Hon Chairperson, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, hon Lindiwe Sisulu; Deputy Ministers, hon Mahlobo and hon Tshwete); heads of all entities reporting to the Ministry; permanent and special delegates, 64 years ago on 26 June 1955 in Kliptown, Soweto, men and women of vision congregated under the banner of the Congress of the People to adopt the Freedom Charter, which has become a historic testament and a living document which embodies the hopes and aspirations of the people of South Africa.
As they proclaimed, they wanted the whole world to know that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. With undiminished vitality, in unison they proclaimed that no government shall justly claim authority unless it was based on the will of the people.
With the magnitude of their vision as contained in the Freedom Charter, they were paying a deposit in our moral banking account so that many generations thereafter must emulate their virtues and follow their exemplary leadership.
One of the perspectives encapsulated in the Freedom Charter is clause 9, entitled: "There shall be Houses, Security and Comfort", and for the purpose of this debate this afternoon, this shall be my focus area.
These men and women under the stewardship of Prof Z K Matthews and Dr Yusuf Dadoo wanted "All the people (to) have the right to live where they choose, to be decently housed and to bring up their families in comfort and security". They wanted "Slums (to) be demolished, and new suburbs built where all (people) have transport, roads, lighting, playing fields, crches and social centres".
During the last 25 years since the advent of our constitutional dispensation, the ANC has implemented housing policies which have undergone serious metamorphosis. The ANC government developed important policy, regulatory and institutional instruments essentially to reduce the housing deficit, to make the finance system effective and to establish compact and sustainable communities.
The pillars of the housing policy remain to provide subsidies to low income families; to mobilise housing credit and savings; to protect housing consumers and to co-ordinate investment in development. But
this policy also seeks to stabilise the environment by restoring order; to maximize benefits of state expenditure and private investment; to establish the capacity to create secondary markets and to identify and facilitate the land delivery processes.
These policy interventions were necessary in order to address the exclusion of the significant proportion of the population from economic opportunities and social services which has to do with the apartheid form of our settlement patterns: low-density, high income, well serviced white suburbs close to work areas; and on the other hand large, impoverished, sprawling, poorly serviced black townships and informal settlements on the urban periphery and in the rural landscape of South Africa.
This is indeed a good story to tell. However, despite these important milestones made by the ANC government, much still needs to be done. There are serious weaknesses especially in the water and sanitation sector which need urgent attention.
I am convinced that given what transpired in the last few years, the Department of Water and Sanitation is not up to the challenge to meet these imperatives. With slow expenditure on infrastructure of about R2 billion; unauthorised expenditure of about R640 million on
an unbudgeted War on Leaks programme; the accruals and payables of about R3 billion; the contingency liabilities and the forensic investigations on allegations of fraud and corruption as well as the vacant positions at the echelons of this department, signify that not all is well in that department.
As we speak today, more than 60 000 households still use bucket toilet system - 12 years after the initial deadline of 2007 as set by our government. Some communities, particularly in the rural areas still have no access to water; about 4 000 schools are without proper sanitary facilities and they mostly use pit latrines. This shameful picture is unacceptable 25 years in our democracy. The dignity of our people shall never be restored until these matters are urgently given the necessary attention.
While we are sitting here in these chambers today, sometimes pontificating and sometimes bickering over petty squabbles, millions of our people still live in informal settlements, in backyards and ghettos. While we pour venom and direct vitriolic attacks at one another, the poor continue to live in places of lowest environmental quality and suffer severely from problems such as inadequate shelter, no proper infrastructure and services, as well as poor sanitation and polluted water.
If there is anything that must unite us as South Africans is to ensure that our people have access to water and better sanitary facilities. Water is life and sanitation is dignity and this must not be an empty slogan but something that we must make a reality that must propel us to succeed in terms of dealing with these particular issues. Water is at the heart and backbone of our livelihoods and there is no sanitation for the rich and the poor, but when nature calls, we are the same people. That's why there is no sanitation for the poor or for the rich.
In order to extricate the department from a quagmire of ignominy and shame it is entrapped in, we need a paradigm shift to propel the Department of Water and Sanitation to the majestic heights of success and joy and turn it around in a way that it will be a leader in terms of fulfilling its own objectives. But in the context of the strategic objectives of our struggle, we need at the same time revolutionary changes to sweep across this department to attend the objectives that it is set for. When changes are happening, they must spark hope and ignite passion to the millions of our people who still yearn for all these possibilities.
