Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) Since 1994, the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements has made substantial progress to better the lives of the residents of Sharpeville and surrounding areas. It has provided 4 582 BNG houses to the beneficiaries and the details of the housing projects completed are provided below:

• Tshepiso : 1 144 houses
• Tshepiso North Extension 1: 278 houses
• Tshepiso South Extension 1: 254 houses
• Tshepiso North Extension 3: 1 432 houses
• Tshepiso North Extension 4: 976 houses
• Boipatong : 498 houses

In addition, the Provincial Department is planning for the following projects in the surrounding areas of Sharpeville that will deliver in total 10 629 BNG and Social Housing units:

• Tshepiso North Extension 4: 1 149 houses
• Leeuwkuil : 2 980 houses
• Vereeniging Old Hospital : 1 500 Social Housing units
• Vaal River City : 5 000 houses

(2) It is not necessary given the projects that have been completed and those that are still being planned for in Sharpeville and surrounding areas. Save to say, this government is committed to ensure that the lives of our people are improved and their dignity restored through the provision of sustainable human settlements.

 

 

Reply:

(1) (a) The project in uMncube zone in Umthambeka Section Ward 11, Tembisa, Gauteng entails the construction of 118 houses.

(b) The identified beneficiaries of the project are the residents of Umncube Section in Tembisa.

(c) The Provincial Department of Human Settlements appointed the contractor in November 2013, however construction could not commence due to a delay occasioned by the contractor not furnishing the required performance guarantee and agreement on the subsidy quantum of R63 366.00, which the contractor requested to be increased. The subsidy increase was only approved in the 2015/16 financial year. The contract for construction was signed in August 2015 with a date of completion being the 28th February 2016. The site was handed over the 13th August 2015 to the contractor.

(d) The Honourable member would be aware of Parliament’s convention which prohibits any public representatives, be it Members of the Executive or Honourable Members, from publishing names of people/contractors or companies when asking or responding to parliamentary questions. Accordingly, I will not able to provide names of people on the housing list as requested. But, I can confirm that the project manager is an employee of the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements.

(2) (a) The Honourable member would be aware of Parliament’s convention which prohibits any public representatives, be it Members of the Executive or Honourable Members, from publishing names of people/contractors or companies when asking or responding to parliamentary questions. Accordingly, I will not able to provide the names of people/contractors or companies as requested.

(b) A total of 24 employees were employed from local residents.

 

(c) The names of the beneficiaries will be made available subject to the relevant rules of privacy and confidentiality being adhered as is required in such disclosure, which requires approval from the households concerned and reasons for such request.

(3) (a) (i) The appointed contractor was deemed not to, by the Provincial Department in terms of its evaluation, have the functional and financial capacity to complete the project. The contractor committed to a construction programme which was not adhered to. In January 2016, progress on site was 19 Foundations and 9 wall-plates. The contract expired on the 28th February 2016. The contract was not extended to continue into the new financial year.

(ii) The Contractor was paid on the 07th March 2016 for 19 foundations and 4 wall-plates. The Province still has an outstanding claim, which is in the process of being evaluated for payment for 5 wall-plates.

(b) The balance of the project will be funded for completion in the 2016/17 financial year.

(c) The projected completion date for the project 31 March 2017.

Reply:

I am particularly concerned about this matter. I would encourage the Honourable member to provide me with any information that will assist in resolving this matter. As public representatives, our first instinct should be the eagerness to assist in situations such as these. In essence, we need to find a way to assist the complainant to register for a BNG house.

Be that as it may, I have been advised that the case referred to by the Honourable member relates to the Etete Area, in Ward 7 in KwaDukuza. The Municipality has confirmed that the only structure it demolished in 2006 was an abandoned house on the land that the municipality acquired from the Palm Lakes Estate. The house was built with mud and was unoccupied for years. The house was a den of criminal activity and the community demanded both the municipality and SAPS to act against people who were using the dilapidated house for various criminal acts.  The property was on land owned by the municipality.

Further, eighteen (18) months after the demolition had been completed, the complainant claimed that the land the house was built on belonged to the complainant’s father. The complainant was informed that the land in question was never owned by the complainant’s late father but was owned by the owners/developers of Palm Lakes Estates, which the municipality acquired for housing and social facilities.

The complainant has not, according to the records of the Municipality, applied for the subsidised housing in the area called Etete, in which the municipality over the years has been working to eradicate informal settlements with funding from the Department of Human Settlements.  The municipality is currently working on the implementation of the last phase of the project, which is known as Phase 4. It appears that the same complainant is not part of the beneficiaries registered for this project.

Reply:

(1) According to the latest the 2011 census 2011 conducted by Statistics South Africa, 4.9 million Black people owned fully paid homes as compared to just over 500,000 Whites, 415, 940 Coloured, 119,457 Indians/Asians. During the time when the census was undertaken, South African population consisted of 79% Africans, 8.9% Whites, 8.9% Coloured and 2.5% Asians and 0.5% other. These findings serve to prove that the majority population (Africans) in the country were the highest home owners, followed by Whites, Coloured then Indians/Asians. Therefore the pace of transformation already commensurate with demographic representation of the South Africa's diverse population.

According to the General Household Survey of 2014 of Statistics South Africa, the Population Group of Households Heads at that time was 53,686,358. Of this, Black/African household constituted 80%, followed by 8.9% of Coloureds, 8.5% Whites, and 2.5% Indians/Asians. In terms of the private property ownership, South Africans owned 35,929,172 properties. These properties constituted those owned but not yet paid off to the banks/ financial institutions, owned but not yet paid off to the private lender, and owned and fully paid off. From these properties, Blacks/ Africans owned 85% followed by Coloureds with 7.3%, Whites with 5.6% and Indians/ Asians with 2.1%. These are indications that property ownership in overall is taking place at a rate that is proportionate to the demographics of the population.

However, when considering different market values of properties, Blacks/ Africans, owned 92% of properties with the value up to R500, 000 and 66.2% of properties with the value above R500, 000. Coloureds owned 6.2% of properties with the value up to R500, 000 and 12% of properties with the value above R500, 000. Whites owned 1.1% of properties with the value up to R500, 000 and 17.3% of properties with the value above R500, 000. Indians/ Asians owned 0.7% of properties with the value up to R500, 000 and 4.6% of properties with the value above R500, 000.

Moreover, government's effort contributed immensely in ensuring that the poor South Africans are also registered in the property register of the country. According to the General Household Survey of 2014 of Statistics South Africa, state subsidised dwelling constituted 9,265,544 properties of which 8,357,475 belonged to Blacks/Africans, followed by 863,529 owned by Coloureds, 30,865 owed by Whites, and 13,675 properties owned by Indians/ Asians.

(2) The above information does indicate that the effort of government ranging from the normalisation of the lending environment together with increasing access to housing finance, the transfer of government old stock to the needy South Africans and the provision of the fully subsidised housing units to the poorest of South Africans, immensely improved access to housing assets. In an attempt to strengthen housing finance for the gap market, Finance Linked Individual Subsidy has been adjusted to accommodate the newly introduced Government Employee Housing Scheme, which gives an opportunity for public servants who have enrolled for housing needs to make application for subsidies, and expand the application of the programme beyond mortgage finance.

The Business Day Article dated 24 April 2016 titled “The truth about blacks and home ownership” addresses the question that the Honourable member is asking. Written independently of government, the article argues that providing housing and land ownership to black South Africans within the new democracy has been a huge success story. Indeed, we are on the right track and we will continue to make the lives of previously disadvantaged better. I am proud of the 4.3 million houses and opportunities delivered since 1994, benefiting over 20 million households.

Reply:

The Benoni Hostel (Wattville Hostel) is situated in the Gauteng Province and falls within the jurisdiction of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), which owns and administers the hostel complex. The Municipality has indicated that the hostel residents are currently being provided with clean water, electricity connections as well as sanitation services.

The Provincial Department has initiated a project to redevelop the hostel. The projected output and outcome is intended to yield seven hundred and twenty six (726) redeveloped family units, which will encompass six (6) different typologies. The Province has appointed a service provider to finalise all planning work and the project is envisaged to go out on tender during July 2016 for the installation of services for the 1st phase of the project.

Reply:

(1) The National Department of Human Settlements has over a period of three (3) years ending 2014/15 spent approximately 96% of the grant allocation of R50,288 billion with 79% spent in 2015/16 financial year and as at 29 February 2016 (unaudited figure), the latter has to date yielded 114 536 housing opportunities.

The information requested by the Honourable member is contained in the table below:

Financial Periods	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Serviced Sites	45 698	48 193	49 345	36 956
Units	115 079	105 936	94 566	77 580
Total	160 777	154 129	143 911	114 536
Total Available funds	15 886 226	17 028 326	17 374 021	18 581 067
Expenditure	15 142 431	16 500 648	16 972 848	14 703 012
% Exp.	95.32%	96.90%	97.69%	79.13% As at 29 February 2016 (unaudited figure)

The National Department of Human Settlements has over a period of three (3) years ending 2014/15 spent approximately 96% of the grant allocation of R50,288 billion with 79% spent in 2015/16 financial year and as at 28 February 2016, the latter has to date yielded 114 536 housing opportunities.

(2) It is important to note that the National Department of Human Settlements transfers the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) to provinces who in turn use the grant to develop sites and houses. The National Department uses Division of Revenue Act (DORA) provisions to redirect funding from underperforming to performing provinces. In addition, the department assist underperforming provinces by putting remedial actions on challenges that hamper or affect the meeting of goals and objectives of provinces. Therefore, the national Department does not have authority in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994 to discipline official in another sphere of government.

