NHBRC on its turnaround strategy & irregular expenditure; Mpumalanga Human Settlements Department spending patterns & delivery; Eastern Cape Oversight

Meeting report

National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC): Plans to deal with irregular expenditure

Mr Shafeeq Abrahams, Chief Financial Officer: NHBRC, briefed the Committee about the entity’s plan to address irregular expenditure. He said that irregular expenditure had decreased yearly since 2011/12, and from R13.07 million in 2015/16 to R2.3 million in 2016/17. The R2.3 million was incurred due to contracts which needed to be honoured, and these contracts had since been regularised following proper supply chain management (SCM) processes. There would be no irregular expenditure by 31 March 2017.

Overall audit outcomes had improved, particularly in the were as of reported information, which had improved from 28% unqualified in 2014/15, to 75% unqualified in 2015/16. As regards findings on compliance with legislation, irregular expenditure incurred had reduced from R20.9 million in 2014/15, to R0.7 million in 2015/16. Improvements were also noticed in the assessment of assurance providers, the internal control environment, reported investigations, and fraud and consequence management.

To address the ineffective SCM function and the audit findings of non-compliance with Treasury regulations, a root-cause analysis had been conducted in 2014/15. The causes identified included a lack of effective policies, processes and procedures to deal with SCM, irregular expenditure and broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE). Other identified causes included:

• Lack of demand planning and integration with business needs;
• Lack of appropriate control monitoring and compliance in the SCM function;
• Limited, and where present, cumbersome analytical and reporting capabilities on the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) system;
• A relatively new SCM team, with recruitment on critical positions still in progress;
• Limited business user knowledge, discipline and accountability for compliance to SCM requirements;
• Inadequate contract management by contract owners.

 

The organisational response to supply chain management challenges included:

• A comprehensive independent maturity assessment carried out on the SCM function with a view to developing the function;
• Drafting, and Council approval of, policy on SCM, unauthorised irregular and fruitless expenditure and BBBEE;
• Design and enabling by SAP of more efficient and automated SCM processes and related controls;
• Implementation of demand management, integrated with the budgeting and planning process carried out to fully understand business requirements and to inform SCM resourcing requirements;
• Implementation of contracts for items of less than R500 000, instead of quotes for frequently purchased items;
• Improved control framework and compliance thereto, designed and implemented;
• Finalisation of the SCM organogram to address capacity issues;
• Training of end users on SCM policies, procedures and applicable accountabilities.

 
Mr Abbey Chikane, Executive Chairman: NHBRC, reported that an information communication technology (ICT) governance framework was imperative for the entity to achieve a clean audit, and the entity was engaged in an on-going a process of implementing an ERP system. Policies had been developed for the governance of the ICT framework, and the ICT committee now formed part of the Council. A Chief Information Officer (CIO) and an information security and IT governance officer had been appointed. A new ICT security policy had been developed and would be approved by Council in the second quarter of the financial year, and an IT change control process had been developed.

 

Regarding plans to address the root causes of repeat findings on performance information, the entity would compile its annual performance plan (APP) in a manner in which key performance indicators (KPIs) were properly contextualised and defined and SMART principles would be adopted. Other actions included submitting the annual performance report to the AG for auditing purposes, subjecting quarterly performance reports to an internal audit process before submission to committees of Council, signing off of portfolios of evidence of executive managers and managers before they were loaded in the portal, conducting workshops on portfolios of evidence with provincial offices and sections within NHBRC on a continuous basis, and establishing a unit on monitoring and evaluation.

 

NHBRC turnaround strategy

Mr Chikane said that a major challenge identified by the analysis conducted on root causes, was the organisational structure. The operating model of the organisation had been reviewed and items such as the organogram, policies, processes, procedures, and controls, ICT systems, skills and competencies, and communication had been perused. The quality of leadership, as well as the organisational culture, had also been reviewed. To ascertain a sound leadership, the organisation had considered ethical issues, good practice and governance, considering the fact that the previous two to three leaders of the organisation had either been fired or moved from their respective positions, which in turn might have culminated in negative management and staff morale. Declarations of interest at every stage had become common practice in the organisation. Core competencies necessary for the organisation had also been addressed in respect of customer service, to ensure the satisfaction of customers with the services of the organisation.

