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3 June 2008

Madame Speaker
Honourable Premier
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

We are delivering this speech in the context of the aftermath of a successful conference of the governing party in December 2007. The conference paved the way for the present government to assess our policies, programmes and our overall performance, but also for the new leadership to develop improved strategies, policies and approaches. The present government is coming to the end of its mandated term, but still remains focused on creating a better life for all. The core message from government is clearly spelled out in the President's State of the Nation Address – "Business unusual – All hands on deck to speed up change".

2008/09 Budget Allocation

Madame Speaker, the total budget allocation for the Department of Housing and Local Government for this financial year is R340, 088 million. This is an increase of 15% or R45, 373 million from the 2007/08 allocation of R294, 715 million. This budget will be divided amongst the three programmes in the Department.

Programme 1: Administration, will receive R43, 808 million
Programme 2: Housing, will receive R193, 591 million
Programme 3: Local Government will receive R101, 782 million.

Housing and Human Settlements

Madame Speaker, the delivery of houses and the development of sustainable human settlements is a key priority for the government of South-Africa and for the Northern Cape province. As a province, we are therefore committed to the national target to eradicate all informal settlements by 2014 and the target of our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy of shelter for all by 2014, which is in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Providing affordable housing for those who need it is essential for the development of the province, but remains a challenge. However, the Department of Housing and Local Government will continue to work through those challenges whilst endeavouring to alleviate the pressures of the housing environment.

The Department received an additional R100 million in February 2008 from the National Department of Housing for housing development. This consequently increased the allocation for housing development from R131 million to R231 million for the 2007/08 financial year. Given that the additional funds were received so late in the financial year, the Department still managed to spend the total housing budget by March 2008.

As a result, the following achievements can be reported for the previous financial year:

* 2 464 houses were constructed and completed and 1 106 houses are currently under construction
* 5 116 sites were serviced and the services of 1 509 sites are currently under construction
* 1 793 title deeds were issued to beneficiaries to promote home ownership and 1 262 are in the process of being finalised at the Deeds Office
* 18 rental housing units that were part of the houses constructed under the previous housing dispensation were transferred to the tenants via the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme.

The regulation of the rental housing industry remains a challenge for government and the private sector, therefore in our attempt to address the challenges related to this industry; the Provincial Rental Housing Tribunal was successfully launched in August 2007.

This Tribunal is an independent body established in terms of the Rental Housing Act of 1999, to manage and resolve any complaints by tenants or landlords concerning unfair practices.

We also want to report that most blocked projects are completed and that the few outstanding projects are in the process of finalisation. This will now enable us to mainly focus on Breaking New Ground in housing delivery in the province through the development of Integrated Sustainable Human Settlements.

In terms of Housing Consumer Education Programme, the target of training 1 000 beneficiaries was slightly exceeded, with the training of 1 010 beneficiaries in the last financial year.

Madame Speaker, the Northern Cape province has received an allocation of R161,312 million for the 2008/09 financial year for housing development. This represents an increase of R30,336 million, which is a 20% increase in the budget compared to the previous year. The funds will be spread over 47 housing projects and will deliver 2 308 housing units, 1 950 serviced sites, 1 300 planned and surveyed sites and the rectification of 494 poorly built houses.

Regarding the informal settlement upgrading programme, we can report that 500 houses will be built in Ou Boks, Colesberg, which is part of the President's Massive Housing Delivery Programme. The project in Lerato Park in Kimberley will also start with the installation of bulk and internal services in collaboration with the Sol Plaatje Municipality and ABSA Bank. We are also in the process of drafting provincial legislation for the elimination and prevention of the re-emergence of informal settlements.

Madame Speaker, regarding the process of fast tracking housing delivery and quality improvement in the province, Thubelisha Homes is assisting the Department with project management in the Pixley ka Seme, Namakwa and Frances Baard districts. The Department is also in the process of appointing professionals to assist municipalities with the geo-tech investigations and the drafting of business plans for housing projects.

The Department is also committed to the development of the youth and women in the province. Through the implementation of the National Youth in Housing Training Programme, we will endeavour to create opportunities for youth in the housing sector. In light of the above, the Department has implemented a youth training programme in the Siyanda District. 100 youths, including woman, were mobilised and trained in housing construction. They will construct 100 units in Jurgenskamp and Dawidskamp in Upington.

We would also like to report that three women contractors namely; Kgatlane Construction in Ritchie, Ikageng Woman's Construction in Kimberley and NC Small Builders Forum of Kimberley is also involved in the construction of housing.