As the ANC, we unreservedly support the Budget of the Human Settlements. But on the other hand, we support the Budget of the
Department of Water and Sanitation, subject to the following conditions: That a turnaround plan is developed on how all these above problems will be solved; that a financial recovery plan is developed on how to solve the problems of accruals and unauthorised expenditure as well as irregular and fruitless expenditure as obtained in the department; that by December 2020, all the bucket toilets must be eradicated in our communities and that the department must work with the Department of Basic Education to eradicate the pit latrines in all of our schools.
In addition, the department must ensure consequence management for all those responsible for poor performance and that all allegations of fraud and corruption must be attended to. The department must also develop and invest in infrastructure to ensure universal access to drinking water and sanitation, to protect the ecosystem and improve the water quality.
For our part as a Select Committee, we shall strengthen our oversight role by closely monitoring the performance of the department. We have no shred of doubt that the political head of the department, hon Lindiwe Sisulu, will add value to turnaround this particular department, especially of Water Affairs and Sanitation like she did with Human Settlements, like she did in all stations of
life where she was deployed. We have confidence that these particular matters, she will give them priority and attend them for the benefit of our own people.
As I indicated, in addition, as a Select Committee, we shall be proactive by conducting research, including visits to other countries in response to the call by our President, President Cyril Ramaphosa, to build a new city in the new democratic South Africa. As I pointed out, at this current conjecture, we need revolutionary leadership to propel us to the majestic heights and to take our country forward in terms of providing proper human habitation, quality water and decent sanitary facilities for our people.
We must reaffirm what the American couple and activists, James and Grace Lee Boggs said in 1974 in their book Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century, they said and I quote:
Revolutionary leadership, if made clear, involved far more than sympathy for the oppressed or hatred for the oppressor. Revolutionary leadership is not for the fainthearted, the flamboyant, or the fly-by-night, the easily flattered, the easily satisfied, or the easily intimidated, the seekers after excitement
or popularity or martyrdom ... would die for the revolution are those who would give thre rest of their lives to it.
Whatever we must do in our time - we must make sure that we help this particular department to achieve its own objectives. As I pointed out, we are quiet confident that we shall ameliorate the situation that is confronting our people. Together working with the department, we will make sure that we achieve those particular objectives as envisaged in the Freedom Charter. If we do so as I pointed out, our forebears have paid a deposit in our moral banking account, ours is to take their struggles forward and make sure that we succeed in terms of achieving the objectives. On that score as I indicated, we unreservedly support the department and the Budget of Human Settlements and we say to the Minister, we sincerely employ her to go and turn to the issues of the Department of Water and Sanitation. Thank you very much, hon Chair. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon members, fellow South Africans, to the Minister, congratulations on your reappointment, and welcome back. During your first briefing as a Minister you mentioned the word "crisis". I believe you were talking about your new-found Department of Water and Sanitation.
This department is bankrupt with unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure as the standard practise. Irregular expenditure increased from R330 million in the 2014-15 financial year with 1800% to a unacceptable R6,4 billion in the 2017-18 financial year, with a further R2,5 billion in the 2018-19 financial year.
An overdraft on the main account increased from R199 million to R896 million. The overdraft on the trading account stands R1,2 billion and these over drafts are in conflict with Treasury regulations. An amount of R1,7 billion on accruals payable to service providers for work done in the previous financial year must be paid from this year's budget. Most of your senior officials are on acting basis.
Afrikaans:
Minister, nou is dit die regte tyd om bekwaamde mense, wat die departement kan bestuur sonder politieke inmengery, aan te stel.
English:
Hon Chairperson, section 26 of the Constitution stipulates that everyone has the right to adequate housing. In the ANC's first Election Manifesto in 1994, the party stated, and I quote: "A roof
over one's head and reasonable living conditions are not a privilege. They are a basic right for every human being".
Chairperson, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other strategic documents such as the National Development Plan do not insinuate that a house is only a roof over the head. The word "house" or "home" intricately also implies access to basic services such as water, electricity and sewerage networks. Those documents make it clear that human settlements, formal or informal, implies that it is places where people can live in dignity in houses with access to networks that facilitate basic services.