As reported, the key objectives of the target operating model were to:

• Enable delivery of core mandate and objectives of council;
• Improved visibility, accessibility and focus on the housing consumer;
• Improved quality of inspections, effectiveness in compliance and enforcement;
• Improved quality, speed and cost of services to the housing consumer, through effective leveraging of technology and infrastructure;
• Develop, embed and continuously improve core competencies and operating processes;
• Develop and leverage people, skills and core competencies;
• Optimise costs, strengthen accountability, efficacy, efficiency and transparency;
• Improve innovation and flexibility;
• Ensure strategic focus on key enablers.

 
He reported that the entity was engaged in an on-going a process of implementing its online services. The e-services were meant to offer services such as progress tracking, e-forms and automated risk premium calculations, amongst others. The proposed e-services included an array of customer channels and products and services. Key inputs for the system would include standard policies and processes, skills and competencies, ICT infrastructure, data management, performance monitoring and management, as well as leadership and change management. It was anticipated that at the end of the financial year, the entity would have been transformed to a stage whereby online accountability and progress tracking were available.

 

Discussion

The Chairperson commended the presentation of the entity and said that Members should not be tempted to ask questions on the APP, as the agenda entailed dealing with the turnaround strategy and the means of addressing repeated findings. Questions directed towards the APP would be ruled out of order.

Mr L Khoarai (ANC) complained that the pages of the presentation were not properly numbered and not well structured. As regards the trends of irregular expenditure, he enquired if the entity planned to incur an irregular expenditure of R2.3 million in 2016/17. He sought clarity on the turnaround strategy to address the key challenges of the entity.

The Chairperson explained that the R2.3 million had been the result of the entity’s three-year contract, as highlighted in the previously presented APP.

Mr S Gana (DA) said that he had anticipated “a presentation full of graphs and other graphics, just like most presenters do”. His concerns were that the same remedial actions which had been recommended in 2014/15 were again being recommended in 2016/17. As regards the Ulwazi security company, the action to be taken in 2014/15 had been that a “compliance checklist for bid process was implemented,” and the same action had been recommended in the 2015/16 financial year. The report appeared clumsy, as the same corrective actions that had failed in previous years were being recommended for the following financial years. He questioned why no one had been held accountable or disciplined for the failure to implement the recommended corrective actions, and added that the AG had reported in the 2015/16 financial year that many personnel in the organisation had failed to declare their interests in contracts.

Ms M Nkadimeng (ANC) asked if any arrests had been made as regards corruption, fraud and irregular expenditure. Why there was no time frame for the finalisation of SCM operations to address capacity issues?

Ms T Gqada (DA) enquired if the steps to curb irregular expenditure by the NHBRC were convincing enough to produce results. The e-services were desirable, provided that they yielded the desired results, and she asked how the e-services differed from the current services. Whilst it appeared to exceed the jurisdiction of the Committee to address the board of the NHBRC, it should examine the board. The NHBRC faced a challenge of an unstable board. There had been an article published on 2 November 2016 about a project in the province, in which the Department was on the verge of losing R17 million. She asked about the role of NHBRC in the project.

The Chairperson commented that NHBRC’s response to the published article was optional, as the questions were not related to the presentation. The entity could also respond to the issue in writing if no response was readily available.

Ms L Mnganga-Gcabashe (ANC) commended the NHBRC for engaging the AG to assist the organisation in addressing the KPIs. As regards the supply chain process, she asked if there was a developed or functional procurement plan. Were there plans to regularise the irregular expenditure of R2.3 million? What disciplinary action had been taken against officials who had failed to declare their interests in doing business with the organisation? The committee would appreciate a detailed report on how disciplinary issues would be addressed, following the findings by the AG.

