Implementation of Special Integrated Projects: briefing by National Department, North West Provincial Department of Human Settlements, Bojanala District & Rustenburg Local Municipality

Meeting report

Election of Acting Chairperson

The Chairperson was not present and as a result the Committee had to elect another Member to assume the role for the meeting.   

The Committee elected Ms Mnganga-Gcabashe as Acting Chairperson, following a proposal by Mr L Koarai (ANC) and seconded by Mr H Memezi (ANC).

Briefing on the progress made in the implementation on Special Integrated Projects (SIPs)
Ms Zou Kota-Fredericks, Deputy Minister, Department of Human Settlements, thanked the Committee for the opportunity accorded to the Department to interact with it and asked Mr Mbulelo Tshangana, the Acting Director-General of the National Department of Human Settlements (NDOHS) to brief the Committee. Mr Tshangana in turn requested Dr Nyamazana, the Executive Planning Manager of the North West Provincial Department of Local Government and Human Settlements (NWDLGHS) to make the presentation.

Dr Nyamazana said the outcomes of the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs) included integrated and sustainable human settlements in Bojanala, improved socio-economic conditions of the mining communities and labour sending areas and ensuring decent living conditions for mine workers and meaningful contribution to the development trajectory of mining towns and labour sending areas. There were 1.5 million people living in Bojanala Platinum District Municipality of which about 150 000 lived in the informal settlements. The conditions in the informal settlements were squalid and there was a staggering unequal distribution of wealth and insufficient basic services. The District had major bulk infrastructure shortages and was unable to support immediate human settlement requirements. The Bojanala District had a total of 62 informal settlements with 51 093 households of which 25 419 were earmarked for upgrading.

The Department, in collaboration with relevant municipalities, began a process of rapid assessment and settlement planning in order to ascertain the status of each informal settlement. In the Rustenburg municipality, assessment and categorisation had been completed in ten informal settlements with settlement planning and project packaging being in progress; assessment and categorisation in four informal settlements in the Moses Kotane municipality had been completed; and 15 informal settlements in Madibeng were undergoing assessment, categorisation and settlement planning.

The Department was requested by the Presidency earlier this year to assist in profiling key informal settlements in the Marikana Belt in order to respond to the then humanitarian issues including basic services. The basic services funding requirements in the Marikana Belt informal settlements stood at about R535 million for the Rustenburg municipality and R113 million for the Madibeng municipality. Acquisition and purchase of various pieces of state and private land had been completed while the acquisition and purchase of more land was underway for human settlement purposes. The key challenges faced by the Department included inadequate funding for basic services in the informal settlements, non-availability of bulk services, limited cooperation by mining companies and availability of suitable land for human settlement programs.

Mr Alfonso Manuel, Acting Chief Director of Housing, Planning and Technical Services at the NWDLGHS, said Bojanala accounted for the larger portion of informal settlements hence the focus on that district. There was a serious challenge regarding infrastructure which had impacted negatively on the department’s human settlements programmess. However, the department had managed to forge partnerships with mining houses which were helping with human settlement efforts.

Mr Tshangana stated that there were institutional arrangements for managing these programmes. At national level, the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) chaired by the Presidency met monthly to discuss, among other issues, infrastructure, land acquisitions and partnership with mining companies. The crack team on basic services, also coordinated by the Presidency, had as its priority the issue of provision of basic services in the informal settlements. The major challenge was meeting the funding requirements. The NDOHS had a meeting with the Presidency a week ago to see if it could redirect part of the Sanitation and Bucket Eradication Grant and the Human Settlements Development Grant to prioritize basic services. The Housing Development Agency (HDA) provided program and project management support. The biggest challenge faced by IMC was that the investment in these programmes was public and the Departments of Labour and Mineral Resources were asking what the contribution of the mining companies to these efforts was. The Minister met with the Chamber of Mines and a bilateral meeting was held with Lonmin – which had about 24 000 workers – in a bid to find a better model without compromising the compliance issues enforced by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) in light of mining licence requirements for mining companies to provide accommodation to their employees. It was not Government’s responsibility to provide accommodation to employees of the mining companies. It appeared that Government was moving fast in addressing the welfare of mine workers while the mining companies were moving slowly in this regard.

