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Chairperson, the Honourable Premier of Gauteng, the MEC for Housing and Land Affairs, MEC's from other provinces, Your Excellencies, the Ambassadors, Distinguished guests.

This day marks World Habitat Day whose theme is Safer Cities. In June 1996, the governments world wide adopted the Habitat Agenda after noting that: "urban violence is not a spontaneous phenomenon but, a manifestation of unemployment, homelessness, illiteracy, and social disintegration." They concluded that the "prevention of crime and promotion of sustainable communities are essential to the attainment of safe and secure cities." The Habitat Agenda emphasises the importance of social development as a tool towards solving societal problems. Governments, with this year's theme, have been urged to look for ways of making cities safer, so that citizens can lead fulfilling lives ` in dignity safety, happiness and hope.'

We have developed links between the Department of Housing and that of Safety and Security with the aim of looking for ways, both architectural and social which will produce settlements that provide more security and safety. In addition, the Constitution which forms the building block of our democracy, state that all South Africans should have access to safe and secure shelter. We have further answered this call by putting through parliament the Housing Consumer Protection Measures Bill. Through this Bill we seek to protect all housing consumers regardless of income, against shoddy workmanship and poor structures. This Bill has a defects warranty scheme of at least five years, within which a housing consumer using a homebuilder registered with the National Builders Registration Council can get recourse without going through costly legal action.

I am sure you are wondering what safer cities has to do with consumer protection. We interpret the theme, within the housing discipline to mean safe designs and security of tenure to ensure that families are housed in sustainable homes regardless of their location in the country.

I couldn't think of a more appropriate way of affirming members of the industry who have helped to promote safe living environments by adhering to building standards and producing good quality homes. Ladies and gentlemen, today's winners have performed a remarkable service to the nation by adhering to the basic regulations and adding more in their quest for excellence.

A high point in these celebrations, is that this industry is one of those areas that have a serious gender imbalance, however, it is slowly changing. Pioneering women have often told horrifying stories of exclusion and discrimination based on gender. The situation is improving and we are here today applauding the path finders who beat all odds, even when the going was tough to emerge victorious in a not-so-flexible industry. Institutions like NURCHA, have created space for growth, development and self actualisation to emerging women contractors, leading to a good measure of skills transfer that has made our country proud.

You have contributed towards creating jobs for the unemployed, shelter to the homeless. Through your efforts and hard work, we have seen communities moving out of informal settlements into proper sustainable structures. You have, as a collective helped us reach a total of 596 059 houses that have been built to date giving shelter to millions of families.

We are celebrating the excellence and commitment shown by a people who selflessly gave the best of themselves in servitude to the nation. We all know that the low cost housing market is the Cinderella of the home building industry, characterised by marginal profits, minus the glamour and glitz prevalent in the building industry. Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that Cinderella has come to the ball tonight. She has come to occupy her rightful position as champion of the homeless, the poor and destitute, the unemployed and most vulnerable members of our society. We salute you for the contribution you have made towards reaching our ideal of making sure that every citizen in the country has access to safe and secure housing. Through these awards, we hope that more and more people in the industry, will join this hall of excellence and continue help us fight poverty and homelessness.

We need to document these experiences and create a forum where best practices can be catalogued, and shared with other emerging and conventional developers, conveyancers and replicated throughout the country.

In a year that has seen some conveyancers siphoning and embezzling money earmarked for low cost housing, it is important to note that today's nominees are leading the way and practising the good solid values underpinned by moral and ethical behaviour. Today, we are seeing honourable people with a conscience and commitment to house the nation by leading by example and contributing skills to help rebuild our nation.

To all the housing journalists in the electronic and print media, we thank you for understanding the complexities underpinning the process and delivery of low cost housing. Some of you have grasped the nettle by the thorns and reported stories from the underside, giving full meaning and a voice to the homeless and the poor.

However, more could be done. The media and the government should be partners in making sure that we have an informed citizenry. We have the same constituency, we therefore need to foster and promote our linkages. We do acknowledge that this is a learning curve for all of us and that we will strive to serve the nation to the best of our ability and nurture and promote our nascent democracy that will wither and die without the free flow of information. This commitment should come from both partners. From the side of the government we have an open and transparent ethic that makes access to information effortless.

All these luminaries in the housing firmament, have shown a remarkable will and determination to do the best they can, under trying and less than ideal conditions. They have radically changed the quality of life of the homeless, and the poor. We join the entire country in commending your efforts and those of Gauteng's MEC for Housing and Land Affairs by acknowledging and rewarding excellence from a pool of dedicated workers who are good at what they do. We hope that this will be an inspiration to all those developers, who are quietly working hard in the corners of the country to be more resolute at promoting best practices nation wide.

We are beginning to house the Nation in earnest and our desire is to see more differentiated approach, more innovation, more diversification to add more variety to the provision of shelter, especially low cost housing. We are now producing densification to accommodate the low income market and rental stock is now a form of housing which will be extended the poor. New finance models are steadily being finalised as a way of breaking barriers to finance support to the lower end of the market. Affordability remains a problem as well. New financing models are steadily being finalised as a way of breaking barriers to finance. Affordability remains a problem, but the future looks bright as partnerships emerge in an attempt to join hands towards substantial delivery.

Those who have tried to bolster delivery have also been hounded by some who want to stall and undermine efforts of hard workers like today's recipients of awards. We have corruption in the industry from people coming from all works of life. But at times even those who are innocent amongst us have been tarred and feathered and thrown into the same basket well crafted for rotten potatoes.

We are determined to clean our industry of us elements cases have been forwarded to the courts and justice will be meted out.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, you have helped us to lay the solid foundation and we are now calling upon the rest of the industry to join us in building our nation to ensure a better life for all. We hope you will continue to contribute towards improving the quality of life of the poor and the homeless.

Issued by: Ministry of Housing

5 October 1998