In terms of the National Department meeting its targets and objectives, the Department uses the performance appraisal system as a tool to monitor the performance of officials.

(3) Honourable member, it not possible to indicate what the details of any policy revisions and/or proposals for amendments will be at this stage. My Department is currently in the consultation phase of the development of the new Human Settlements White Paper process. In this process, we are revisiting all the core fundamental principles of the current policy including the sustainability of the Housing Subsidy Scheme in its current form. Once approved by MINMEC, the draft document will be submitted to Cabinet for approval to publish the Paper for broader public comments.

Reply:

(1) (a) The size of the project is 118 Breaking New Ground houses.

(b) The beneficiaries are the residents of Umncube Section in Umthambeka.

(c) The project commenced on 13 August 2015 when the site was handed over to the Contractor. (d) The expected date for the completion of the project is 31 March 2017.

(2) (a) (i) & (ii) The Honourable member would be aware of Parliament’s convention which prohibits any public representatives, be it Members of the Executive or Honourable Members, from publishing names of people/contractors or companies when asking or responding to parliamentary questions. Accordingly, I will not able to provide names of people on the housing list as requested.

(b) There are 24 employees employed from the local residents.

(3) (a) The Contractor did not have the functional and financial capacity to complete the project and subsequently did not adhere to the agreed construction programme. By January 2016, only 19 foundations and 9 wall plates were constructed. The original contract provided for the completion of the project by 28 February 2016. However, due the Contractor’s inability to complete the project, the contract was not renewed and a new Contractor will be appointed to finalise the construction of the houses.

(b) It is anticipated that a new contractor will be appointed early in the financial year after which the project will commence.

(4) The Contractor has been paid on 7 March 2016 for the completion of 19 foundations and 4 wall plates. The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements received an additional claim from the Contractor for the payment of the outstanding 5 wall plates. The Department confirmed that the payment is in progress and will be finalised in due course.

 

Reply:

(1) No.

(2) No.

Reply:

(a) No.

(b) No.

Reply:

(1) A verification search against the Housing Subsidy System (HSS) as at 13 March 2016, indicates that the person referred to by the Honourable Member does not appear as a subsidy applicant or as an approved beneficiary of a state housing subsidy on the HSS. The North West Provincial Department of Human Settlements has since confirmed this finding. This implies that a subsidy application for the ID number provided was not captured on HSS to date or a subsidy application was not completed by the person or household to access a government housing subsidy.

In terms of the verification of ID numbers when processing applications for housing subsidies, there are set Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that are followed before an application is captured on the system before being approved to benefit from a housing subsidy. A subsidy is linked to a household (applicant and / or spouse) and a specific site. The ID numbers (applicant/spouse/dependants) indicated on a subsidy application form is captured on HSS against a specific site number as contained in the deed of sale and specific project.

The captured application is then verified to ensure that the details on the application form have been captured correctly on HSS. The verified application is then submitted for searches via an automated process on the ID against other databases including the Population Register in the Dept. of Home Affairs, and the Deeds Register, in the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, as well as the Department Audit Database to ensure that the applicant did not previously benefit from a state housing subsidy.

The application is tagged for approval only if it passes all the aforementioned verification and search processes.

(2) In respect of the alleged selling of housing subsidy material by the named councillor, the Department of Human Settlements views such activity in a serious light, and will investigate and take appropriate steps based on the findings when the full and exact details, including documentary or other evidence relating to such activity are provided and obtained by the Department.

Reply:

The Thokoza Hostel is situated in the Gauteng Province and falls within the jurisdiction of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

(a) The budget allocated for the 2015/16 financial year was R19 730 000.00. This was for the provision of temporary residential units, for accommodation of residents pending the redevelopment. The budget allocated for the 2016/17 financial year is R61 000 000.00, this funding is for the demolition of the existing buildings as well as for the installation of engineering services up to phase one of the development.

(b) The hostel comprises of forty-one (41) hostel blocks in a dormitory formation, which were deemed not suitable for human habitation and will be demolished and replaced by three storeys of Community Residential Units. These three storeys will yield two thousand, six hundred and twenty one (2621) units.

(i) & (ii) Tenders for demolition of the existing buildings and installation of services were advertised during March 2016. This project will consist of seven phases and will be implemented in a phased approach over a period of approximately eight (8) years subject to the availability of the required funding.

Reply:

Yes, it is anticipated that the relocation of beneficiaries of the Kliptown Informal Settlement will be completed by the end of 2020. The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality has indicated that the project comprises of six precincts, namely Kliptown Extensions 2, 6, 7 and 11, Pimville Zone 9 and Sector 2, which will be independently proclaimed as townships.

The project is in progress and is in various stages of implementation. To date, 1 089 beneficiaries of the Kliptown Informal Settlement have been allocated fully subsidised freehold housing units known as BNG houses at Pimville Zone 9 and Klipspruit Extension 2. An estimated 200 BNG houses at Klipspruit Extension 11 will be allocated to the beneficiaries by the end of April 2016.

Reply:

The Gauteng Department of Human Settlements appointed Contractors to construct houses for Phases 1 and 2 at Obed Nkosi. During 2013, a total of 300 houses were completed and allocated to the qualifying beneficiaries. Phase 2 consist of 1 033 houses and the construction of these houses was completed during August 2015. The Lesedi Local Municipality then requested the Provincial Department that none of these houses should be allocated to beneficiaries without electricity. As the electrification of houses is the responsibility of the Municipality, the Provincial Department had to wait for the houses to be provided with electricity before allocation could start. To date, 695 houses in Phase 2 have been electrified and allocated.

The allocation of the houses with electricity is an on-going process and the Provincial Department has indicated that a further 88 houses will be allocated to the beneficiaries by 6 April 2016. The Lesedi Local Municipality is attending to the electrification of the outstanding houses, and once the houses have been electrified, allocations to the qualifying beneficiaries will commence.

 

Reply:

No. However, the Department of Human Settlements (DHS) paid for services rendered by companies which are indirectly or directly owned by certain persons as follows:

(a) Financial year 2012-13: None.

(b) During 2013-14 financial year, DHS paid for services rendered by the TNA Media (Pty) Ltd.

(i) once

(ii) R 19 900.00

(c) During 2014-15 financial year, DHS paid for services rendered TNA Media (Pty) Ltd.

(i) Once

(ii) R 9 950.00.

Reply:

The department’s spending on advertisement in the New Age newspaper:

(a) 2012-2013

Human Settlements	Budget Vote	R92,836.93
	Each One Settle One – Masimong CRU	R121,777.99
	Estate Agency Affairs - New Board	R73,453.39
	Govan Mbeki Awards - Outcomes	R293,813.56
	Human Settlement Awards 2012	R108,335.00
	Promoting Social Housing	R146,906.78
Total	R837,123.65

(b) 2013-2014

Human Settlements

Govan Mbeki Awards 2013

R1,421,340.50

(c) 2014-2015

Human Settlements

20 Years of Freedom (Business Network Campaign)

R 799,428.42

Reply:

(a) As part of the Housing and Human Settlement Programmes, a total of 15321 title deeds were delivered to households in 2013-2014 financial year by the respective Metropolitan Municipalities.

(b) During the 2014-2015 financial year, a total of 12911 title deeds were delivered to households by the respective Metropolitan Municipalities as part of the Housing and Human Settlement Programmes.

A comprehensive representation of the figures per Metropolitan Municipalities is detailed in the following table:

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS	BUFFELO CITY METRO	NELSON MANDELA BAY METRO	MANGAUNG METRO	EKURHULENI	CITY OF JOBURG METRO	CITY OF TSHWANE	ETHEKWINI	CITY OF CAPE TOWN METRO	TOTALS
2013/14	Number of Title Deeds transferred to eligible beneficiaries	0	0	2181	1486	0	4599	904	6151	15321
2014/15	Number of Title Deeds transferred to eligible beneficiaries	2925	0	849	97	1758	3297	2212	1773	12911

Reply:

(a) The following metropolitan municipalities utilize the National Housing Needs Register that enables citizens to register their needs for adequate shelter per household:

• Buffalo City;
• Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Council;
• City of Ekurhuleni;
• City of Johannesburg;
• City of Tshwane and
• City of eThekwini

   (i) Yes it is open to the public. This means that citizens with a need for adequate shelter can register their household information at the offices and/or satellite offices of a metropolitan and or municipalities utilizing the National Housing Needs Register.

  (ii) No. At the moment, the registration is done at the municipal offices and the following information is recorded per household on the NHNR system:

• Geographical details regarding, town, area, street address / house number and ward number;
• Type of dwelling the household is currently living in;
• The main toilet facility that the household has access to;
• The main water facility that the household has access to;
• The main energy type that the household has access to ;
• Monthly income;
• Migration history;
• Preference regarding different housing opportunities;
• Per household member highest qualification attained;
• Per household member, where applicable, the sector In which they are employed;
• Per household member, where applicable, current employment status;
• Per household member, where applicable, social grant received from government;
• Per household member, where applicable, type of disability and
• Per household member, where applicable, special needs.

(b) The information is provided in the table below:

Table 1: Number of applicants registered for adequate shelter

Municipality	Number of Applicants
Buffalo City	48,184
Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Council	82, 163
City of Ekurhuleni	202, 329
City of Johannesburg	356,427
City f Tshwane	163, 511
City of EThekwini	The information is being uploaded

Reply:

Indeed Honourable member, I have signed a performance agreement with the President.

(a) The Performance Management Framework for Ministers is the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014/19.  The performance targets and indicators are derived from the fourteen (14) Outcomes which government seeks to achieve. To assist the Honourable member, the outcome applicable to my portfolio is outcome eight (8).