The National Women in Housing Indaba will take place in the Northern Cape province from 4 to 8 August 2008 under the theme: "Celebrating women in housing delivery, Changing Gear". This Indaba seeks to facilitate the empowerment of women to actively participate in the housing delivery chain. The indaba will consists of a Women's Build phase whereby 52 houses will be built by women contractors in China Square, Kimberley in commemoration of the Women's March 52 years ago. A conference will also be held where delegates will be expected to demonstrate their commitment to the process by adopting the Women in Housing Framework through the signing of the Women in Housing Delivery Contract.

We would like to report that for the first time stakeholders in the housing value chain namely; developers, building contractors, the banking sector, building material suppliers and professional associations will be recognised for their contributions. The first Provincial Govan Mbeki Housing Awards will be held on 29 July 2008 in Kimberley and provincial winners will represent the province at the national awards to be held on 10 October 2008 in KwaZulu-Natal.

As part of the Department's contribution to the Sixteen Days of Activism programme, we are planning to build sixteen houses across the province. The recipients of these houses will be women whom have fallen victim to domestic abuse and violence. These would include disabled women and single woman-headed households. We want to challenge all 32 municipalities in the province to each build at least one house during this period so that we can triple the delivery to the most vulnerable of society.

In order for the Department to fast track housing delivery, it is important that the municipalities play a stronger role in housing development. As was reported last year the five district municipalities and three local municipalities were identified as pilots for accreditation in the Northern Cape. All eight municipalities received conditional approval for level 1 accreditation. The intention of the conditional approval is to assist the targeted municipalities to develop and demonstrate their capacity to plan, implement and maintain both housing projects and programmes.

The Department will therefore continue with hands-on support to the eight municipalities, with the Pixley ka Seme and Sol Plaatje municipalities that will be granted level one accreditation before the end of the financial year.

Madame Speaker, with regard to the cross-boundary projects, we can report that North-West province will complete the five current running projects. Furthermore, a Joint Technical Committee was established to monitor all these projects. In the coming financial year, the Northern Cape and North West will continue to jointly monitor the projects in Pampierstad (1 250) and the Seoding (750). We are also negotiating with North West and National Housing for the Northern Cape to take over the four remaining projects.

There are a number of national housing institutions that can play a role in the province with respect to fast tracking housing delivery. Thus far the province is only utilising the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and Thubelisha Homes. We are therefore planning a workshop with all the national housing institutions in the second half of this year to increase there participation in housing delivery in our province.

One of the major resolutions of the Polokwane Conference of the governing party is a once-off injection to fast track housing delivery in the country. The eradication of the housing backlog in the Northern Cape has been identified by the Housing Minmec as one of the four priority areas for intervention as part of such a once-off injection.

Local Government

Madam Speaker, when the new system of developmental local government was introduced, none of us anticipated that the task of local government transformation would be so complex and protracted.

In terms of the performance of municipalities, we can report that for the first time we have complied with Section 47 of the Municipal Systems Act with regard to the annual report to the Provincial Legislature and the Minister on the performance of municipalities for the 2005/06 financial year. A consolidated report for all provinces will be tabled by the National Minister for the first time at National Parliament in June this year. The provincial report for 2006/07 is in the process of being finalised.

These section 47 reports give us an opportunity to measure and evaluated the outcomes of the interventions that we have made to give hands-on support to municipalities through the Five Year Local Government Strategic Agenda.

The main findings of these reports with regard to the performance of municipalities in the province indicates that while a lot of progress have been made with regard to the delivery of and access to basic services, municipal transformation and community participation, that with regard to municipal financial viability and management and local economic development there are still a lot of room for improvement.

The Vuna Awards seeks to reward municipal performance excellence. We co-ordinated the whole process in the province and initiated Provincial Awards for the first time in 2007. It is incumbent on municipalities to submit themselves for scrutiny in terms of municipal performance. We can report that twenty of the thirty-two municipalities participate in the 2007 Vuna Awards which is a slight improvement on the sixteen participants of 2006. We want to encourage all thirty-two municipalities to participate this year.

Basic services are a constitutional right and municipalities are addressing backlogs in order to reach the targets set by national government. The number of households increases yearly which results in increasing numbers of backlogs that are addressed mainly through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and housing projects.

Although we have not met the target of December 2007 of eradicating all buckets toilets on pre-1994 formal stands in the province, we can report that we have met the target in four districts, except in the Pixley ka Seme District where we still need to eradicate 1 315 buckets in Douglas and Carnarvon. This is mostly due to the fact that the necessary funding only became available late in 2007. These buckets will be eradicated early in the second quarter of this financial year.