Chairperson, in the spirit of the greatness of the father of our nation, the late Nelson Mandela, I wish I could say that on Mandela Day 2019, we finally ensured that all South Africans own a house in which they can live in dignity. That includes proper toilets, water points, dumping sites, streets and electricity. Madiba once said, and I quote:
As long as many of our people still live in utter poverty, as long as children still live under plastic covers, as long as many of our people are still without jobs, no South African should rest and wallow in the joy of freedom.
Madiba clearly understood that failure regarding the housing and human settlements programme would result in public dismay.
In 1994, the late Minister Joe Slovo, Minister of Housing and his department were sincere in their intention to provide suitable and sustainable housing and basic services to all South Africans. Plans to succeed with this were in the making and focused on important issues such as the development of informal human settlements on land that was close to municipal and other service networks as to give people access to water, sewerage systems and electricity.
To break down the barriers caused by apartheid and inequality and to enhance the integration of all communities, new residential areas were supposed to be integrated with middleclass and affluent residential areas. This would enable all people to gain access to nearby public and privately- owned assets such as schools, health and safety facilities, transport, access routes, shops, recreational facilities and places of work.
To achieve this, the government developed interventions that would result in an orderly housing and human settlements plan, based on instruments such as municipal and regional spatial development
plans. Somewhere, since 1994, on the long road to give our people holistic and political freedom, we lost the plot.
The hon Minister of Police, hon Bheki Cele, said last week that people in a gang infested area in the Cape Metro live in conditions better suited for pigs. This is a shocking revelation meant as a dig at the DA who governs the Metro. Sadly, hon Cele's comment is true. The hon Cele, however, failed to admit that his party caused the implosion of the national housing plan and the human settlement development strategy.
Chairperson, I refer to the Informal Settlements and Human Rights in South Africa report by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, published in May 2018. Figures in this submission, and I quote:
... show that the majority of poor and low-income people in South Africa continue to live in informal settlements or slums and suggest that the government's housing programmes are failing to address the growing challenges posed by informal settlements.
The submission shows that residents of informal settlements include children, women and people with disabilities, and that many do not
have access to sanitation and clean water. The hon Cele should have admitted that as the focus shifted from services to the people to state capture. The dignity of people was thrown out of the window. The ratio of the number of families to toilets and water points became lower and lower as funds for proper housing and human settlement development plans drained into the pit of corruption.
Hon Chairperson, unfortunately, for the ANC, EFF and BLF, housing became a political tool to win elections and to destabilise communities. The truth is that people invaded land that was not evaluated by Environmental Impact Assessments, EIA, or fitted into a carefully crafted Spatial Development Framework.
Not far from us, in Grabouw, one of the biggest informal settlements resulted from the political driven capturing of state land off National Public Works. Siyayanzela is far from municipal services networks needed to provide people with toilets and water points. Siyayanzela is far from town facilities and no EIA was concluded to determine if the site is suitable and safe for people to live on. The settlement does not fall in the parameters of integrated communities and the breaking down of divisions between people caused by apartheid.
In Botrivier, also not far from here, people invaded a piece of land which was not subjected to an EIA.
IsiXhosa:
I-Botrivier yayiphantsi kolawulo lwe-ANC, mhla abantu babebekwa kulo mhlaba.
English:
Years later, after a housing development project was approved for the site, an EIA indicated that the township was developed on an old dumping site and that the ground is not stable and fit for a housing project.
Afrikaans:
As gevolg hiervan, moet ons New France op ander grond hervestig, wat beteken dat mense nog langer moet wag.
English:
Chairperson, as the former portfolio chair of Housing in the Theewaterskloof Municipality, I know that the need for housing opportunities are bigger than before and that the ANC's failure with the National Housing Programme made the people angry to the extent
that most municipal related protests are directly or indirectly related to inadequate housing and access to service facilities.
Chairperson, I want to conclude with a few ideas that must reflect in housing and human settlement plans, strategies and policies. We, all three tiers of government, must overcome our differences and start to work as a collective. And whilst we do that, we must adhere to a key requirement of the National Development Plan, example, to develop our own capacities and abilities to truly serve our people.
IsiXhosa:
Kunyanzelekile sizikhuphe iipolotiki xa sithetha ngonikezelo lwezindlu.