Discussion
Mr H Memezi (ANC) thanked the delegation for the presentation and asked for clarity as to whether the mining companies had started to implement the agreement with Government for the companies to convert single sex hostels to family housing. Were there commitments from the mining companies as to how many, and when, housing units would come out of the conversion process? There was need for clarity as to what would be done to accommodate mine workers earning more than R3500. The presentation reflected only ten subsidies for military veterans. Were there only ten military veterans in the area concerned? The Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Program (FLISP) was very important and the democratic Government had, since 1994, changed the lives of many people to the extent that there were presently more people in the FLISP category. Therefore, the 100 FLISP beneficiaries reflected in the presentation was not enough as there were so many people, including Government workers, earning between R3 500 and R15 000 and thus in need of FLISP assistance. Why were only 100 people assisted with FLISP?

Mr Memezi noted that it was common to hear that some informal settlements were in unsuitable areas. Were the people in such areas engaged on the issue and were they accommodated in these projects, and if so, were they aware that they were accommodated? The issue of quality “always haunted us whenever we were faced with issues of housing”. What quality assurance measures had been put in place to ensure the houses did not collapse a few years down the line? When was it envisaged that people would get into the houses in these projects? Were other stakeholders involved in the mining revitalisation programme as well as economic revival and diversification activities? The Department should coordinate with other relevant departments to ensure economic revival of these areas.

Mr Tshangana responded that the Department had met most of the companies operating in this region. For example, Lonmin which had about 24 000 workers was busy with its hostels conversion programme. Some of the companies were at 70% while others were at 90 % completion. This information could be availed to the Committee even though it had not been incorporated in the presentation. The various stakeholders on the IMC played various roles and the information as to the role played by each stakeholder was available and could be emailed to the Committee after the meeting. Mine workers who earned more than R3 500 but less than R7 000 qualified for accommodation in the social housing programme, which provided affordable rentals. There was also the Community Residential Unit (CRU) programme available to those who earned between R1 500 and R3 500 but the majority of mine workers would not qualify for this accommodation because they earned more than R3 500. Those who earned R12 500 could only be accommodated through the FLISP which entailed not only affordable rentals but also affordable home ownership. The bulk of the mine workers would have to be accommodated by the mining companies. In the informal settlements Government had the responsibility of providing basic services. If an area was not upgradable, the only option was to look for alternative land to relocate the beneficiaries. Lonmin transferred a serviced piece of land known as extension two to the Province for the purpose of building housing units. Lonmin also transferred another piece of land – capable of accommodating up to 4 000 beneficiaries – known as extension five to the Province with a view to partnering with Government. However, DMR cautioned the Department not to take over what the mines were obliged to do. Government would look at contributing 30 per cent and the mines 70 per cent towards this project.

Dr Nyamazana said that in the past two years, FLISP had been assisted by the mines. The challenge with FLISP was the availability of suitable land for it. The 100 FLISP beneficiaries referred to in the presentation related to individuals who approached the Department for assistance and was not a project as such. The total number of military veterans in the province was 185; which number had been distributed to all the districts in the province for this financial year? Some of the military veterans did not have land and because of that the municipalities were asked to assist in this regard. The programme would continue to be implemented in the ensuing financial years until all military veterans had been served. In terms of quality assurance, the Department worked with the inspectors from the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and the department’s qualified engineers that manage the inspectors. The department had social facilitators who worked with the municipalities to inform the communities of developments and dangers of developing certain places. Some of the projects would be completed during the current financial year. The management of cash flows was done through month to month meetings.

Mr Manuel stated that the department ensured that each milestone in the construction of a unit was inspected by its inspectors, the beneficiary municipality and NHBRC in so far as quality assurance was concerned. On the issue of economic diversification, the department would ensure that its business plan was taken to all sector departments in the province before its endorsement in the current financial year. The department would also look to the Planning Commission’s assistance in selling the business plan.

The Deputy Minister cautioned that building ten houses was an expensive undertaking, particularly in the light of the national target of 5 000 housing units for military veterans and that there was need to engage with the team that dealt with the affairs of military veterans to see how this issue could be handled.