The outcomes and targets constitute government’s Programme of Action (POA), against which performance is tracked and reported on at least on a quarterly basis.

(b) to (e) The monitoring of the Performance Agreements is done through Cabinet when assessing the progress of government’s programme of action. The latter is submitted periodically and discussed extensively in Cabinet after which a Cabinet Statement is issued to the public. Cabinet discusses implementation bottlenecks and make recommendations to address the identified bottlenecks.

Reply:

No. There are no frozen posts in the Ministry.

(a) Falls away

(b) Falls away

Reply:

My department has commenced with conducting an investigation into the matter of unfinished low-income houses, built in Lakeside Extension 4 (Ward 40/Tonosa) in Emfuleni Local Municipality, Gauteng Province.

The National Home Builders Registration Council has been requested to conduct in loco inspections on properties which were constructed as part of this project, particularly the affected incomplete houses.

We have also requested the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements to furnish my department with a detailed report on the status of this project, particularly its implementation; quality of houses built and any intervention measures put in place to deal with allegations of poor workmanship and completion of houses.

Once this work has been completed, I will be provided with a report which will shed light on what happened to the project that the Honourable members is referring to.

Reply:

(a) There are two programmes that focus on the provision of social and rental housing, namely the Social Housing Programme and Community Residential Units Programme. These have gained a measure of improved momentum since 2010 with projects being implemented in seven provinces. Planning is currently underway in the remaining two provinces for CRU. In addition, all the municipalities have approved restructuring zones for social housing developments. The Provinces and various Municipalities have projects in various stages of implementation as part of a project pipeline that extends up to 2019.

Honourable member, we have already acknowledged that we are not doing well in this area hence the current review of the social housing policy with a view to accelerating delivery in social housing.  Once the policy proposals have been agreed to by MinMEC, I will elaborate on changes we are making in respect of this matter.

 

The table below indicates the number of social and CRU units delivered since 2010:

PROVINCE	DELIVERY
	1 April 2010 to 31 March 2014	1 April 2014 to 30 September 2015
	Social	Cru	Social	Cru
EC	3 065	0	368	0
FS	3 867	1 094	315	451
GT	11 630	5 278	611	495
KZN	9 103	966	567	239
LP	197	197	0	0
MP	925	794	246	273
NC	352	332	0	0
NW	2 868	468	0	0
WC	10 964	6 096	864	1068
TOTAL	42 971	15 225	2 971	2526

 

(b) The Community Residential Units Programme is a public rental programme, which is funded by government through a subsidy, and as such private stakeholder participation is not mandatory, but is undertaken with relevant communities and stakeholders. The Department in conjunction with the Provinces and Municipalities has however facilitated number collaborative ventures, on various programmes including the Social and Rental Housing Programmes.

In the Social and Rental sector a project in the Free State is in the process of being planned, funded and implemented. It resulted in a locally based mining company (Harmony Gold Mines) donating land and buildings to the local municipality to redevelop. This will result in four hundred and sixty four (464) community residential units being developed as part of the regeneration of the buildings. A second collaborative venture was a fifty hectare land donation by Lonmin Mines in the North West Province for the development of an integrated housing project for the Marikana Community. To date, two hundred and fifty two (252) CRU units are at various stages of completion.

The Social Housing programme is designed to be a private sector driven in a joint venture with government. All social housing projects are implemented privately and/or community led Social Housing Institutions with government contributing towards the cost of the delivery of the unit via a subsidy. The private developers and private investors are encouraged and in fact participate in the programme.

(c) The location of the rental housing project is important hence the social housing projects can only be implemented in areas that have been declared restructuring zones in order to contribute to the achievement of spatial, economic and social restructuring. The restructuring area is an area that provides improved access to socio-economic amenities and transport nodes. Whilst it is not the norm, most of the rental projects form part of a mixed development of different types of human settlement typologies, in a mixed development project can comprise of social housing accommodation, subsidised housing, finance linked bonded houses, retail and commercial development.

In addition, a percentage of projects which will form part of the Catalytic Projects Programme will compromise of social and rental housing and it is pleasing to note a number of the projects will be initiated by private sector developers. At an appropriate time a more informative and comprehensive announcement will be made on the matter.

Reply:

(1) Yes, the draft Strategy to address Air Pollution is supported by my Department.

(2) Steps have been taken to address the ongoing harmful health impacts of domestic fuel burning being suffered by residents of dense low-income settlements. These include adjusting the norms and standards of building a BNG housing unit to be in line with agreement reached with the Minister of Energy. The policy and its cost implications was discussed and approved by Human Settlement MinMec in November 2013. The new norm and standard has since been implemented by all Provinces with effect from 1 April 2014. The revised standard provides for building environmental sustainable and energy efficient subsidy financed houses comprised of the installation of ceilings and above ceiling insulation, the plastering of all internal walls and rendering on all external surfaces plus the replacement of Ready Board electrical installation with a fully-fledged basic electrical installation for the whole house. All these new measures lead to a better thermal performing dwelling making it less dependent on cooling and heating and there is no more need for burning fossil fuels for cooking purposes.

The Department remains committed towards the re-development of all informal settlements and is collaborating with municipalities in providing basic services which, in collaboration with the Department of Energy includes the provision of a basic electrical installation for each household

Reply:

(a) We indicated that the Nelson Mandela Intervention is supported by other sector departments, namely the National Treasury, Department of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation. Further, the projected funding for the intervention will be made available over the MTEF period through various Interdepartmental Grants such as the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG), the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG), the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) and the National Skills Fund.

The breakdown of the projected R4.6 billion is at as follows:

Houses (16,191) R1.806 billion

Bethelsdorp 6500 Houses R721m

Kayamnandi 7000 Houses R776m

Walmer 2200 Houses R244m

Chatty (Military Veterans) 491 Houses R65m

Serviced Sites (15,700) R785m

Bulk Infrastructure (link and reticulation) and WWTPs R1.2 billion

Planning (greenfields) R82,1 m

Programme Management R428m

National Skills Fund (Skills Training) R300m

Estimated total R4.6 billion

(b) Role of the HDA

The National Department of Human Settlements (DHS), the Provincial Department of Human Settlements (PDoHS) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) concluded a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Implementation Protocol (IP), wherein the Housing Development Agency was appointed the implementing agent to implement and manage the NMBM Integrated Human Settlements Programme for a period of 4 years (1 July 2015 until 31 March 2019).

(c) Details of Agreement between the HDA, the Municipality and the Department

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), underpinning the institutional, funding and implementation arrangements was signed between the Minister of Human Settlements, the MEC for Human Settlements and the Executive Mayor of the NMBM – 30 June 2015. The three parties constitute the Executive Committee that exercises oversight over the Programme.

The relevant Departmental and Entity Accounting Officers comprising of the Director General, Provincial Head of Department for Human Settlements, City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer of the HDA signed an Implementation Protocol (IP) – 2 July 2015. The IP provides for establishment of a Project Steering Committee (PSC) comprising the Director-General, the Provincial Head of Department for Human Settlements and the City Manager to oversee the implementation of the programme.

The IP stipulates that a Technical Committee be established comprising senior officials from National, Provincial, Metropolitan Municipality and the Housing Development Agency (HDA) as a preferred Implementing Agent. The Committee is tasked with the day-to-day management of the projects forming part of the Programme.

In addition, the agreements provide for the following key elements:

• The Provincial Department of Human Settlements is the developer for the housing and human settlements programme and projects with regard to construction of houses funded through the HSDG.
• The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is responsible for all functions relating to spatial planning, bulk infrastructure and preparation of built environment performance plans, and will ensure that the USDG will be aligned to the HSDG allocations and targets and outputs.
• As Implementing Agent, the Housing Development Agency will undertake the implementation of the Programme in line with an approved implementation plan in conjunction with the Province and Municipality.

Reply:

(1) (a) & (b) Dear Honourable member, it is important that the lines of accountability, responsibility and the reporting protocols are observed. Accordingly, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has been requested to make its report available to the Department of Human Settlements on the relevant matters as contained in the press statement released by the SAHRC.

(2) The Department already has a programme, which caters for the City of Johannesburg, which allows for the improvement of the hazardous conditions not only in the hostels but all areas where households find themselves in precarious living conditions. This will include the Madala Men's Hostel and Helen Joseph Women's Hostel in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The City of Johannesburg together with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements have advised that they will create additional housing opportunities in and around the Alexandra area in order to accommodate families instead of individuals and also relocate individuals and families out of the two hostels mentioned, to available housing opportunities within Alexandra.    

As an interim measure the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements have access to relevant grants to redress the current “dangerous” conditions referred to and this includes provision of emergency housing in the form of temporary relocation areas and/or structures.

Reply:

(a) There are two programmes that focus on the provision of social and rental housing, namely the Social Housing Programme and Community Residential Units Programme. These have gained a measure of improved momentum since 2010 with projects being implemented in seven provinces. Planning is currently underway in the remaining two provinces for CRU. In addition, all the municipalities have approved restructuring zones for social housing developments. The Provinces and various Municipalities have projects in various stages of implementation as part of a project pipeline that extends up to 2019.

Honourable member, we have already acknowledged that we are not doing well in this area hence the current review of the social housing policy with a view to accelerating delivery in social housing.  Once the policy proposals have been agreed to by MinMEC, I will elaborate on changes we are making in respect of this matter.