The Chairperson said that the acting Director General (DG) had sent his apology, as he was attending another meeting, and the CFO of the National Department could assist in addressing pertinent issues.

Mr Abbey responded that the issue of irregular expenditure was being taken seriously. A committee of Council had been formed to address irregular expenditure, and an elaborate report had been produced, including findings and recommendations that were being implemented. The entity had taken action against both management and employees of the organisation, and there were teams within the organisation and on-going internal investigations, which tended to create tension within the entity. Action had been taken against offenders, and the entity could provide evidence of such actions if the Committee deemed it fit.

Mr Abrahams said that there had been a major breakdown in the organisation in 2012/2013, and the R2.3 million in the current year referred to contracts which needed to be honoured, but all contracts had been terminated after 30 September 2016. As regards the compliance checklist of 2013/14 and 2014/15, the breakdown in control which had committed the organisation to three-year contracts had been identified, but the contracts had had to be honoured, and the policies, procedures and compliance checklists were to prevent a future recurrence. The organisation was in the process of regularising the irregular expenditure, and a report would be tabled by Council on 15 December 2016.

Corrective actions were in place, and there were currently independent service providers to assist in identifying issues of forensic investigations. No new incidences had been discovered so far. All SCM skills were currently in place and the SCM organogram had been updated. Cooperation with the AG was healthy, and a procurement plan had been implemented in 2015, and named the “demand plan”.

Regarding the turnaround strategy, he replied that engagements with stakeholders had indicated that the NHBRC had an ineffective regulatory capability, processes were very manual and out-dated, its training was difficult to access, the systems were unstable, and NHBRC skills were irrelevant. These inputs had consequently assisted the organisation to conduct its root cause analysis.

Mr Chikane disagreed with Ms Gqada’s comment that the board was unstable. The board had a robust council and the best combination of intelligent personnel, with the intention to turn the organisation around, and irregular expenditure had always been on top of the agenda. He said the entity had the best personnel amongst state-owned entities, and there was a healthy tension within the organisation with the speed at which it was being turned around. The slow pace in which the organisation was being transformed was largely caused by inherited challenges.

The Chairperson commented that no response had been provided on the issue of the repeated findings raised by Mr Gana.

Mr Abrahams affirmed that the contracts which had been the origin of the irregular expenditure had been terminated, and if a contract had been classified under irregular expenditure, this would be reflected for the duration of the contract. The corrective action had been that a compliance checklist was in place. A framework for disciplinary action was being developed.

The Chairperson said that it would be difficult for the Committee to ascertain if the corrective actions would prove effective. The entity had duly presented its turnaround strategy and plans to mitigate irregular expenditure, at the Committee’s request. She reiterated that the Committee would frown at repeated findings and failure to implement corrective actions. As regards e-services, she said that the rural areas must not be excluded. 

Mpumalanga Department of Human Settlements: presentation

The Chairperson informed members that although the province was initially scheduled to present at a later date, the presentation had been rescheduled. Consequently the province had complied, but the presentation documents had arrived late.

Mr H Mmemezi (ANC) proposed that Members should listen to the report of the province while the documents were being awaited. Ms Nkadimeng seconded the proposal.

Mr Kebone Masange, Head of Department (HOD): Department of Human Settlements, Mpumalanga, briefed the Committee on the spending patterns and delivery performance of the province.

Regarding progress on the medium term strategic framework (MTSF), targets pertaining to the servicing of sites had increased from the previous financial year, and there had been a six-month performance of 3 879 sites in the current financial year. Targets of individual units had been reduced from 9 245 in the previous financial year, to 8 540 in the current financial year, with a six-month performance of 1 630. There were no social housing targets for the current financial year, and a total of 100 community residential units were targeted for the 2016/17 financial year. It was reported that the project was at 25% of its implementation. As regards the finance-linked individual subsidy programme (FLISP), there was a target of 80 in the current financial year, of which 20 had been achieved. 3 064 title deeds had been issued against a target of 15 000 for the year. 