English:
We must utilise the collective capacities and abilities of government, private sector, stakeholders and all communities to develop human settlements and housing projects in accordance with Integrated Development Plans, Spatial Development Frameworks and other plans and strategies.
We must develop new solutions to overcome the backlog with title deeds and see to it that all beneficiaries become the legal owners
of their homes. Owners who want to offer their homes as collateral for loans, to maintain and upgrade their homes, cannot do so without title deeds.
Hon Chairperson, models of delivery cannot continue to depend on local government only. Instead, all three tiers of government must become facilitators of a diverse and multifaceted approach to ensure the involvement of many role players. Thus far the government thought only of suitable housing as units with top structures and access to civil works.
From my own experience, I can tell you that communities on the waiting lists for housing projects do not just yearn for top structures but also for access to basic services. Housing opportunities should be redesigned to provide extended services sites which must provide access to service infrastructure, a foundation for informal houses, a toilet, access to electricity and a water point.
If government, after consultation with the people, creates extended services sites and opportunities to develop top structures at a later stage, the housing backlog can gradually be reduced. Finally, I would like to emphasise that if municipalities continue to be
agents for the implementation of housing projects, third-level authorities need to be stabilised.
Most municipalities have serious deficiencies in planning, development and project management. Capacities to maintain housing registers, to conduct public participation and to facilitate the establishment of local community- based housing committees are very thin. The ability to prevent invasions on project land and to do containment of invaded premises, which have been earmarked for housing projects and where beneficiaries have already been designated, is virtually nonexistent.
We need solutions to the housing crisis. But those solutions can only be realised with trusted and effective leadership. Hon Sisulu, we need that from you. I thank you. [Applause.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT, WATER AND SANITATION (MS P
TSHWETE): Hon Chair, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Deputy Minister Mahlobo, Chaiperson of the Select Committee, the MECs, hon Members of the NCOP and all honoured guests led by Acting Director-General. Allow me to pass my condolences to the family of Nomhle Tshaba Nyumba, chairperson of the Mpumalanga, South African Women in Construction, SAWIC, who passed on Friday the
19 July 2019. Their loss is equally felt by all of us. We appreciate the role played by SAWIC in the department in ensuring that women play an important role in construction.
Hon Chair, it is a great privilege to deliver this speech, when the country is celebrating 25 years of democracy and the provision of more than 4,7 million housing opportunities to our people. With the lingering poverty, unemployment and inequality in our country, this makes all the achievements and strives we have in this regard seem less essential. However, in an effort to accelerate economic growth, there is a need to build a modern developmental state that has the means to drive economic and social transformation.
On Monday 22 July 2019, as delegated by Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, myself and Deputy Minister, David Mahlobo visited Ntokozweni ward 17 in Baziya in the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality, KSD, where thorough consultations and engagements with the three spheres of government and the community agreed on a way forward to address the challenges they are faced with. Hon Chair, following our visit to this village on Monday, we have agreed that the provincial Department of Human Settlements as a matter of urgency will facilitate the construction of houses destroyed during 2016 and 2018 disasters.
The province has already applied for approval to expand the scope of work of the appointment of contractor to ensure that all identified beneficiaries benefit including child-headed household of 22-year old Amanda Mcoboki, the head of a family of that resides with her siblings in a rented rondavel after both disasters of 2016 and 2018. We are looking forward in working with the Eastern Cape government, KSD Municipality and OR Tambo District Municipality in ensuring that we restore dignity of the people of Ntokozweni.
We will continue to strengthen our efforts to deliver housing and support the SMMEs to play an active in the Human Settlements Value Chain. We have seen that, building houses through the People's Housing Process, PHP, model works. It delivers a large of impact thereof, results in capacity building, empowerment programmes and job creation. The department has supported the establishment of construction and non-construction cooperatives to deliver various services in the Human Settlements Value Chain.
We will, through implementation of the PHP or Zenzeleni Housing Campaign, address housing for vulnerable communities including Military Veterans. Upgrading of informal settlements and allocation of service sites in turn increase the rate of delivery and makes a huge dent in reversing the house backlog and job creation. A classic
example of this is the successful execution of the PHP programme in the Vulindlela Rural Housing Project in KwaZulu-Natal which will deliver 25 000 housing units on completion and are currently standing at more that 22 000 housing units delivered.