Mr N Capa (ANC) asked what was meant by unequal distribution of wealth. Did it mean that there were people who got a lion’s share of wealth in those areas at the expense of others? On the upgrade of settlements, it appeared that there were areas where the units requiring upgrading were more than had been planned for by the department. What would happen to the remainder of these units? In areas where there was no budget for electricity, was there no need for finances for alternative energy? There was need to address the limited or non-cooperation of mining companies. What was the nature of the non-cooperation and what was being done about it? What was the source of the numbers of military veterans?

Mr M Shelembe (NFP) asked if anyone in the delegation had attended the Portfolio Committee on Envionmental Affairs hearing in Bojanala the previous weekend where people were complaining about the issues presented before the Committee. If assessment was being done, what had been the participation of internally displaced people (IDPs) since 2000? How often did the department engage with other departments in ensuring fulfilment of its mandate? The Committee wanted to see that adequate housing was provided. In terms of the bulk infrastructure, it was clear that the department was not ready to ensure the realisation of the Minister’s dream on housing. What was the problem with electrification in these areas? Why was Moses Kotane not included in the presentation? Was it because there were fewer informal settlements in Moses Kotane than elsewhere?

Mr Tshangana responded that it had been agreed that the Department would, through spatial planning, demonstrate in advance some of the implemented projects in Bojanala. The Department was trying to deal with the issue of water supply by engaging the Department of Water Affairs on the issue. The Department was asked to prioritise high mast lights to help with effective policing in the informal settlements owing to high crime rates. In the crack team referred to earlier, electricity was being prioritized and the Department needed money to deal with this issue but the challenge was that the fiscus was under pressure and the Treasury had indicated that there would be no new funding for the purpose. The Department would have to make do with what was available and was looking into reprioritising the programmes. For instance, on sanitation, the Department decided to prioritise the bucket eradication programmes by recommending that the R50 million allocation to these programmes in the North West would be more effectively utilised in Bojanala. The President had accepted this recommendation and the department would have to liaise with the Treasury on the change in focus of the programs.

The Department had been participating in the IDP processes. The challenge was the level of services in the communities where a service point serviced about 25 families, a situation that strained service delivery. The number of 5 000 veterans had been verified and a breakdown of this number by provinces could be provided to the Committee. Moses Kotane was included in the presentation and had two projects running currently. The Department needed to get the budget for electrification.

Dr Nyamazana said the Department was currently addressing the challenge of unequal distribution of wealth which included services that were readily available in advantaged communities being made available in the areas that were disadvantaged. There had been limited cooperation from mining companies in the sense they had not really been very straight with the Department. For example, the department had agreed with one of the companies that its infrastructure would be used for implementation of the project and then in the middle of implementation, the company “summersaulted” and said it had realised that it had no capacity to implement the project. This meant that the Department had to go back to the municipality and ask for assistance to ensure these services were provided. Another instance related to a situation where a long established informal settlement did not have access to water and yet a company’s pipeline ran through such a community, resulting in illegal connection to the pipeline by the community, something which could have been avoided if there was company participation in setting up a valve and making water available to such a community which in any case housed most of the company’s workers.

Mr S Gana (DA) asked who was responsible for servicing the chemical toilets in Ikemeleng. Unserviced toilets posed a health hazard. Experience had shown that installation of street lights in the informal settlements led to a rise in illegal electricity connections which eventually resulted in a municipality switching off the electricity due to high bills accumulated. With regard to funding requirements, was this money the committed money or anticipated funding? Estimate the amount of money that would be needed because the R650 million indicated in the presentation would not be enough to meet the demands of these settlements.

It was difficult to understand what the columns marked F, W and C under the cumulative status quo roll of the implementation status quo report referred to. It was also not clear whether the subsidies and planned units columns on the projects implementation status quo reports for the various settlements spoke to each other. It seemed that a lot of money was being spent on rectification. The houses being built in Marikana would cost about R300 000 per unit as compared to other areas where the average cost ranged between R70 000 and R120 000 per unit. Why were the housing units being built in Marikana very expensive? Why was there no mention of the role of traditional leadership when the land around Marikana was tribal land for which Lonmin paid royalties to the Chief? Considering that almost R46 million had been spent on the purchase of land, was there any State land in Bojanala or Marikana Belt that could be transferred to the Department? What was the extent of negotiations where an owner of land was not willing to sell at market related valuation and, where expropriation was undertaken, was compensation payable? What did the phrase ‘selling lock stock and barell’ mean?