 

The table below indicates the number of social and CRU units delivered since 2010:

PROVINCE	DELIVERY
	1 April 2010 to 31 March 2014	1 April 2014 to 30 September 2015
	Social	Cru	Social	Cru
EC	3 065	0	368	0
FS	3 867	1 094	315	451
GT	11 630	5 278	611	495
KZN	9 103	966	567	239
LP	197	197	0	0
MP	925	794	246	273
NC	352	332	0	0
NW	2 868	468	0	0
WC	10 964	6 096	864	1068
TOTAL	42 971	15 225	2 971	2526

 

(b) The Community Residential Units Programme is a public rental programme, which is funded by government through a subsidy, and as such private stakeholder participation is not mandatory, but is undertaken with relevant communities and stakeholders. The Department in conjunction with the Provinces and Municipalities has however facilitated number collaborative ventures, on various programmes including the Social and Rental Housing Programmes.

In the Social and Rental sector a project in the Free State is in the process of being planned, funded and implemented. It resulted in a locally based mining company (Harmony Gold Mines) donating land and buildings to the local municipality to redevelop. This will result in four hundred and sixty four (464) community residential units being developed as part of the regeneration of the buildings. A second collaborative venture was a fifty hectare land donation by Lonmin Mines in the North West Province for the development of an integrated housing project for the Marikana Community. To date, two hundred and fifty two (252) CRU units are at various stages of completion.

The Social Housing programme is designed to be a private sector driven in a joint venture with government. All social housing projects are implemented privately and/or community led Social Housing Institutions with government contributing towards the cost of the delivery of the unit via a subsidy. The private developers and private investors are encouraged and in fact participate in the programme.

(c) The location of the rental housing project is important hence the social housing projects can only be implemented in areas that have been declared restructuring zones in order to contribute to the achievement of spatial, economic and social restructuring. The restructuring area is an area that provides improved access to socio-economic amenities and transport nodes. Whilst it is not the norm, most of the rental projects form part of a mixed development of different types of human settlement typologies, in a mixed development project can comprise of social housing accommodation, subsidised housing, finance linked bonded houses, retail and commercial development.

In addition, a percentage of projects which will form part of the Catalytic Projects Programme will compromise of social and rental housing and it is pleasing to note a number of the projects will be initiated by private sector developers. At an appropriate time a more informative and comprehensive announcement will be made on the matter.

Reply:

(a) We indicated that the Nelson Mandela Intervention is supported by other sector departments, namely the National Treasury, Department of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation. Further, the projected funding for the intervention will be made available over the MTEF period through various Interdepartmental Grants such as the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG), the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG), the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) and the National Skills Fund.

The breakdown of the projected R4.6 billion is at as follows:

Houses (16,191) R1.806 billion

Bethelsdorp 6500 Houses R721m

Kayamnandi 7000 Houses R776m

Walmer 2200 Houses R244m

Chatty (Military Veterans) 491 Houses R65m

Serviced Sites (15,700) R785m

Bulk Infrastructure (link and reticulation) and WWTPs R1.2 billion

Planning (greenfields) R82,1 m

Programme Management R428m

National Skills Fund (Skills Training) R300m

Estimated total R4.6 billion

(b) Role of the HDA

The National Department of Human Settlements (DHS), the Provincial Department of Human Settlements (PDoHS) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) concluded a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Implementation Protocol (IP), wherein the Housing Development Agency was appointed the implementing agent to implement and manage the NMBM Integrated Human Settlements Programme for a period of 4 years (1 July 2015 until 31 March 2019).

(c) Details of Agreement between the HDA, the Municipality and the Department

A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), underpinning the institutional, funding and implementation arrangements was signed between the Minister of Human Settlements, the MEC for Human Settlements and the Executive Mayor of the NMBM – 30 June 2015. The three parties constitute the Executive Committee that exercises oversight over the Programme.

The relevant Departmental and Entity Accounting Officers comprising of the Director General, Provincial Head of Department for Human Settlements, City Manager and the Chief Executive Officer of the HDA signed an Implementation Protocol (IP) – 2 July 2015. The IP provides for establishment of a Project Steering Committee (PSC) comprising the Director-General, the Provincial Head of Department for Human Settlements and the City Manager to oversee the implementation of the programme.

The IP stipulates that a Technical Committee be established comprising senior officials from National, Provincial, Metropolitan Municipality and the Housing Development Agency (HDA) as a preferred Implementing Agent. The Committee is tasked with the day-to-day management of the projects forming part of the Programme.

In addition, the agreements provide for the following key elements:

i) The Provincial Department of Human Settlements is the developer for the housing and human settlements programme and projects with regard to construction of houses funded through the HSDG.

ii) The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is responsible for all functions relating to spatial planning, bulk infrastructure and preparation of built environment performance plans, and will ensure that the USDG will be aligned to the HSDG allocations and targets and outputs.

iii) As Implementing Agent, the Housing Development Agency will undertake the implementation of the Programme in line with an approved implementation plan in conjunction with the Province and Municipality.

Reply:

(1) (a) & (b) Dear Honourable member, it is important that the lines of accountability, responsibility and the reporting protocols are observed. Accordingly, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has been requested to make its report available to the Department of Human Settlements on the relevant matters as contained in the press statement released by the SAHRC.

(2) The Department already has a programme, which caters for the City of Johannesburg, which allows for the improvement of the hazardous conditions not only in the hostels but all areas where households find themselves in precarious living conditions. This will include the Madala Men's Hostel and Helen Joseph Women's Hostel in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The City of Johannesburg together with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements have advised that they will create additional housing opportunities in and around the Alexandra area in order to accommodate families instead of individuals and also relocate individuals and families out of the two hostels mentioned, to available housing opportunities within Alexandra.    

As an interim measure the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements have access to relevant grants to redress the current “dangerous” conditions referred to and this includes provision of emergency housing in the form of temporary relocation areas and/or structures.

Reply:

(1) Yes, the draft Strategy to address Air Pollution is supported by my Department.

(2) Steps have been taken to address the ongoing harmful health impacts of domestic fuel burning being suffered by residents of dense low-income settlements. These include adjusting the norms and standards of building a BNG housing unit to be in line with agreement reached with the Minister of Energy. The policy and its cost implications was discussed and approved by Human Settlement MinMec in November 2013. The new norm and standard has since been implemented by all Provinces with effect from 1 April 2014. The revised standard provides for building environmental sustainable and energy efficient subsidy financed houses comprised of the installation of ceilings and above ceiling insulation, the plastering of all internal walls and rendering on all external surfaces plus the replacement of Ready Board electrical installation with a fully-fledged basic electrical installation for the whole house. All these new measures lead to a better thermal performing dwelling making it less dependent on cooling and heating and there is no more need for burning fossil fuels for cooking purposes.

The Department remains committed towards the re-development of all informal settlements and is collaborating with municipalities in providing basic services which, in collaboration with the Department of Energy includes the provision of a basic electrical installation for each household

Reply:

(1) Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) was allocated R713.1 million for the 2015/16 financial year and R285.3 million was transferred to the municipality on the 9th of July 2015. The municipality spent an amount of R69.1 million on Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) programmes as outlined in the table below as at 30 September 2015. The National Department of Human Settlements is therefore not aware of any funds allocated to BCMM in the 2015-16 financial year that have been utilised for activities or programmes or purposes for which they were not intended.

The departmental information is that the funds were budgeted and spent for the purposes which are illustrated below as at 30 September 2015:

 

(2) The department has utilises the USDG Framework and Division of Revenue Act No.1 of 2015 to regulate the use of its grants. The Grant Framework and the USDG Policy clearly outlines and guides municipalities on the scope of the utilisation of the USDG and this includes:

• Increase in bulk infrastructure capacity
• Increase in the basic services to poor households, specifically in informal settlements, including water, sanitation, electricity, refuse removal and transport access
• Increase in land provision for informal settlement upgrading, subsidy housing, or mixed use development in support of catalytic projects
• Increase in access to socio-economic amenities
• Improved dwelling unit densities within an improved spatial integration framework

The Division of the Revenue Act Section 17 (1) states that “despite anything to the contrary in any other legislation, an allocation referred to in Schedules 4 to 7 may only be utilised for the purpose stipulated in the Schedule concerned and in accordance with the applicable framework section”. Section 18(1) states that “a transferring officer may withhold the transfer of a schedule 4 or 5 allocation or any portion thereof, for a period not exceeding 30 days if (a) the province or municipality does not comply with any provision of this Act.

It is to be noted that in terms of relevant procedure, the Auditor-General also audits expenditure and application of grants by Provinces and Municipalities and these reports are provided to the Department and will be used take corrective action if there is misuse of the grants.

The Department through its Financial and Monitoring and Evaluation units also undertake quarterly visits as well as quarter review sessions with municipalities and provinces, and these also present the Department with an early warning opportunity if there is inappropriate use of grants.

(3) No. However, the Honourable member is encouraged to provide me with details regarding his area of concern.

Reply:

(1) I wish to advise the Honourable member that the legal responsibility for recovering monies belonging to government and which have been misappropriated lies with the heads of the provincial departments affected. This recovery can be done once an investigation has established legal liability on the part of the relevant contractors and officials. The details that the Honourable member seeks cannot be provided at this stage because the SIU submits its reports to the President in terms of the SIU Act. My department has not received a copy of the reports. A proper assessment will be conducted once the full reports have been received. In the meantime, the SIU has advised my department that an estimated amount of R747 530 961. 75 has been identified by the SIU as the amount that can be considered by the affected provincial departments recoverable from the liable contractors and/or officials. The SIU further advises that those departments have been informed of their options regarding these matters.