After the minister delegated responsibilities to me with regards to veterans and vulnerable groups, my office in consultation with Minister will engage provinces with regard t the plight of the Military Veterans. I will propose to the Minister for the convening of a consultative conference with Military Veterans with regard to issues related to human settlements. After consulting with the Minister, my office will identify date. This will be done through working with provincial structures of the Military Veterans. Most die having undignified houses, that will have to be addressed urgently.
IsiXhosa:
Basweleka abantu abadala bengazange bazifumana izindlu.
English:
We will also visit and hand over houses project built using this methodology in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality on the Eastern Cape. In Viljoenskroon in the Free Sate, Mossel Bay,
George and Knysna in the Western Cape, is where government is implementing the PHP project. We wish to continue to urge all provinces that have not started implementing the decision of MINMECH to allocate 30% of their budget to women to start doing so. We are going ahead with our Women in the Build Industry Conference in Mpumalanga during the month of August to ensure that we take this conservation to the next level of implementation.
Hon Chair, we are happy to inform that today young people and with disabilities have remained resolute and committed to the cause. We will ensure that they get the necessary support and remove all the unnecessary red tapes and stumbling blocks that hinder their progress going forward. They include Free State disabled entrepreneur, Falcon Reinforced Concrete, Themba Biko, winner of the Govan Mbeki award. As part of my responsibilities my office and the department will engage relevant departments with regards to statistics of unemployed qualified graduates use in all provinces between the ages of 18 and 40. That will be done in consultation with the Department of Labour, Statistics SA and the Social Development with regard to people with disabilities.
This will be done cognisant of the fact that the biasness will be on gender in particular young women. We will also continue to work done
by the former Deputy Minister, Zoe Kota-Fredericks by visiting a social housing project in the Daggafontein in Gauteng being implemented by young the company. Let's Care and the social Housing Regulatory Authority. We remain resolute in our endeavour to create jobs and fight unemployment especially amongst the youth. We will continue in facilitating skills transfer and job creation opportunities in the build environment. We call on government and private sector to ensure that 10% of mega projects, 10% of all human settlement projects contracts, 20% allocation of service sites favours the youth.
We will ensure that young people also have access to professional development like bursaries and scholarships, conveyance through provision of title deeds, learnership through estate agents affairs and construction education training authority pathway. Hon Chair, ladies and gentlemen, we embark on this new dawn. We call on all sectors, stakeholders, the youth, women and people with disabilities to be at the forefront of their own development thereby creating an active citizenship. I thank you. [Applause]
Hon Chairperson and Deputy of the NCOP, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members of the House, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to be
with you this afternoon as the country is about to conclude the birthday celebrations of one of the greatest and finest sons the world has ever produced, Isithwalandwe, UTata Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.
I am certain that this is not a coincidence that we have gathered here today, to debate about basic human rights which are matters that were very close to his heart. President Mandela knew that our country will never be entirely free unless all our people live in harmony, with equal opportunities and especially that all their basic rights are adhered to, like a decent shelter for all and a right to clean water and sanitation.
In order to substantiate my comment, I will quote what he said, when he was officially opening Vulindlela Water Supply Scheme in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal on 21 March 1998, I quote:
On this day we reaffirm the lesson of our centuries of struggle, that there can be no lasting peace, no prosperity in our land unless all enjoy freedom and justice as equals.
On this day we rededicate ourselves to the defence of the human rights which are guaranteed in our constitution, the basic law
of our land. And we recall our pledge as a nation that never again shall one be oppressed by another.
Our experience, and the experience of all humanity, also tells us that our rights will remain without their real substance unless there are real improvement in the lives of our people.
It is as if he knew that on this day during his birthday month we shall gather here and discuss human rights issues so that all our people, black and white, especially, the poor and vulnerable could walk tall with pride and dignity and say, Africa is free; South Africa is free and so we are. Our people are now impatient; they want to see change in their lives.
Hon chairperson, on behalf of the people of the province, the home of legends, I would like to express my gratitude for the speed in which hon Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, has moved to consult with all the provinces' various stakeholders and partners to craft a way forward immediately after she was appointed by the president of the Republic.
As a result of this, when we were here in the National Assembly to witness and support her presenting a Budget Vote, we were confident
that there was a clear way forward with regards to the implementation of human settlements, water and sanitation programmes. The leadership of our democratic government has worked hard to improve lives of our people in the above regard.