The Acting Chairperson said that while reference was made to challenges with bulk infrastructure in the presentation, there was no indication as to what was being done with the urban settlements grant. Did the Department have a plan to eradicate the 63 informal settlements mentioned? Most provinces had a challenge on collection of rentals, how did the department intend to improve on the collection of rentals? Did the municipalities have ward committees that would accommodate traditional leaders as required by law?

Ms Odette Crofton, General Manager: Land and Housing Support Services, Housing Development Agency (HDA), said the basis of their negotiation for the 200 hectares of land in Marikana was the full feasibility done by HDA and valuations. The land was private property which HDA purchased and was not, therefore, tribal land. However, there was a mining rights issue concerning the land. The phrase ‘lock stock and barell’ referred to land and all it came with and did not, in the context used in the presentation, mean barrels of whisky. Where agreement is not reached at negotiation, the HDA recommended expropriation depending on the level of significance of the land in question for purposes of building housing units. Where a property is expropriated the compensation is based on the lowest valuation and this would save the department or the province some money. Negotiations are time-bound, failing which the expropriation option may be used as stated above.

The HDA was currently conducting strategic land identification in all mining towns including Bojanala and where land suitable for settlement was identified, the province would be informed accordingly. Rapid assessments had been completed in some of the areas while the process was being done in others. Packaging had been done for some of the areas while it was going on for others. The packaged projects would be included in next year’s business plans of the relevant institutions.

Dr Nyamazana said that the R600 million talked to projects in the areas falling under the Marikana belt and this money was not enough to cover the 62 settlements. The interventions in these areas were being implemented at the time labour issues had not been resolved. As a result the Department was asked to look at basic services that could be extended to people in these informal settlements. The issue of unserviced chemical toilets had been addressed. The department communicated with relevant traditional leaders with regard to human settlement issues falling in their areas. The column for subsidies represented the number of subsidies in a settlement and the planned units were units intended to be delivered in a particular financial year.

Mr Manuel said rectification figures in the report did not necessarily relate to rectification of badly built structures. The F, W and C under the cumulative status quo roll of the implementation status quo report referred to the construction milestones, namely foundation, wall plate and completion respectively.

Mr Tshangana stated that the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation was not enough to address the needs of all the areas. Infrastructure development grant information for all areas was available and would be passed on to the Committee. The extension 2 project was not purely a Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing project but included CRUs which were very expensive and possibly justified the R21 million cost attached to the Marikana Housing project. There was need for the Department to explicitly state how the R21 million was arrived at.

Ms Mapatane Kgomo, Chief Director: Local Governance, NWDLGHS, responded that ward committees in those areas had been established in the affected areas and that traditional leaders were represented in the Council.

Mr Muzi Mashabane, Director: Project Implementation and Monitoring, NWDLGHS, said there were two different projects in the presentation. There were the CRUs on the one hand and the BNGs on the other. 250 CRUs and 292 BNGs were planned for in the current financial year and this explained the variances in the budgets.

Mr Gana asked if it was expensive to get to R300 000 per unit in light of the response given for the high cost of building housing in Marikana. While it was said that CRUs were more costly than BNGs, why did the two types of housing cost almost the same for Marikana?

Mr Memezi reiterated that value for money was very important and stated that if the officials were not ready to answer the question on the cost of housing in Marikana, they could come back to the Committee later. What was being done to elevate the people in the labour serving areas in terms of bursaries or other incentives? There was need for clarity of the role of a municipality in service delivery so that they could be held accountable in the event of non-delivery of such services. The Constitution provided that the imbalances of the apartheid past should be reversed by empowering emerging youth and women contractors so that these projects benefited more people.

Ms Maruping, Acting Chief Director: Housing Development at NWDLGHS responded that the calculation of the R21.2 million as the cost of building housing in Marikana was based on the subsidy quantum of R64 000 including geotechnical allowances.

Dr Nyamazana said the province had a lot of rural projects which were the labour sending areas and the issue was being responded to.

Mr Orapeleng Tabile, Manager: Strategic Planning, NWDLGHS said that in so far as empowerment for youth and women, the province’s plans were that 30 per cent of the projects should be allocated to women. The database had also been categorized at various levels so as to ensure that persons with disabilities, youth and women did not compete with those who had been around for a long time.

The meeting was adjourned.