(2) (a) The SIU advises that it has referred a total of thirty-two (32) cases against implicated individuals and/or entities, that are not state owned entities or employed by the state, to law enforcement agencies, for criminal investigation and possible prosecution. It does not have further details of progress in that regard

(b) (i) & (ii) The SIU has further referred a total of thirty-five (35) cases against implicated government officials to law enforcement agencies, for criminal investigation and possible prosecution.

(3) (a) The SIU has further advised that it has finalised 30 investigations in respect of 91 low cost housing projects.

(b) One investigation in respect of a subsidised housing project in the Western Cape has not yet been completed, as the services of a Quantity Surveyor has had to be procured to conduct a value-for-money exercise in respect of this subsidised housing project, to complete the investigation report.

Reply:

(a) (i) A total of 11 252 houses were delivered in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality since 2011 (01 April 2011 to 31 October 2015) with budgets allocated from the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG).

(ii) Preliminary information indicates that at least 440 houses were completed in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from 01 April 2015 to 31 October 2015.

The table below provides information on deliverable versus the targets for each year, where available:

FINANCIAL YEAR	HOUSES - TARGET	HOUSES DELIVERED
2011-12	Information is not available	2 983
2012-13	Information is not available	1 560
2013-14	3 978	3 973
2014-15	3 079	3 079
2015-16	2 778	440 (April to October)
Total houses delivered		11 252

1. While the average annual target for houses over the last three years for Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and for which the information is readily available was 3 278 houses, the municipal level information was included in the HSDG provincial business plan only from 2013-14.

The delivery targets (houses only) per year since 2011-12 were:

(i) 2011-12: Information not available (Municipal level target not catered for at in the HSDG provincial business plan);

(ii) 2012-13: Information not available (Municipal level target not catered for at in the HSDG provincial business plan);

(iii) 2013-14: 3 978 houses;

(iv) 2014-15: 3 079 houses;

(v) 2015-16: 2 778 houses.

Reply:

Not being the fire Department, we do not have a register of the fires but we have a register of all support given. The Department keep track of these incidents through its interaction with municipalities and provinces as well as through reports in the media. An important source of information, which the Department relies upon, is the published reports of the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa (FPASA). Currently, published information by the FPASA is available for four years being 2010 until 2013 as indicated in table 1 below. The 2014 statistics will be available in March 2016 and the 2015 statistics will be available in March 2017.

(a) & (b) Table 1: 2010 - 2013 Fire Incidents Report from the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa:

Year	No of fire incidents	Financial damage/losses	Highest Causes
	Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal
2010	2 578	2 590	R 525 406 578	R 64 719 575	Undetermined	Undetermined
2011	3 943	4 046	R 576 242 642	R 102 389 740	Undetermined	Undetermined
2012	4 593	4 516	R 556 062 426	R 114 556 248	Undetermined	Undetermined
2013	4 859	4 886	R 770 392 753	R 117 693 080	Undetermined	Undetermined

2010- Narrative of Fire Incidents

Most of the fire incidents occurred in the Metropolitan Municipalities with Ethekwini leading with 490 formal and 508 informal settlements fire incidents, followed by Tshwane with 562 formal and 287 informal dwellings, in third place is Ekurhuleni with 321 formal 385 informal dwellings affected by fire incidents, the City of Johannesburg is fourth place with 264 formal and 239 informal incidents recoded, the City of Cape Town recorded 190 formal and 172 informal dwelling fore incidents, Nelson Mandela recorded 122 formal and 212 informal dwelling fire incidents and Mangaung recorded 128 formal and 129 informal dwelling fire incidents.

The rest of the fire incidents are shared between other District and Local Municipalities. The total damage in rand value cutting across formal & informal dwellings, flats, furniture shops, restaurants, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses, cinemas and night clubs was worth approximately R 1, 3 billion in 2010.

The causes of the fire incidents vary between formal and informal dwellings. For both formal and informal dwellings, a significant portion of the causes of the incidents were undetermined, with a record of 739 and 965 respectively. In formal dwellings most of the determined causes in order of frequency were electrical, open flames and cooking. In the informal sector most (734) were as a result of open flames, cooking incidents were 249, electrical were 220, arson recoded incidents were 151 followed by heating at 112 incidents and 64 were due to smoking.

The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The Honourable member will no doubt remember that in 2005 we had committed ourselves, through the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that we would have adhered to the desired goals to eradicate informal settlements by the year 2014. President Mbeki signed these on behalf of the country, a commitment which is in line with the founding policy document of the ANC – The Freedom Charter, which proclaims that there shall be no slum.

2011- Narrative of Fire Incidents

A large portion of the causes of these fire incidents were undetermined but others in order of highest incidents recorded ranges from open flames, electrical faults, cooking, heating and arson. The total damage in rand value cutting across formal & informal dwellings, flats, furniture shops, restaurants, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses, cinemas, night clubs etc. is worth just above R 2, billion in 2011.

In this financial year, the City of Cape Town leads with the number of incidents with 905 formal and 1007 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by EThekwini Metro with 559 formal 526 informal dwelling fire incidents, in third place is Tshwane Metro with 689 formal and 346 informal dwelling fire incidents, Ekurhuleni is fourth place with 395 formal 418 informal dwelling fire incidents, the City of Johannesburg recorded 390 formal 345 informal dwelling fire incidents, Mangaung recorded 133 formal and 143 informal dwelling fire incidents, Buffalo City recorded 68 formal 172 informal dwelling fire incidents and last was Nelson Mandela with a record of 18 formal and 34 informal dwelling fire incidents. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

2012- Narrative of Fire Incidents

The total damage of the fire incidents was R 3, 1 billion in the 2012/13 financial year. The causes of the fire incidents vary between formal and informal dwellings. For both formal and informal dwellings, a significant portion of the causes of the incidents were undetermined, with a record of 1248 and 1685 respectively. In formal dwellings most of the determined causes in order of frequency were electrical (934), open flames (744), cooking (486) and heating (298). In the informal sector most (1154) were as a result of open flames, electrical were 506, cooking incidents were 385, arson recoded incidents were 289 followed by heating at 200 incidents and 88 were due to smoking. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The fire incidents are largely prevalent in Metropolitan areas and again the City of Cape Town leads for the 2nd consecutive year with 1310 formal and 1169 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by Ethekwini with 588 formal and 508 informal dwelling fire incidents, in third place is the Tshwane Metro with 652 formal and 374 informal dwelling fire incidents, In fourth place is the City of Johannesburg Metro with 372 formal and 353 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by Ekurhuleni Metro in fifth place with 305 formal and 345 informal dwelling fire incidents, at sixth place is Buffalo City with 82 formal and 177 informal dwelling fire incidents, the Mangaung Metro recorded 134 formal and 122 informal dwelling fire incidents followed in last place by the Nelson Mandela Bay with 19 formal and 25 informal dwelling fire incidents.

2013 – Narrative of Fire Incidents

The direct fire losses in 2013 were in excess of R 2 billion. The fire incidents in 2013 within the formal and informal dwellings resulted in 106 deaths. In this period still, a significant portion of the incident causes were undetermined. As in the previous financial years, the highest determined cause of fire incidents in the formal sector is electrical (925) and in the informal sector it is open flames with a record of 1177 in 2013.

The undetermined causes in the formal dwellings were 1540 and 1926 in informal dwellings.

In terms of highest numbers recorded in the formal dwellings were electrical followed by open flames incidents were 805, cooking incidents were 388, arson incidents were 340, heating incidents were 287 and smoking incidents were 128.

In the informal sector, most determined fire incidents were caused by open flames followed by 511 electrical incidents, 444 arson incidents, 349 cooking incidents, 181 heating incidents and 94 smoking incidents. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The City of Cape Town recorded the highest number of fire incidents with 1097 formal and 1118 informal dwelling incidents, followed by Tshwane Metro with 713 formal and 393 informal dwelling incidents, in third place is Ethekwini Metro with 577 formal and 532 informal dwelling incidents, in fourth place is Nelson Mandela Bay with 435 formal and 537 informal dwelling incident, followed by Ekurhuleni in fifth place with 404 formal and 461 informal dwelling incidents, the City of Johannesburg recorded 412 formal and 373 informal dwelling fire incidents and lastly is Mangaung with a record of 135 formal and 173 informal dwelling fire incidents.

(c) The Department has the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme (ISUP) whose primary objective is to cater for improving the basic infrastructure and dwelling standards and quality of life of households living in informal settlements. The ISUP for the current MTSF aims to ensure that 750 000 households living in 2200 informal settlements benefit from improved living conditions, and this include preventative measures from the threats and causes of fires.

There is grant funding allocated for this purpose to assist the municipalities in fast tracking the provision of security of tenure, basic municipal services, social and economic amenities and the empowerment of residents in informal settlements to take control of housing development directly applicable to them. The grants include the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) as well as the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG).

In the Metropolitan areas the Department in conjunction with the Metropolitan Municipalities are funding the roll-out of solar lighting as well as improved cooking facilities for households, in order to limit the use of fossil fuels and liquid fuels, which are a major cause of fires in informal settlements

The ISUP includes, as a measure of last resort, and exceptional circumstances, the possible relocation and resettlement of households on a voluntary and co-operative basis as a result of the implementation of upgrading projects. The ISUP is instituted in terms of Section 3(4) (g) of the Housing Act, 1997 (Act No.107 of 1997)

(d) All Provinces and Metropolitan Municipalities are implementing the ISUP. Provinces implement the ISUP in the District and Local Municipalities as well.

(e) The Department has a Monitoring and Evaluation unit that is responsible for programme and project oversight. In addition, to project level verification, the Department convenes quarterly financial and non-financial performance assessment on Provinces and its Metropolitan Municipalities on all programmes in the Housing Code, including the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme.

