. He said that there should be priority given to this. The Department’s ability to monitor and enforce ensured that things got done.

Ms Borman asked if the 6 200 hectares had been identified, because that seemed to translate into being able to deliver 400 000 units by 2014.

Ms Borman noted that there were plans for 20 000 rental stock units, which amounted to 100 000 over the five years. She asked what criteria the Department would use to prioritise that, and noted that this would probably be in the metros.

Ms Borman said that there were still four years to run of the 5 Year Strategic Plan, and departments still had to be put in place, which took time. The Committee would still be looking at this in a year’s time. She asked what was the priority of the Department, and how it was ensuring that this was fast-tracked.

Mr Dlabantu said he had mentioned how the land was to be dealt with. The Housing Development Agency (HDA) had identified the areas. Most of the plans would relate to providing sufficient land. At the moment each of the provinces who had plans already had provision for land in relation to the projects already running and in process.

Ms Borman did not understand the pre 1994 housing issue and the financing of those units. It was now sixteen years later, so surely these should have been taken care of, and surely the debtors should not still be paying off on those.

Ms Borman said that when alternative energy was discussed at the Strategic Planning weekend, she understood that solar heating and alternative sources were too expensive for informal settlements. She asked for comment, as they now seemed already to be being installed.

Mr Dlabantu said that the Department had researched the cost of alternative energy sources and also piloted some of them. Whilst these may appear to be expensive to the beneficiaries, the main point was that it was necessary to recognise the savings to the country in terms of relieving the pressure on conventional energy sources. Judging from the pilot, the unit costs were not so very high. They were reducing costs of pressure on the Municipality in terms of their electricity contributions. In view of Eskom’s developments, there was a desire for efficiency, both environmentally and to relieve municipal pressure. The solar heating would deal with the basic requirements of heating water.

Mr Dlabantu added that the Department of Energy was putting regulations in place for energy efficiency, that would be in effect possibly later this year. DHS had been interacting with that Department and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) on the regulations, which would impact on the Department’s programmes. These would involve the fitting of a ceiling with insulation above it. They were also looking a solar element, which would be applied to all new housing built in South Africa from a certain time. The biggest improvements would be from a comfort level, as the ceiling and the solar panel really made a big difference in people’s lives. The Department was working on the cost and would be making recommendations to the Minister on improving the subsidy amount to meet those costs.

Ms Borman was very concerned about the database information. The Department had waited a long time to get that input on beneficiaries.

The Chairperson noted that the Strategic Plan mentioned estimated 500 000 service delivery units that were going to be delivered.

The Chairperson asked that the Department should present its research reports.

The Chairperson said that the Committee received information on the Social and Cooperative Sector. If there was no policy, then an explanation was required.

The Chairperson agreed that it was essential to build relationships with cooperatives.

The Chairperson commented that the policy of mainstreaming was in order, but the official bound copy of the Strategic Plan would need to be reduced.

Mr Dlabantu said that there was provision made for cooperatives in the Department’s programme, but a number of the programmes were dispersed across various sectors or aspects. For instance, Social Housing institutions did not interact with any other programmes, yet the cooperatives were covered there. Cooperatives might also not limit themselves and might conduct self-build programmes. The Department, rather than simply referring them to the PHP, would prefer to have an engagement so that there could be linkages created between the various programmes and instruments, so that they could easily relate to that policy and the Department could in turn relate that policy to the framework of the Department of Trade and industry. The Department had not favoured social housing institutions, but the Social Housing Act related more to those institutions than the others.

The Chairperson sought more information on the comments earlier about the duplication of roles under the Housing Act. She said that was an area that had to be clarified and that an impasse should not be created. She cited an example in the Eastern Cape, where an intervention had been made in 2008. The team was still present. The information received indicated that the relationships were not good and the Province feared that the team was intending to “take over”. The Department must ensure that the capacity at National level was strengthened. Officials at provincial level must not be allowed to continue to ignore national government. There had to be some further agreement, and the Committee wanted to see these areas tightened.

Ms Borman added that it did not really matter through which vessel the process would flow, as long as there was delivery on the ground, which flowed smoothly. She was unclear as to whether the intention was to strengthen what was happening at provincial level, so that they performed their function properly, or whether the Department’s capacity increased down to Municipal level, but at the end of the day there had to be delivery.
 
A member asked Mr Dlabantu to be more explicit on the issue of cooperatives. He felt that from a policy level, engagement with cooperatives was very critical, but he did not think they should be elevated.

Mr Dlabantu said the point was taken.

Mr Dlabantu expanded that although disasters was not emphasised in the strategy, the Department would take care of this. Disaster management was generally included in the programme that was financed to provinces, but needed more specific attention. He also said that the mainstreaming of PHP was historical in a sense since activities conducted under it were now in the Department.

Mr Dlabantu said that he could also explain more on the number of agreements and what these contained, if the Committee wished him to, at a later presentation.

Mr Diet von Broembsen, Chief Director: Policy, DHS, expanded more on the farm worker programmes. Under the National Housing Code in the rural areas, they were distinguished, on the basis of tenure, in areas where there were township establishments, such as in a small town where the land could be subdivided and transfer it to the beneficiaries. The municipality would plan the project, implement it and oversee the completion that project.