He highlighted that 44% of the equitable share and 38% of the human settlement development grant (HSDG) had been spent, but nothing had been spent so far on Expanded Public Works Project (EPWP). There had been under-spending of 18.4% in the second quarter, and 39.4% of the total budget had been spent. Payment for goods and services accounted for the bulk of the expenditure per economic classification. As regards expenditure trends per programme, the administration programme had overspent its second quarter budget by 16.2%, mainly due to transfers and subsidies. The housing needs, research and planning programme had overspent its second quarter budget by 1.8% due to the compensation of employees, while 47.9% of its annual budget had been spent. The housing and development programme had underspent its second quarter budget by 21.4%, while 38.3% of the annual budget had been spent. There had been no spending on the housing assets management programme in the quarter.

With the HSDG spending, there was an under-spending of 44% in the second quarter, and 37.6% of the annual budget had been spent. Financial intervention was 22.6% underspent in the second quarter and 44.4% of the annual allocation had been spent. There was an under-spending of 44% in the incremental housing programme, while 39.8% of its annual budget had been spent. Social and rental expenditure was under-spent by 38.6%, while 33.8% of the annual budget had been spent. The allocation on rural housing for the second quarter was under-spent by 53.6%, and 22.5% of its annual budget had been spent. The provincial specific spending trends revealed that the second quarter budget had been under-spent by 64.1%, and only 14.1% of the annual budget had been spent.

Deviations highlighted were the slow delivery of housing units and delivery of title deeds. The slow delivery of housing units had faced the challenges of a lack of bulk infrastructures, a lack of capacity by certain appointed contractors, and community unrest. Remedial actions included strengthened cooperation with, and the involvement of, municipalities in order to deliver human settlements programmes that would yield more housing opportunities, application by the Department for bulk funding through the provincial budget, the termination of appointments of non-performing contractors, an increase in the capacity of contractors as per working teams, and the appointment of qualified personnel by the Department.

The challenges affecting the delivery of title deeds included the slow performance of conveyancers, due to limited capacity and the lack of township establishment in most areas where units were constructed. Remedial actions included the employment of additional conveyancers to speed up the processing of title deeds, the appointment of professional town planners to fast track township establishment processes, and close monitoring of the implementation of the programme in collaboration with municipalities, to fast track delivery. 

Discussion

Ms Nkadigemeng enquired about the progress made on housing for military veterans -- both the number of houses already built, as well as the outstanding ones. She asked about the plans that were in place to fast-track the provision of basic services in occupied houses which lacked them. As regards sites that had been previously serviced and where infrastructure had been vandalised afterwards, she asked if the infrastructure had been restored. She expressed her concern about the worrisome pace of progress on the title deeds.

Mr Gana said there had been a” media storm” around the issue of houses in Mbombela. He asked if beneficiaries had moved into the houses in Mbombela, and whether the personnel responsible for the project were still employed by the state in the provincial or municipal government. He said that the personnel responsible for the project had acted “criminally” and robbed citizens of the dividends of democracy.

As regards the title deeds, especially the ones which pertained to RDP houses, the involvement of councillors in the identification process appeared clumsy, as the Department was aware of the citizens to whom they allocated houses. However, the Department intended only to build the houses and to delegate the allocation process to the municipalities. This implied that the province lacked control over the allocation of the houses to citizens, and if the province had had absolute control over the process, the conveyancers would have been furnished with the list of allocated houses to assist in addressing the title deeds. He described the HOD’s comments as worrisome, and said that there might be instances where a house was illegally sold, and the councillor was only required to sign some sort of document confirming the authenticity of the buyer, and in such instances the house would be given to the buyer. The Auditor General would definitely identify a flaw in the process. The pictures presented in the report did not reflect the informal settlements as purported, and he asked about the number of informal settlements that had been identified by the province. He also enquired about the average cost of a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) house in Mpumalanga, and if double standards existed as regards the quality of houses across the provinces and also between rural and urban centres.

Mr Khoarai asked about the number of houses that had been built for military veterans, as well as the cost per unit, and about the percentage of the total informal settlements that had been developed in the province.