The challenge is now to evaluate the success of this programme with regard to the sustainability of some of the models that we have implemented to eradicate the buckets. An assessment in this regard will be conducted in partnership with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry during this financial year.

This year, 2008, is the target for the achievement of access for all households to clean water at the Redistribution and Development Programme (RDP) standard of 200 meter. During the National Sanitation Day event on 25 May 2008, the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry indicated that while national targets for water and sanitation has been aligned with the 2014 target for the eradication of informal settlements, she requested all stakeholders to do their utmost to try and meet the initial targets.

During December 2006, the water needs in the province were calculated at 12 779 households. During a survey conducted in the last quarter of 2007/08 financial year, water need still exist in 8 606 households. This need is distributed amongst 14 municipalities with the biggest need in Gasegonyana and Moshaweng municipalities in the Kgalagadi District. The current MIG-allocations, which do not ring-fence funding for water provision, is not sufficient to eradicate this backlog without additional funding.

With regard to access and provision of free basic services, we can report that all municipalities have an Indigent Policy, although the verification of indigent registers is not always in place. 88 679 households are registered as indigents at 31 municipalities compared to the 85 355 households in 2007.

All municipalities provide free basic water, except for Pixley ka Seme District Municipality, which does not have any households living in settlements within its area of jurisdiction. Free basic water was delivered to 170 508 households. Only six municipalities indicated that they do not offer free basic sanitation to indigent households. All municipalities offer free basic electricity to 123 140 households.

The total MIG allocation of R120 million allocated to Northern Cape municipalities in 2006/07 had been spent, although ten municipalities had not spent their full allocation by 30 June 2007. The total MIG allocation to municipalities in our province for the 2008/09 financial years is R209 486 million.

Madame Speaker, in terms of the Audit Outcomes for the 2006/07 municipal financial year, the audit opinion of the Auditor-General, does not bode well for the municipalities in the province in terms of accounting for public funds. Although there are slight improvements with regard to the submission of annual financial statements to the Auditor-General, both in terms of meeting the timeframes and the quality of the statements submitted as well as a decrease in the percentage of municipalities with negative audit outcomes, the situation needs to improve considerably. We want to congratulate the Francis Baard District Municipality and the Kareeberg Local Municipality with their achievement of unqualified audits.

The National Auditor-General at a recent MEC-Mayoral Forum raised lack of adequate internal controls, lack of supporting documentation and a general lack of capacity and skills to fully comply with the prescribed accounting framework as the main contributing factors to the audit qualifications.

Certain resolutions were taken at this meeting to ensure that we meet the target of quality Annual Financial Statements and improving the audit outcomes. It was agreed that the submission of Annual Financial Statements will happen by 31 August 2008. A key resolution is that provincial quarterly engagements specifically dealing with financial management and audit outcomes will take place. The next engagement is scheduled for end of September 2008 to evaluate the submission of annual financial statements. The Department, together with Provincial Treasury, South African Local Government Association Northern Cape and the Office of the Auditor-General will work hand in hand to monitor the implementation of these resolutions.

The Department is committed to rooting out corruption and have piloted the Anti-Corruption Strategy in the five district municipalities during the 2007/08 financial year. The draft Provincial Anti-Corruption Strategy for Local Government has been completed and will be launched at an Anti-Corruption Summit scheduled for September 2008.

Integrated planning is the backbone of developmental local government. We analysed municipal Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) that led to a Provincial IDP engagement process with the aim of synchronising planning and ensure harmony across the three spheres and to increase the credibility of IDPs.

The Office of the Premier as well as sector departments at both provincial and national level has been very supportive in this process that lead to a great improvement in the development of municipal IDPs across the province. We can report that the credibility rate of IDPs has increased from 28% in 2006/07 to 58% in 2007/08, which reflects an increase of 30%. The Department in collaboration with other sector departments will roll-out an intensive hands-on-support effort as from June 2008 to November 2008 in an effort to support municipalities to have a draft IDP on the table by November 2008. The due date for the draft IDPs has been brought forward to November 2008 instead of March 2009, because of the 2009 elections.

We can report that all five district municipalities have completed their District Growth and Development Strategies. Kgalagadi, Frances Baard and Pixley ka Seme Districts have launched their strategies successfully in the past financial year, while Siyanda and Namakwa districts will launch before the end of this year 2008.