As a result of reports and recommendations of the monitoring and evaluation process, the Department has initiated a National Upgrading Support Programme (NUSP) to provide support to Provinces and Municipalities to fast track the planning to implement the ISUP programmes. In addition the work of the Department also forms part of the Monitoring and Evaluation programmes and process of the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, and a focus area is the ISUP.

Reply:

(1) The residents of the Mhlaba Village in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality who extended their Breaking New Ground (BNG) government subsidised houses did not qualify for the Rectification Programme because the Rectification Policy clearly states that, “Under no circumstances shall alterations to the original dwellings qualify for rectification nor be included in the rectification programme.”

(2) The National Housing Programme for the rectification of subsidised houses that were built during the period 15 March 1994 and 1 April 2002, was specifically introduced to address cases where dwellings had structurally failed due to design flaws, problematic geotechnical conditions which were not catered for in the specification of the houses or to repair houses that were damaged before occupation by the approved housing subsidy beneficiaries. These affected houses were not enrolled under the National Home Builders Registration Council’s (NHBRC) warranty scheme and the relevant houses were pre-identified and recorded in a register. No additions to the register were allowed. The Rectification Programme is not applicable in cases where lack of general maintenance or neglect has led to the deterioration of the dwellings.

Secondly, the Programme prescripts only apply to the original superstructure that was constructed with the housing subsidy funding; structural failures of any additions or improvements to the houses that were affected by the beneficiaries are thus excluded from the scope of the rectification work.

Honourable Member, I am amazed that this question is even raised. We all know that we are working tirelessly against an ever increasing backlog and diminishing resources. Surely, we should not encourage total dependency in the State. If people are able to incrementally improve their houses, it suggest that they have the means. We should focus on those who are still waiting for shelter. It is a responsible thing to do."

Reply:

(1) My Department has instituted a number of stakeholder meetings to resolve the matter, - the meetings resolved that;

• The National Department of Public Works should transfer the land in question to the Madibeng Local Municipality in order to assist those that have already occupied the land.
• The Housing Development Agency should assist the Municipality to develop the Developmental Layout Plan in order to conclude on the transfer of the land. The Housing Development Agency has already developed the Developmental Layout Plan.
• The Municipality should conduct a social survey to determine the exact number of illegal households already occupying the land in question so as to mitigate for further illegal occupations. The Municipality reported to have not yet started to conduct the social survey.
• The National Department of Human Settlements through the Province assist with the provision of the necessary housing instruments.

(2) Honourable member, the North West Provincial Department of Housing, Madibeng Local Municipality and the Department of Public Works are seized with this matter in order to ensure that a lasting solution is arrived at. This means that the eviction order will not be executed until solutions are found.

 

Reply:

(1) (a) The budget for adverting is R 1, 946, 058.28.

(b) R161, 040.00 for six one-hour radio phone in programmes in three Nelson Mandela Bay Community Radio Stations. These are Nkqubela, Kingfisher and Bay FM.

- R274, 140.00 for Umhlobo Wenene

- R272, 970.00 for Algoa FM

(2) (a) Government communicates with its citizen daily.

(b) The Minister is leading a Cabinet sanctioned intervention to support the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) to implement the Human Settlements Programmes. Key to the intervention is to improve service delivery and address all concerns regarding service providers. Communication is central in informing citizens about their rights and responsibilities to ensure participation in the implementation processes.

Reply:

I wish to re-iterate that the Department of Human Settlements is no longer undertaking any new rectification projects using funds which form part of budget vote of the Department. The management of the process to remedy structural defects is now the mandate and responsibility of the NHBRC. The NHBRC has been empowered with required legislation and processes to ensure that remedial measures are effected in conjunction with the contractors who built the houses and where necessary, contractors may be sued where contractual terms were not satisfied.

All rectification proposed to be funded by our budget is being phased out while taking cognisance of the contractual obligations in respect of approved projects. The primary focus of our funding remains the provision of new housing opportunities consistent with the Medium Term Strategic Framework.

I have been informed by the NHBRC that it has itself not incurred expenditure on structurally rectifying subsidy houses. The NHBRC has conducted assessments and the findings on poor workmanship have had consequences for the responsible contractors.

Reply:

I wish to advise the Honourable member that details of the implementation of the special housing assistance dispensation for military veterans was concluded with the gazetting of the Military Veterans Regulations only on 19 February 2014 through Government Gazette No 37355 of 2014. This paved the way for proper planning and implementation of the programme. Accordingly, during my budget vote speech in July 2014, I indicated that “We will establish a dedicated Branch, headed by a DDG, to ensure that all 5 854 indigent military veterans receive houses in less than three years”. In essence, planning for the delivery of houses for the military veterans commenced in the 2014/15 financial year. 'Prior, those military veterans whom were classified as indigent benefited from the normal housing programme for the indigent.

In addition, I am the first to admit to the slow delivery of houses to military veterans during the Govan Mbeki Awards on 13 August 2015, I indicated that:

“First we are going to prioritise the military veterans. Their plight is a sad one that does need to be repeated here. In view of the extreme insensitivity that is very easily attached to the delays that have been experienced by our military veterans, I would like to indicate, on behalf of government, that we care very deeply concerned about their plight. The delay has not been deliberate, but I have now taken a decision that we will prove our worth to them.

The Deputy Ministers of Military Veterans and Human Settlements and I have met with various groupings of military veterans in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and I have taken the decision that we will complete the more than 5 000 houses for military veterans who are on our database in the current financial year. The Military Veterans Housing Programme will be a national Ministerial programme. It will be coordinated by the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements as a national project, resources for the project will be ring-fenced and the military veterans themselves will appoint a national task team, through the Deputy Minister of Military Veterans and who will work closely with the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements. It is my intention that by March 2016 there should be no military veteran on our data base who is not housed through our intervention”.

I responded to question 3217 posed by an Honourable Gana on this important matter of military veterans as follows:

“Honourable member, we are currently in the final stages of concluding contractual agreements on this matter to ensure that we complete the more than 5 000 houses for military veterans who are on our database in the current financial year. Once this is done, I will provide a progress report to the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements”.

Beneficiaries were sourced from the database that is provided by the Department of Military Veterans. In instances where excluded beneficiaries approach provincial officials, they forward names of those beneficiaries to the Department of Military Veterans for verification whether they qualify to be military veterans or not.

Allocation of houses follows the extensive verification exercise to confirm beneficiaries' availability and extent of their qualification for housing assistance. In some instances Military Veterans Associations do take part in the verification exercise done by provinces.

Reply:

(1) The City of Tshwane has confirmed its commitment to ensure that residents in Block S, Mabopane are issued with title deeds, for properties purchased from the former Bophuthatswana administration. In order to facilitate the handover of title deeds for Mabopane Block S, the City of Tshwane, with the support of the North West Housing Corporation (NWHC) has established the account balances of the properties concerned, and in so doing, ensured that account statements were hand delivered to the respective purchasers.

The account balances are required in order that clearance certificates can be issued based on the settlement of any outstanding balances or arrangements to that effect. Once the necessary administrative processes are completed, the residents will be informed accordingly and title deeds issued.

(2) (a) There are currently two types of properties in the Mabopane block S area. The old stock defined as pre-1994 housing and new stock defined as post-1994 housing. All the properties classified as old stock will be transferred and issued title deeds free of charge to residents.

The transfer of the majority of the Mabopane Block S Properties that form part of the new stock portfolio will only be effected as and when the purchasers’ settle the outstanding balance of the purchase price with the North West Housing Corporation (NWHC).

This has been communicated to residents in the sale and offer to purchase agreement which categorically states that: “the Purchaser agrees and shall be liable for all transfer costs in respect of the property being purchased and the purchaser is liable for the conveyancing fees prior to the registration process, after which, a title deed will be released to the purchaser.”

(b) On the 1st of November 2015 the NWHC will begin the process of regularisation of the properties within the City of Tshwane and the process is expected to be concluded on March 2016. However exact frames cannot be guaranteed as transfer of properties will be dependent on whether the purchasers has fully complied with the terms of agreement in respect of the instalment sale agreement.

To date, there are 39 fully paid properties in Mabopane Unit S, 100 in Mabopane Unit U, 71 in Mabopane Unit X. A firm of conveyancers, Koikanyang Incorporated has been appointed to transfer all fully paid properties into the names of the purchasers subject to the purchasers settling the necessary conveyancing fees.

(3) As indicated in 2 above and as far as the Mabopane Block S new stock houses are concerned; residents are still servicing the balances on their purchase prices. The North West Housing Corporation has since written letters to those who have settled their purchase price balances advising them of such and the documents that need to be submitted for the transfer of properties to be initiated. It must be noted that the purchaser is liable for the conveyancing fees prior to the registration process, after which, a title deed will be released to the purchaser. 

The City of Tshwane Human Settlements Department is being assisted by the City Group Legal Counsel Division to establish a process to investigate and apply urgent remedial action on the speedy opening of the outstanding township registers, where possible. The City has also sought, through its MMC: Housing and Human Settlements, to escalate the matter to the MEC: Human Settlements, Public Safety and Liaison Department: North West Provincial Government and the MEC: Gauteng Department of Human Settlements for in ensuring the existing administrative delays are removed to allow for the transfers to take place and title deeds issued.