Ms Mnganga-Gcabashe referred to the under-spending caused by delays by contractors around various municipalities during the installation of infrastructure, and asked if the municipalities that were failing to provide infrastructure received financial and administrative support from the province, to assist them in not under-spending the funds from the national Department. She expected excellence in terms of the delivery of serviced sites, since Mpumalanga was really a rural province, so why were targets not achieved within the six months? She noted that if 50% of the allocated budget was not spent at the end of the second quarter, there was a likelihood that the trend would progress and result in under-spending at the end of the financial year. There appeared to be a flaw in planning for the implementation of projects as regards contractor performances, and the national DHS should be engaged to assist in developing a five-year plan which would be implemented every financial year. The Department might fail to achieve the goals of the National Development Plan (NDP) if the province progressed at such a slow pace.

She enquired if the Community Residential Unit (CRU) target of 100 in 2016/17 could be achieved, considering the target had been zero for 2015/16. She suggested that the target should rather be revised, to avoid an under-achievement. She said that the province required assistance from national Department to process the issuing of title deeds effectively. The provincial department was expected to excel in its rural housing programme since the province was a rural province. Regarding rental housing, there should be a sizeable amount of rental stock in urban areas to cater for citizens that migrated from the rural areas to the towns. She urged that the initial plan of the Committee to visit the Mpumalanga Province for oversight should not be thwarted.

The Chairperson clarified that the province had been invited to brief the Committee due to a change in the programme of Parliament, as the Committee would not be able to visit the province again in 2016 for its oversight function.

Mr Mmemezi said the Committee acknowledged the openness and sincerity of the report, and indicated that the reason why the government only appointed highly qualified and trained personnel was to solve problems and avoid a scenario whereby personnel “pray to God when there were challenges. The Committee anticipated that the identified problems were solved, and the province would emerge as one of the best in the country. From the perspective of the Committee, title deeds were not only applicable to land, but to the houses as well. The lack of bulk infrastructure was indicative of a lack of proper planning, and the Committee preferred a scenario where there were 500 housing units waiting to be allocated, rather than having none to allocate. The entity was depriving the citizens of the country the freedom they had fought for. He urged the province to avoid being a problematic one. The beneficiary allocation and identification starts with the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) road shows by municipalities, in which each ward councillor addresses the problems encountered. With proper community participation and synergy between stakeholders, the unrest which delays contractors could be drastically reduced. He urged that the middle-class employees who resided in both rural and urban areas should also benefit from housing programmes, as many did not qualify for mortgage loans through the banks.

The Chairperson expressed her concerns about the lack of a social housing plan for 2016/17 and suggested that the issue be re-examined. Informal settlements in the province were a consequence of the migration of citizens to developing areas of the province in search of a better standard of living, as Mpumalanga was fast becoming urbanised, even though it was classified a rural province. The title deeds issues were worrisome and must be thoroughly addressed, because an individual could claim a piece of land only with a title deed, and there was a major concern that South Africans were “landless”. She asked the province to explain its relationship with the Estate Agency Board (EAB) to assist with title deeds in its response. In previous engagements with the EAB, the entity had reported that steering committees were in place to assist provinces with title deeds.

The issue of the unoccupied houses in Mbombela reflected a bigger problem, which was the lack of proper management of beneficiary lists. She asked how the issue would be optimally addressed, confirming that at a stage, the Department had stated that the beneficiary list would be centrally managed. The bulk infrastructure issues were the result of improper planning, and the same issue had also been highlighted in the last oversight visit to KwaZulu-Natal, where a project could not start because of the lack of bulk infrastructure which was not the responsibility of the department, but rather the duty of the municipality. The previous Portfolio Committee, in its oversight visit to Mpumalanga in 2011, had discovered examples of improper planning, and the province should address the issues at the cabinet and national level.