The Provincial Spatial Development Framework forms part of the integrated planning paradigm and as such, is crucial for facilitating the harmonisation and alignment process being pursued by government. It should provide a framework for directing the spatial development of the province as intended in the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy through the application of the principles of the National Spatial Development Perspective. The Northern Cape Provincial Spatial Development Framework will be finalised by November 2008.

The Department, together with its partners, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Department of Science and Technology and Frances Baard District Municipality have achieved great success with the Operations and Maintenance project. Five manuals for municipalities are being developed and we can report that three of the manuals have been completed and the last two manuals will be completed during this financial year. Furthermore, we are in the process of setting up District Operation and Maintenance Units and we can report that units have been set up in Frances Baard, Siyanda and Pixley ka Seme. The remaining district units in Namakwa and Kgalagadi will be set up in this financial year. Training was also provided to municipal personnel on water and sanitation equipment. We can also report that the Provincial Operation and Maintenance Management Unit are fully operational.

Madame Speaker, to strengthen the Community Development Workers (CDW) programme, the province hosted a CDW conference to deal with the challenges faced by the programme. A CDW master plan was developed and adopted at a National CDW Conference. This master plan gives clear guidelines with regard to the necessary institutional arrangements to enhance the supervision, reporting and networking mechanisms for the programme. The amount of R2 million allocated for the operational costs of CDWs will further strengthen the programme.

To assist the Department to better monitor and support municipalities, a Monitoring and Evaluation Unit will be set up in this financial year. The work of this unit will be further strengthened by the Electronic Monitoring System for municipalities that will be operational by September 2008.

In trying to achieve local government transformation, the process of hands-on support that has been introduced to assist municipalities with financial, technical, project management and town planning expertise is continuing as part of the Local Government Strategic Agenda. The Provincial Implementation Plan for this strategy will be reviewed during this year while the Department is busy establishing its own internal Project Management Unit to strengthen the Department's own capacity to manage this hands-on support programme.

Administration

Madame Speaker, it is important to strengthen the Department's capacity and to promote good governance within the Department whilst at the same time transforming the institution.

The redesigning process of our organisational structure at provincial and regional levels will strengthen our capacity to deliver services at an accelerated pace and deliver on our policy and legislative mandates. We have established and launched the Kgalagadi regional office in February this year which brings service delivery nearer to the people of this former cross boundary area.

It is important to mention that the Department received unqualified audit reports over three consecutive years namely 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07; and we will strive towards the same goal for 2007/08 financial year. The Department was also rated as the best performing Department in the Northern Cape with regard to audit outcomes for 2005/06 by the National Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The Operation and Maintenance Project of the Department also received a silver award in the Premier's Service Excellence Awards, while the Pixley ka Seme District Municipality received a Gold Award.

In conclusion, allow me to express a special word of thanks to our partners in local government and housing delivery, the South-African Local Government Association (SALGA) in the Northern Cape, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Thubelisha Homes, the National Home Builders Registration Council, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the South African Institute for Consulting Engineers (SAICE), Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG), Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), Provincial Treasury, other sector departments at a national and provincial level, all mayors, councillors and officials at municipal level and the communities of the Northern Cape.

We also want to extend a special word of thanks to the Premier, my colleagues in the Provincial Executive Council and the Portfolio Committee on Local Government for your continuous support, positive criticism and encouragement. To the African National Congress, thank you for your constructive criticism and continuous support and to the opposition for keeping us on our toes. A word of appreciation also goes to the previous Head of Department, the Acting HOD's, the Ministry and officials of the Department of Housing and Local Government. Thank you to my wife and family for their continuous support and inspiration.

On 13 November 1985, in the twenty-second year of Nelson Mandela's imprisonment and our country was in a grip of civil unrest, a black policeman was set alight, twenty-five people were convicted of his murder, the twenty-sixth accused was convicted of attempted murder and fourteen were sentenced to death. The town of Upington was besieged by a legal trial and one of their lawyers was brutally assassinated by apartheid forces. This is the story of the Upington Twenty-Six. We therefore want to dedicate this speech to them for their contribution to our liberation struggle and the democracy and freedom that we are experiencing today.

Let those of us who are holding positions of public office today always remember people like the Upington Twenty-Six and remember that serving the public is an honour and a privilege and that it requires a certain amount of discipline and integrity as well as commitment to democratic principles. It is important that in our positions we should always bear these basic things in mind if we want to build better communities and to ensure a better life for all.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Housing and Local Government, Northern Cape Provincial Government
3 June 2008