Reply:

The Arundel Garden Flats in Malvern were previously government owned rental units and managed by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality. The households occupying the Arundel Gardens were given the opportunity to acquire ownership of the units through the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme. This is a government subsidy programme aimed at assisting beneficiaries, who rented state property prior to 27th April 1994, to purchase their units at discounted prices. All the households occupying the units in question were transferred for individual ownership because the occupants elected to take ownership of their units. In that case, these are privately owned houses now which the responsibility of the owners. The role of government has been served and concluded.

Thus the units have been converted to sectional title ownership. The units form part of a body corporate and these are currently being managed by private body corporates. The body corporates charge owners levies for the maintenance and repairs. In instances where owners default on their levy payments, the body corporate then undertakes legal process to recover such amounts.

The Department unfortunately is not able to intervene in the legal processes, which have been activated in this matter.

It is however suggested that should the tenants’ grievances be legitimate, a complaint should be lodged with the Community Schemes Ombud Services (CSOS), for investigation and a ruling on the matter. The CSOS is a state entity established to ensure the regulation, compliance and monitoring of matters related to community ownership schemes and this includes related disputes between owners and managing agents.

Reply:

The Honourable member is referred to the audited financial statements in the 2014/15 Annual Report of the Department of Human Settlements.

Reply:

Yes, Honourable member, the Department does have a turnaround strategy to speed up the provision of housing and specifically in the areas where we have witnessed protests. The Department adopted the War Room Strategy which involves the allocation by the Department of Professional Response Teams (PRTs) in each region. PRTs are qualified professionals who are on the database to provide services as needed. These include engineering, town panning, and other technical services employed in the built environment. It is intended that when problems are identified in respect of any project, a municipality or province will, in the joint teams with the Department, identify the professional services required then bring on board the PRT required.

Reply:

The National Department of Human Settlements did embark on a process of attaining information from provinces which related to the socio-economic status of residents who occupy old hostel buildings. It has since been established that provinces do not have databases that contain personal information for individuals who are residing in old hostel buildings in question. The efforts to obtain this information will continue so that my department is properly informed of the situation in the drafting of the new policy.

Reply:

(i) & (ii) The Department and the entities who report to the Minister of Human Settlements define red tape to, inter alia, include:

• Excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that are bureaucratic, and hinder or prevent action or decision-making. This includes the collection or sequence of forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, that is complex and time-consuming, to be addressed as per prescribed procedures
• Series of actions or complicated tasks that seem unnecessary but that a government or organization requires you to do in order to get or do something;
• Processes that are onerous to navigate when one is trying to get some service, usually from Government.
• Certain legislative and policy compliance aspects and processes being too excessive when dealing with various compliance matters which are aligned to and is complemented by founding legislation and organisational policies governing specific processes of Government.

(b)(i)(aa) &b (ii)(bb) The following specific interventions and/or systems have been implemented to identify and reduce red tape in the department and the entities reporting to the Minister and include:

• The Department and entities interact with officials and have meetings with those especially involved in transactions. The minutes are kept of these meetings as a record of discussions and resolutions taken; when excessive problems are apparent they are escalated to senior management or even to board members;

• Entities including NHFC utlilize their own internal qualified personnel, but also has access to external resources when required. They have efficient administrative processes to avoid delays; they also communicate with the officials within the Department and National Treasury to get clarity on what is required (where applicable) if there is uncertainty; others utilise processes that are prescribed in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) and the Treasury Regulations to address matters if they are unnecessarily protracted;

• The CSoS utilizes a dispute Resolution Model to receive and resolve complaints on an end-to-end basis. They also make use of an Enterprise Resource Planning system which includes facilities for self-service / self-tracking of complaints lodged. This system allows citizens to keep track or the progress on their particular cases and complaints, monitor the turn-around times, as well as register and escalate complaints where the service provided is slower than promised;

• The EAAB continuously embarks on stakeholder awareness activities and educational programmes, they have optimised certain processes by creating online options and electronic means for stakeholders to use in their interactions with the entity; other processes employed to protect the interests of the consumer, include internal control measures, regulations, policy and other procedures as defined by legislative and policy prescripts;

• The SHRA support in capacitating Social Housing Institution’s and making social housing projects ready for awarding the Restructuring Capital Grant is regarded as an intervention in identifying and reducing red tape.

• The HDA has all the necessary policies and procedures in place to ensure the smooth, complaint and on-going delivery of targets, systems as envisaged in the Public Finance Management Act and complementary legislation are employed.

 

Reply:

The Department of Human Settlements transfers the allocations for grants to nine Provinces and eight Metropolitan Municipalities. The Department does not transfer allocations for any grant to district municipalities as implied in the Honourable member’s question.

 

During the 2014/15 financial year, the department withheld the Municipal Human Settlements Capacity Grant (MHSCG) to six metropolitan municipalities until such time that Metropolitan Municipalities had demonstrated that they had spent this conditional grant for the purpose for which it was intended as envisaged in the relevant prescripts, in particular the Division of Revenue Act (DORA).

In actual fact Honourable member, the grant referred to in the question is not the only one giving my MECs and I sleepless nights. The misuse of the Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) is also worrisome. We need to review the grants framework to address serious anomalies. To illustrate my point, the USDG was introduced as a conditional grant to ensure the provision of bulk connector, link and internal services; well-located land and public amenities because we realised that these plagued the optimum performance of the human settlements sector. Metropolitan municipalities spend the USDG on other things such as roads, street lighting and social facilities when there are still bulk infrastructure constraints. This is frustrating to say the least.

The Honourable should be interested how this grant is used by the City of Cape Town allocated the USDG funds for 2014/15 financial year as indicated below:

Description	Allocated Budget	% Total Available Funds	Spent by Municipality	% Spent	Variance	% Unspent
	R’00		R’00		R’00
Electricity	231 698	14.1	189 286	81.7	42 412	18.3
Solid Waste Management	50 000	3.0	50 000	100.0		0.0
Water and Sanitation	195923	11.9	182 885	93.3	13 038	6.7
City Parks	30 595	1.9	24 797	81.0	5 798	19.0
Sport, Recreation and Amenities	41 636	2.5	34 423	82.7	7 213	17.3
Library and Information Services	23 644	1.4	23 644	100.0		0.0
Assets Management and Maintenance (Transport)	262 765	16.0	195 118	74.3	67 647	25.7
City Health Sub Districts	7 467	0.5	7 391	99.0	76	1.0
HS Development & Delivery	120 608	7.3	97 695	81.0	22 913	19.0
HS Planning and National Housing Programmes Development	419 900	25.5	416 727	99.2	3 173	0.8
Public Housing and Customer Services	42 674	2.6	27 853	65.3	14 821	34.7
HS Urbanisation	92 332	5.6	79 003	85.6	13 329	14.4
Disaster Risk Management	5 500	0.3	5 492	99.9	8	0.1
Spatial Planning and Urban Design	1 230	0.1	1 230	100.0		0.0
Provincial Allocation	49 048	3.0	49 048	100.0		0.0
Project Pre-Planning	68 405	4.2	24 964	36.5	43 441	63.5
Human Settlements - Title Deeds	500	0.0	343	68.6	157	31.4
Project Managemnet	1 500	0.1			1 500	100.0
VAT			72 031		- 72 031
Total	1 645 425	100.0	1 481 930	90.1	235 526	14.3

 

In summary, the table indicates the following:

• From the R1.6 billion total allocated budget, Human Settlements Planning is allocated a larger portion of R419.9 million or 25.5% whereas 99.2% of those funds were spent. The expenditure is attributable to land purchase amounting to R416.7 million.
• The second highest allocation is on Assets Management and Maintenance at R262.8 million or 16% of the total allocated budget of which only 74.3% of those funds were spent.
• At least four of the services spent 100% of their budget at year end i.e. Solid Waste Management, Library/Information Services, Spatial Planning/Urban Design and Provincial Allocations.

We are required intervene to ensure that we provide the much needed houses for our people. I will certainly not abdicate my responsibilities by not acting when funds are not spent in line with the DORA. Not a cent from the USDG should be used for amenities or stadium construction while housing infrastructure is lacking or in some cases is non-existent.

Reply:

(a) The National Department in terms of the Constitution as well as relevant policies and legislation is not directly responsible for the programme and project planning, prioritisation and implementation of National Housing Programmes, as contained in the National Housing Code.

The mandate to plan and implement human settlements and housing projects in terms of the various National Housing Programmes vests with the nine Provincial Governments and the Municipalities. The various community organised protests, as they may be related to human settlements and housing, are therefore by and large organised and directed to local municipalities and/or the provincial departments. There are isolated cased community protests that are directed to national department offices.

(b) Each human settlement development project is unique and requires tailored and specific planning and design to meet the prevailing circumstances and housing specific needs and priorities. The Provinces and Municipalities endeavour to follow a balanced, integrated and developmental approach in the targeting of the most vulnerable households that require housing assistance. This means that projects will, where possible and required, be designed to accommodate predetermined percentages of households from the diversity of the housing backlog in an area, including households residing in informal backyard rental units, who wish to relocate to permanent ownership housing financed properties when such becomes available.

(c) The upgrading, relocation and redevelopment of informal settlements remains a priority developmental objective of Government. The Provinces allocate the majority of the annual Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG) allocation for informal settlement upgrading projects and the Government remains committed to improve the lives of our communities who are residing in these areas on a priority basis. In the case of the Metropolitan Municipalities, the Department during the 2011/12 financial year introduced the Urban Settlements Development Grant with the object of prioritisation of funding allocations for land development and servicing aimed at households residing in informal settlements. The first phase intervention under the National Housing Programme for the Upgrading of informal Settlements is the identification of provision of emergency services needs and the design and deployment of such emergency services to curtail any health and life threatening situations.