Mr Masange thanked Members for their input and questions. He said that 94 of the planned 126 housing units had been built for the military veterans, and a detailed report on housing for military veterans would be presented on 9 November 2016 to the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans. Thaba Chweu sites had been serviced in the past, and there were engagements with the Mpumalanga Economic Development Growth Agency (MEDGA) to develop the serviced properties. There were about 300 beneficiaries for the sites and the province hoped that construction of houses on the sites would commence before the end of the financial year.

He acknowledged comments relating to title deeds, and clarified that defective houses in Mbombela were not the newly built houses, but rather the old ones. Projects aimed at addressing defects in old housing stock could not be included in the current business plan in terms of departmental policy, and there was a process under way to address defective houses that had not been insured by the NHBRC. As for the involvement of councillors in title deeds, he explained that the councillors assisted the department to identify hot spots where title deeds posed challenges.

Addressing the question on informal settlements, he said that it would have been an error for the provincial department to claim it had dealt with an informal settlement, and still present the same picture after upgrading it. In future presentations, pictures of before and after the upgrades would be presented. An informal settlement database had been recently completed. There was a record of 217 informal settlements in the province, including 71 in Emalahleni, 16 in Steve Tshwete, 10 in Thaba Chweu, 42 in Govan Mbeki, 20 in Mbombela, 45 in Thembisile Hani, and 13 in Lekwa, and the informal settlement strategy in terms of upgrading was on track. The province was working closely with the national Department in terms of up-scaling the process of upgrading informal settlements, and the provincial approach was to replace informal settlements completely with standard housing units. The pictures presented showed a formalised settlement in Embalenhle which lacked proper structures, and the provincial department was in the process of upgrading 789 housing units which were formal structures, subject to the performance of other programmes in the province, as many programmes failed to be achieved due to lack of bulk infrastructure. There was an on-going review to upscale and move resources to areas where the greatest needs had been identified, with the concurrence of the national department.

He said that the cost of providing housing in Mpumalanga was predetermined by the Minister, and an amount of R103 000 was spent per unit, excluding geo-technical allowances, which ranged from 1% to 15% and could not be predetermined. Some units cost up to R128 000 due to the geo-technical allowances, and up to R110 000 in terms of integrated human settlements when an implementing agent was present. Costs could amount up to R140 000 if adverse sub-surface conditions were present. There were no double standards as regards housing quality and the department had a “one house fits all” policy. The only difference in housing units was the roofing, where chromadek was used in some areas and slate in other areas, due to the high cost of slate. Chromadek was easier to construct and transport, hence its vast use in rural were as. In integrated human settlements such as Klarinet, there was uniformity of housing standards, as well as in the houses in Govan Mbeki (Nelspruit).

Referring to the failure of municipalities to provide services, he said that oversight of the municipalities was not a mandate of the department, but rather the responsibility of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). The province was working closely with COGTA to analyse the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocation which was aimed at providing basic services, including bulk infrastructure. Allocations for municipalities such as Emakhazeni (roughly R10 million) were too little for the municipality to carry out their mandates to provide bulk infrastructure. He confirmed that there was a lot of capital injection by the province to Comprehensive Rural Development Programme(CRDP) municipalities, which were largely rural municipalities.

The Premier, with the executive council, had requested that a business plan be presented by the department to indicate a shift towards integrated human settlements, particularly in mining towns. Almost one-third of the grants was aimed at interventions in Emalahleni, and this increased to more than half of the grant when Govan Mbeki was included, as the department was preventing a recurrence of incidents such as the one in Marikana. He said that within two years in Emalahleni, 6 000 sites had been serviced to relocate people from Coronation to Siyanqoba.

Quarterly delivery targets for the CRU and social housing projects had not been presented because they involved blocks of flats and not RDP houses, which could be delivered and easily counted. Social housing was a concurrent function between the department and social housing institutions, and the department granted only subsidies to beneficiaries, as they were expected to get funds from the Social Housing Regulatory Agency (SHRA).

