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Master of ceremonies
Minerals and Energy Minister: Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
MEC: Mr Gugile Nkwinti
Netherlands Ambassador
Executive Mayor of Ukhahlamba District Council: X. Goduka
Mayors present here today
Distinguish guests
Ladies and gentlemen.

Today marks the beginning of another milestone in the history of low-cost housing in South Africa. Not only is this project going to mark a new trend in housing structures to be delivered throughout the country, but will also demonstrate the importance and strength of the partnership that we have forged based on solid common ground binding us here and our partners abroad.

South Africa has committed itself to the Habitat Agenda, which offers a positive vision of sustainable human settlements - where all have adequate shelter, a healthy and safe environment, basic services and productions and freely chosen employment. But more importantly, is the fact that the Habitat Agenda identifies the consumption of energy as a key sustainability issue in our human settlements.

We have reached a certain level of delivery in our programme and have implemented our policy focussing mainly on reaching out to as many people as possible. More than five million of the former homeless are now housed. In the process, aspects of the policy were overlooked. Energy efficiency is one of those.

In this term of office, we are committed to filling those policy gaps that are also critical in ensuring sustainability.

A lot of work has been done and research conducted on energy efficiency housing. Pilots to promote energy efficiency in housing and human settlements have been completed. These include the Sustainable Homes Initiatives, the Sustainable Energy Environment and Development (SEED) programme, Eco-Housing projects managed by PEER Africa in Kutlwanong in the Free State and Gugulethu in the Western Cape initiated through the South African Binational Commission.

In 1997 the Department of Housing recognised the need to promote the conservation of energy in order to improve our residential environments, which culminated in the establishment of the Environmentally Sound Low Cost Housing Task Team in 1998. This team, with representatives from Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Health, Mineral & Energy and Water Affairs and Forestry, came up with the broad strategy on the role of government in promoting energy and water efficiency and greening of the residential environments.

The most important aspect of this strategy is that it is based on the premise that energy consumption occurs at household level and is influenced by a broad and complex range of factors including housing and human settlement factors.

The relatively benign climate that South Africa enjoys has resulted in a complacent attitude to energy efficient building construction amongst housing developers. The result is that low-cost housing is not designed to take advantage of the climate. Houses tend to be very cold in winter and hot in summer, and require significant energy consumption. Households spend lots of money in winter to achieve some level of comfort and warmth in their houses. As a result, the energy consumption patterns of low-income households in South Africa have emerged as one of the most important factors influencing the national electricity demand and high levels of air pollution, mainly due to coal and wood used for space heating, in urban and rural areas.

Whenever there is a discussion about energy efficiency, two critical issues dominate the debate. The design considerations and the energy efficient materials and technology. These two issues influence the thermal performance of housing.

We now have an opportunity to add quality on our housing. Builders and designers should consciously apply passive solar design principles that will help structure and promote dwellings that are adequately reached by the heat and light from the sun, the coolness of breezes and night air to achieve indoor comfort.

This approach has to ensure that the heat flow is not too much and comfort levels in a house are important in providing a moderate temperature at all times and thereby saving us unnecessary costs.

If roofs overhangs are built to shade the window in summer and allow sunshine in winter this could be achieved with little cost on our budget but also benefit us in maintaining a healthy balance around us.

We are here today to launch a project that will soon bring the benefits of energy-efficient houses to low-income residents of South Africa.

Through this project, we seek to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency principles in low-cost housing not only in terms of causing significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants through reduced consumption of energy for space heating, but also to engender improvements in homeowner health and to boost new businesses that will create employment opportunities.

Lady Grey was not chosen by accident. The Lady Grey project will produce 1000 RDP units based on energy efficiency housing and this approach will hopefully be applied across the country.

For this I would like to thank the Dutch government for their commitment to the delivery of excellent housing products in low-cost housing sector. In my meeting with the Netherlands Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, Mr Jan Pronk, two months ago, he reaffirmed his government's commitment to housing development in South Africa and stressed that this is but the beginning of greater things to come.

We are also blessed by the involvement of the International Institute of Energy Conservation (IIEC), which will help to monitor the residences for their energy and greenhouse gas savings, as well as health and quality-of-life benefits to residents, the results of which will be reported to the two governments and the UN.

Issued by Ministry of Housing

3 August 2001