A fundamental objective of the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme is the participation, involvement and consultation with targeted communities in all aspects of the planning and implementation of their housing development solutions.

(d) The Department and the nine provincial human settlement departments and the metropolitan municipalities are collaborating in the planning and implementation of priority development areas. The Department is furthermore conducting quarterly performance reviews in collaboration with the provinces and municipalities to ensure that planned targets are pursued and to address any constraints where such is encountered.

(e) The Department has recently initiated an enhanced housing programme for the provision of assistance to households who are able to access mortgage finance and the rollout of the programme was aided by the important role that was fulfilled by the National Housing Finance Corporation as the National Programme Management Agent. The Department is furthermore continuously monitoring the implementation of the National Housing Programme in collaboration with the private sector and further enhancements to the programme are already in an advance stage of development.

Reply:

I wish to preface my reply by reminding the Honourable member that government is no longer building Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. RDP houses were discontinued as soon as Cabinet adopted the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements in 2004 setting new standards for housing typologies for government houses referred to as BNG houses.

Honourable Member, an online system is already in existence and it is called the National Housing Needs Register (NHNR).

The NHNR was developed in 2010 as a tool to be utilized at a provincial and municipal level to enable citizens to register their needs for adequate shelter/housing opportunities.

The household profile of citizens that registered their needs is recorded to assist provinces and municipalities to plan new housing projects that will address the needs of citizens. The following information is recorded per household on the NHNR system:

• Geographical details regarding, town, area, street address / house number and ward number;
• If the household is currently located in a hazardous area;
• Type of dwelling the household is currently living in;
• The main bathroom facility that the household has access to;
• The main water facility that the household has access to;
• The main energy type that the household has access to ;
• Monthly income ;
• Migration history;
• Preference regarding different housing opportunities;
• Per household member highest qualification attained;
• Per household member, where applicable, the sector In which sector they are employed;
• Per household member, where applicable, current employment status;
• Per household member, where applicable, social grant received from government and type of grant;
• Per household member, where applicable, type of disability and
• Per household member, where applicable, special needs e.g. Severe chronic disease /s (e.g. HIV/AIDS), Orphan / vulnerable child, Frail and infirm, Physical and mental disabilities, Older person

The NHNR also provides for the allocation of housing opportunities in a fair, transparent and auditable manner. The allocation portion of the NHNR has been implemented based on the Guidelines for the Allocation of Housing Opportunities Created through the National Housing Programmes that was developed by the national Department in 2009.

The allocation process is area based therefore households from various geographical areas can be selected based on the selection criteria relevant to the specific housing project, the following criteria is available:

• Women Headed Households
• Child Headed Households
• No Income
• Income above R3500
• Aged Members (+60 to 80 and beyond)
• Adult (35 to 59)
• Widows and Widowers
• Households with children
• Disabled Persons
• Persons with Special Needs
• Preference – House
• Preference – Stand e.g. the land that’s owned by tribal leaders

The selected criteria can be prioritized and based on that, a list of households will be drawn from the NHNR. The list can be committed on the NHNR after approval. The list will form the basis of inviting the selected households to complete housing subsidy application forms.

The NHNR provides provinces and municipalities with the ability to select a person (members of a specific household) or an area basis (geographical location) records to be validated against the:

• • Population Register (Home Affairs);
  • PERSAL;
  • UIF;
  • GEPF;
  • National Housing Subsidy Database (NHSDB) that contains records of beneficiaries that has been assisted or is in the process for assistance with a housing subsidy) and
  • Deeds Datasets.

The results returned from the validation process cannot be used to determine or make a decision whether a household qualifies for a housing subsidy or not. The formal qualification for a housing subsidy is done on the HSS (Housing Subsidy System) as the rules related to the various National Housing Programmes as contained in the National Housing Code are built into the HSS.

Various reports are also available on a provincial, municipal and town level. Currently the NHNR that contains information is about 1,607,223 households. The national Department is the custodian of the NHNR and provides support, training and Data quality services to the various provincial human settlements Departments and municipalities that have implemented the system.

In the process of ensuring that the NHNR Data is always credible, the national Department has just released a new version of the NHNR during the first week of September 2015 and the following new functionalities are available:

• Latest technology;
• The system can now run on a desktop, tablet or a smart phone;
• SMS service that will enable provincial human settlements to communicate with households that have registered their needs for adequate shelter/ housing opportunities and
• Linkage with the Housing Subsidy System that updates the status of households that have completed their housing subsidy applications.

Reply:

Honourable member, government is no longer building Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. RDP houses were discontinued as soon as Cabinet adopted the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements in 2004 setting new standards for housing typologies for government houses referred to as BNG houses.

(a) Subsidised houses that were completed in the 2013-14 financial year:

105 936 subsidised houses/units were completed (see Table1, below). This figure excludes 48 893 serviced sites that were completed during the same period.

(b) 84 459 houses/units were handed over to the beneficiaries or qualifying occupants by Provincial Departments of Human Settlements or their respective municipalities.

Table 1: Table depicting Houses Completed and Hand-over: 2013/14 Financial Year

2013/14	EC	FS	GP	KZN	LP	MP	NC	NW	WC	SA TOTAL
Houses completed	12,646	6,920	22,352	29,151	3,080	8,126	2,464	9,362	11,835	105,936
Houses handed over	8,346	4,986	8,924	29,151	2,972	6,419	2,464	9,362	11,835	84,459

Data Source: Provincial Departments: Human Settlements

We have been informed that some of the completed houses have not been allocated for various reasons. These vary from disputes arising out of the existence of more than one "Waiting List", de-registering of beneficiaries that had moved by the time of completion of the houses, refusal by beneficiaries to take occupation prior the connector services such as electricity have been installed. In some instance while these are sorted out, some houses would be illegally invaded.

Reply:

(1) & (2) The information requested by the Honourable member is provided in the 2014/15 annual report which will be tabled in Parliament before the end of September 2015.

The annual report will assist the Honourable member to get a full picture of departmental performance and expenditure. These public documents are important mechanisms through which departments account to Parliament and the citizens of the country so that they know how their money is spent. Accordingly, the Honourable member is advised to access all relevant information from these reports and report back to her constituency on what the government is doing.

Reply:

(1) & (2) The information requested by the Honourable member is provided in the 2014/15 annual report which will be tabled in Parliament before the end of September 2015.

The annual report will assist the Honourable member to get a full picture of departmental performance and expenditure. These public documents are important mechanisms through which departments account to Parliament and the citizens of the country so that they know how their money is spent. Accordingly, the Honourable member is advised to access all relevant information from these reports and report back to her constituency on what the government is doing.

Reply:

Honourable member, government is no longer building Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. RDP houses were discontinued as soon as Cabinet adopted the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements in 2004 setting new standards for housing typologies for government houses referred to as BNG houses.

(1) The information requested by the Honourable member on Breaking New Ground (BNG) houses built in the (a) Nama Khoi Local Municipality, (b) Kamiesberg Local Municipality, (c) Richtersveld Local Municipality and (d) Khai-Ma Municipality since 2009 is provided in the table below:

Local Municipality	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	TOTAL	(ii) location	(iv) all houses completed and signed off
	Sites	Units	Sites	Units	Sites	Units	Sites	Units	Sites	Units	Sites	Units	Sites	Units
	(i) Number of houses built
(a) Nama Khoi
Buffelsrivier	0											9	0	9	Buffelsrivier	All houses completed and signed off
Bulletrap	0					5							0	5	Bulletrap
Carolusberg	0			10									0	10	Carolus-berg
Concordia	0											15	0	15	Concordia
Fonteintjie	0					15							0	15	Springbok
Goodhouse	0					15							0	15	Goodhouse
Komaggas	0											26	0	26	Kommagas
Kouroep	0					5							0	5	Kouroep
Matjieskloof	0			100									0	100	Springbok
										50			0	50
	0											50	0	50
	0											1	0	1
Nababeep	0					20							0	20	Nababeep
	0											4	0	4
O'kiep				110									0	110	O'Kiep
						50							0	50
O'kiep	0											190	0	190	O'kiep	All houses completed and signed off
Rooiwal						20							0	20	Vioolsdrift
Rooiwinkel						5							0	5	Rooiwinkel
Vioolsdrift						11							0	11	Vioolsdrift
Sub-total	0	0	0	220	0	146	0	0	0	50	0	295	0	711
(b) Kamiesberg
Garies	0	1											0	1	Garies	All houses completed and signed off
Kharkams		2											0	2	Kharkams
Klipfontein												120	0	120	Klipfontein
Lepelsfontein				60									0	60	Lepels-fontein
Kamassies		3											0	3	Kamassies
Kheis										1			0	1	Kheis
Sub-total	0	6	0	60	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	120	0	187
(c) Richtersveld
Kuboes	0	1											0	1	Kuboes	All houses completed and signed off
Port Nolloth												100	0	100	Port Nolloth
Sanddrift						10							0	10	Sanddrift
												50	0	50
Eksteenfontein						1							0	1	Eksteen-fontein
Sub-total	0	1	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	150	0	162
(d) Khai-Ma
Pella	0	2											0	2	Pella	All houses completed and signed off
				8									0	8
												38	0	38
Pofadder												101	0	101	Pof-adder
Onseepkans				4									0	4	Onseep-kans
												5	0	5
												2	0	2
Sub-total	0	2	0	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	146	0	160
TOTAL	0	9	0	292	0	157	0	0	0	51	0	711	0	1,220

(2) We have been informed that the houses were not enrolled with the NHBRC and as such we do not have any information on the rectification of the houses.

(a) Falls away.

(b) Falls away.

(c) Falls away.

(d) Falls away.