Mr Masange said that many of the identified problems were inherited, and the department was transparent enough to confront the issues. He confirmed that the provincial Department of Human Settlements of Mpumalanga had a lot of vacancies at the top level, particularly technical personnel, and the department had to wait for a year as there was no budget for the posts, because the positions had been abolished. He said 16 senior technical personnel and highly professional engineers had been appointed to assist the department in resolving the challenges. Some of the projects had not been properly packaged at the planning stage, as agreements were signed only with contractors which were appointed to work with municipalities and provincial governments, and not with third parties.  Mpumalanga did not have a human settlements advisory task team that would scrutinize every project before its incorporation into the business plan, as well as firm commitments from stakeholders at the planning stage. He said that it had been a resolution of the Provincial Consultative Forum (PCF), through the suggestion of the provincial department, that such a structure be implemented.

Ms Funani Matlatsi, Chief Financial Officer (CFO): National Department of Human Settlements, acknowledged that the challenge of bulk infrastructure had been a recurring problem. A decision had been taken in the previous financial year that since the Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) could not be stretched to some of the secondary metros, a 2% allocation to the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) had been approved to fund the bulk infrastructure. The province might have missed out on an opportunity, even though the National Department planned to tighten communication as well as the relationship, to ensure that it did not necessarily have to come to facilitate the application process each time. She affirmed that the HoD and CFO of the provincial department were aware of the 2% allocation which was included in the grant framework, simply because the NDHS was working on the USDG and other mining towns, and this did address the issue of bulk infrastructure.

Regarding the title deeds, she confirmed that the steering committee had commenced its road shows, but it was yet to visit Mpumalanga even though it had commenced its visits to other provinces. Due to its slow pace, the National Department had taken over the function because while funding had been earmarked for the programme, little progress was being made. The steering committee was led by the Estate Agency Board (EAB) and was also comprised of officials from the department.

As regards the military veterans’ housing, three officials had been delegated to lead the steering committee, and existing houses were being considered as an option to resolve the challenge. As regards the mid-term reviews and under-spending by the province, she said a review was being conducted and the national department would arrive at an effective decision soon. She added that there was also a slow pace in terms of contractors, and the national department planned to come up with a good turnaround strategy to prevent a reduction in the budgets of provinces that under-spend their allocations.

Mr Speedy Mashilo, Mpumalanga MEC for Human Settlements, commented that being new in the position, such engagements with the Committee offered a form of empowerment. He said that the 2% allocation (R26 million for Mpumalanga) was quite little, considering the extent of the challenges faced by the province. He commented that military veterans were important stakeholders. They had been duly engaged in the province, and progress would be made. One of the identified problems had been the accessibility of land, and the municipalities had allocated sites accordingly.

He said that 3 000 title deeds had been issued since he assumed position of the MEC in September 2016. Immediately the department was about to build a unit and an applicant was approved, applications for the title deed had to commence immediately. Planning was a big problem, and ordinarily a municipality was supposed to be at the centre, as they owned the lands and their failure to occupy the sites put the department in a position to act. He said that the department had completed the integration, and municipalities were required only to provide land for the department to build the infrastructure. He assured the Committee that there was a plan for all the unoccupied houses, and the first move was slated for the weekend in Mbombela local municipality. The media would be engaged to publicise the event, and work was in progress to address challenges in the Lekwa local municipality as well.

The Chairperson commented that MECs normally appeared in the first few months of their appointment, but failed to keep up with further engagements. She urged the new MEC to avail himself for future engagements with the Committee.

Adoption of minutes

Mr Mmemezi proposed adoption of the minutes of 6 September 2016, and was seconded by Mr Khoarai

Mr Khoariamoved a motion for the adoption of the minutes of 11October 2016, and Mr Mmemezi seconded.

Ms Nkadimeng proposed adoption of the minutes of 1 November 2016, and Mr Mmemezi seconded.

The Chairperson said that the revised programme of Parliament had warranted the engagement with the provincial department, as the Committee would not be able to conduct any oversight to the provinces for the rest of the year.

Mr S Gana thanked the Committee Members for their active engagement and support, and said that if he did not appear at the next meeting, he might have been assigned to another committee.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Gana for keeping Members on their toes and stimulating active engagements with entities.

The meeting was adjourned.