Legislative Programme: discussion

Meeting report

HOUSING PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
15 February 2000
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME: HOUSING DEPARTMENT

SUMMARY
The following five Bills will be tabled this year:
Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Bill: In terms of this Bill, banks will have to disclose not only to whom they lend money, but also to whom they refuse to lend. It will be placed before Cabinet for approval within the next two weeks.
Prevention of Illegal Eviction & Unlawful Occupation of Land Amendment Bill
This Bill will apply to people coming onto land illegally, and therefore excludes landlord and tenant relationships. This Bill will be placed before Cabinet
for approval by mid April 2000.
Social Housing Bill: This Bill will regulate the structure and functioning of social housing. The Department is hoping to have this Bill approved by Cabinet around June 2000.
Community Reinvestment Bill: Modelled on American and British legislation, this Bill is still in its infancy stage.
Housing Amendment Bill: The Department intends to submit the final draft to Cabinet for approval by September 2000.

MINUTES
Mr Thatcher, Senior Legal Advisor for the Department of Housing, informed this committee of proposed legislation for the year 2000. The following Bills were outlined:

Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Bill
This Bill is a replacement of the Mortgage Indemnity Scheme. In terms of this Bill, banks will have to disclose not only to whom they lend money, but also to whom they refuse to lend. This draft Bill proposes a regulatory body called the Office of Disclosure, as a way of monitoring such disclosures. This Bill has been redrafted six to seven times in consultation with the Departments of Trade & Industry and Finance, the Banking Council, and the United States Treasury Housing and Urbanisation Department. This Bill is being treated as a matter of urgency, and will be placed before Cabinet for approval within the next two weeks.

Comments by committee members
Ms R Southgate (ACDP) asked what the Office of Disclosure will comprise of, who will bear the cost of such an office and where will the Office of Disclosure be established?

Mr Pheko (PAC) stated that these rights should be accessible to everyone, especially in the rural areas. He wanted to know if there is a penalty clause in the Bill which deals with non-compliance with the Bill.

A member of the committee asked if there was a provision in this Bill that ensured a certain percentage of money loaned by financial institutions, are to disadvantaged communities?

The Chairperson noted that the Committee cannot discuss the provisions of this Bill as they do not have a copy of the Bill in front of them. She felt this discussion to be premature.

Mr Thatcher commented in reply:
- The Bill will be available to the committee only after Cabinet has approved it.
- Disclosure will be modelled on the old Housing Act, and the Department of Housing will be responsible for the Office of Disclosure, which will be run by the Secretariat. If this Bill is approved, the plan is to establish a central Office of Disclosure in Pretoria.
- The public will be given an opportunity to make submissions on this Bill.
- There is a penalty clause in this Bill, which provides for non-compliance with the Bill.
They have worked closely with the Departments of Finance and Trade & Industry.
- In practice, a bank cannot be compelled to give loans in a particular area.

Prevention of Illegal Eviction & Unlawful Occupation of Land Amendment Bill
This Act is being amended because there is presently much confusion as to whom has the right to institute an action under this Act. The Courts experienced various problems with the wording of this Act when interpreting it. The intention of this Bill is to apply to people coming onto land illegally, and therefore excludes landlord and tenant relationships. The Department of Housing is awaiting comments on the first draft from the provinces and the Department of Justice. These comments will be incorporated into the draft and submitted to Cabinet for approval around mid April.

Social Housing Bill
This is aimed at regulating social housing and to enable it to take off in a holistic way as the Rental Housing Act does not cover social housing. This Bill will deal with the structure and functioning of social housing. The Social Housing Foundation has done much research with regard to this Bill. Mr Thatcher said that this Bill will be drafted along the guidelines of similar acts from countries such as Holland, Norway and the United Kingdom. They hope to have this Bill approved by Cabinet around June 2000.

Community Reinvestment Bill
There is a need for legislation dealing with community reinvestment. They are tailor-making the American and English legislation to suit the needs of South Africans. This Bill is still in its infancy stage but drafting will begin in earnest within the next few weeks.

Housing Amendment Bill
They are still receiving input from stakeholders on amending the present Housing Act and hope to submit the final draft to Cabinet for approval by September 2000. They are reluctant to proceed with the Housing Development Board because they do not see this as a way of going forward. In order to be effective, there needs to be a smaller housing board.

Comments:
In answer to a query on whether the Housing Boards were going to be scrapped, Mr Thatcher said this was not the case as some of the Housing Boards were operating well.

Ms R Southgate asked if any Bills would be tabled before this committee during the first session of Parliament?

Mr Thatcher replied that the Minister regards all these bills as priority. In order to give effect to Section 26 of the Constitution, they were forced to "keep the ball rolling". The Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Bill had already been forwarded for Cabinet's approval.

Ms N Hangana (ANC) noted that the Committee was concerned about these bills being tabled at the eleventh hour.

The meeting adjourned.