In communal areas, where communal tenure applied, people would have to prove that they had been living in that place for five years and had a recognised right to occupy, and that would be tackled on the basis of a project which was very flexible. The money could be used for access roads, water, sanitation, even fencing if needed, and improvement of existing structures or buildings. The community participated fully in that process to decide what its needs were. The community was also very much involved in the quality control of what happened there. In other areas the province tended to have a greater role to play and the project had to be enrolled.

The current farm worker settlements were largely on commercial areas, on privately or commercially owned land. Where the farmer was prepared to subdivide the land and give it to the workers as compensation, the Department could do a project, overseen by the MEC, and with the full participation of that community and then people would get ownership of that land. Where workers were residing on a temporary basis, such as a contract basis, there was a rental agreement, so the farmer, together with the involvement of the workers, established a housing institution that would then oversee the development and maintenance of a rental arrangement. That had the advantage that workers, when they either retired or moved to new employment, had their contracts recognised and this did not disqualify them from accessing the full subsidy when they moved.

The documentation still to be developed was really the contract which the MEC, Municipality and the farm owner had to enter into, in order to access government funding. This contract ensured that funding was secure, and governed issues such as what happened if the farm was sold.

Rural urban resource allocation ran on the formula basis, and the allocation formula for the provinces was based on the issue of the “ruralness” and “urbanness” of the province, using quite a complex formula, that the Department could make available to the Committee for insight.

The User Friendly Guide set out all the programmes, how they operated and what they intended to do, and this would be distributed to the Committee shortly.

Mr von Broembsen then expanded on the question relating to differences between informal settlements on tribal or other land. Informal settlements were settlements that were not legal, in the sense that people occupied land that did not belong to them, and they did not have permission to do so. On tribal land, people often occupied land with the permission of the tribal authority, so then these would not be informal settlements, although they might have an informal character. There was, in these cases, a programme that could be used for upgrading those services. Where people occupied land it was not necessarily the structure of the settlement, but the ownership of the land, that was the deciding factor.

The Department was working a report on the issue of the cooperatives.

Mr Dlabantu said the document mentioned creating a procurement environment and there was reference to other procurement as a National Department. From a policy guide, the Code provided for a set of principles that must be complied with, for each province, and the Department was going to develop guidelines for provinces, to be used as a standard basis for the way in which they handled procurement. That was also supported by the initiative that National Treasury had set, with regard to the problems they had picked up on procurement generally in government.

There was an entity called the Rural Loan Fund (RLF) that provided small loans for people in rural areas to do building to consolidate their houses. It was limited to those areas.

The Chairperson asked the Department to address the issue of interest rates. She also enquired about the issue of title deeds, which was not reflected in the strategy. She said that the strategy was supposed to be aligned with the five key priorities of government, but nothing was applicable to job creation. She requested that the Department should provide a summary, talking to those five key priorities. The Department would be evaluated on those five key priorities. She also asked for clarification on the Housing Rental Bill.

Ms Borman referred to people living on unsuitable land and District Six, saying that there would be an impact with the coming winter rain when shacks were put up in the Western Cape where they should not be. She also noted that, even in other provinces where weather was not so much of a problem, people would put up shacks on the river banks, and failed to understand that the land was unsuitable. This all came down to communication with the communities and informing them about the regulations and reasons.

The Chairperson supported Ms Borman and said the Committee had to engage more on the problem of people building on unsuitable land, and this had to be clearly defined. In the Western Cape, suitable land was made available to some, whilst others tended to put up dwellings on unsuitable land and riverbanks.

Mr Dlabantu said that it was not only one aspect that rendered land unsuitable. For instance, in District Six, the major problem was rubble remaining from the time of the forced removals. People could still be living there, on suitable land, if it were not for that. He said that where the Department had developed in those areas below the flood line levels, it had changed the use of the land to something the community did not want. The people could not be forced out, but putting up something such as sports fields or recreational areas, for instance, instead of dwellings, could prevent them from going back and building again.

Mr Dlabantu said that there was legislation piloted in KZN, that was trying to find a way around this, without forcible removals. Every municipality that had an informal settlement must have a plan dedicated to identifying the areas that were not for development, and must make a plan to ensure that developments were planned properly and the people were adequately protected. Proper mechanisms would be put in place to look at that.

Mr Dlabantu noted the comments about communication. He would ask Mr MacLean to work with the provinces in seeking to improve communication with provinces and municipalities.

Ms T Gasebonwe said that her question on the development of contract documents and application forms for farm dwellers was not answered.

Mr Dlabantu said that there would be a contract between government and the farm worker, who would be renting a portion of land or would have to agree to another arrangement, that did not deprive him of benefits. If a farmer decided to end a rental arrangement that was subsidised, then at the end of that arrangement he could not benefit unduly, but must give back so that he was not enriched at another’s expense. There were structures at beneficiary level.

Ms Gasebonwe asked if the introduction of Early Warning Systems to identify slowly moving projects would also involve checking quality. She asked what support would be provided in the case of slowly moving projects.

The Chairperson said that this had covered a broad framework. Issues that were causing problems on the ground must be resolved. The Portfolio Committee was tired of being a call centre where people were raising their problems. If the Department was not satisfying the interests of the people, the issues must be resolved. She did not think there was enough capacity in the Department. The Committee and Department would need to sit down and strategise to resolve the issues.

The meeting was adjourned.