The improvement was done within a short space of 25 years, as against the mess that was caused by one of the cruelest regimes the world has ever seen for centuries. The Eastern Cape provincial government commits to be working you, hon Minister and your collective in support of Cabinet as you transform the system and democratise water sector.
We need to speedily change the current picture. Our country and its people cannot afford to see the current situation where 95% of licensed water volume remains in the hands of white commercial farmers. What can black emerging farmers do with 5% of water volume? Most of these black emerging farmers reside in the most rural provinces like Eastern Cape. Furthermore, it is a cause for concern that over 3 million people do not have access to basic water supply and 14,1 million do not have access to sanitation.
The majority of these are in the townships, rural areas and small towns. We appreciate the fact that our government is working
tirelessly to change the situation, and we acknowledge that there is more than R53 billion to address water infrastructure and sanitation. However, there is still more to be done in this regard. Water infrastructure and sanitation need more budget.
Your passion in partnering with private sector and other important partners will surely assist to a great extent. The provincial government of the Eastern Cape is very excited that the department, amongst other projects that is intending to implement, is UmZimvubu Water Project to revive UmZimvubu Dam. We really applaud you Minister and your department for this progressive initiative.
In the same vein, we appreciate that there is a move to approach Cabinet to declare all major dams the national key points. This is indeed a good move. Hon Chairperson, in the context of human settlements in province for this current financial year, we have decided to implement the broader policy priorities of the sector by focussing on the following:
We will up scale the housing opportunities with special focus and prioritisation of destitute, vulnerable groups and military veterans and by enhancing human settlements with social amenities and also do registration and issue title deeds to homeowners. Concerning youth
and women empowerment, we will increase the empowerment opportunities for small, medium and micro enterprises, SMMEs.
We will also strengthen community education and awareness on various housing instruments and the continuous use of application of alternative and innovative building technologies. Furthermore, we will uncompromisingly create opportunities for women in the area of construction of human settlements in the province. We have set a target of 30% for women in our delivery plans to ensure fair representation of women contractors. [Applause.]
The provincial government also appreciates the fact that it has been identified for catalytic projects which as of now, are pilot projects. One of our catalytic projects is Zanemvula Housing Project in Port Elizabeth which consists of the following: The Chatty with 491 units, which is meant for military veterans; Chatty extension 3 and 4 with 1 687 units; Jachtvlagte, with 553 units; Chatty extension 5 and 15, with 1 060 units; Despatch Florida Heights Mixed Node with 639 units and Uitenhage Doornhoek, with 40 units.
Out of this total of 4 270, we have already completed 2 029 units. Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, the apartheid spatial planning tried on dividing our people along racial lines. In the Sixth Administration,
our provincial government will build integrated communities where there is no exclusive residence for blacks and whites. The province aims at using available parcels of state land to develop integrated human settlements with all the necessary amenities including schools, clinics and sporting facilities.
To get the desired outcomes from the undertaking, the provincial government ill fix local government sphere. We have an urgent task of building the capacity at our local level of government in such a way that it is able to serve as the spearhead of effective and efficient service delivery. In this way, the province is going to improve the lives and sustainability of Operation Masiphathisane towards a ward-based model of development.
In order to achieve the above, the provincial government will ensure that it addresses both administrative and political instability which we see as the root cause of challenges facing our municipalities. Furthermore, provincial government will support municipalities in planning, budgeting and integration of intergovernmental infrastructure project pipelines.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, looking at the above mentioned programme of action, it is clear that we are faced with a mammoth
task and we are confident that the department will do what is supposed to do with the magic that we are having within us as leaders of Tata Nelson Mandela. We dare not fail. Let us epitomise Tata Nelson Mandela and make a difference in people's lives.
Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, the Eastern Cape Province supports the budget of Human Settlements and the budget of Water and Sanitation Departments.
Chairperson, Minister of Human Settlement, Water and Sanitation, the Deputy Ministers and Members of the Executive Council, MECs, present, Members of the NCOP, the ANC's 52nd National Conference at Polokwane pronounced that a developmental state must ensure that our national resource endowments, including land, water, minerals and marine resources, are exploited to effectively maximise the growth, development and employment potential embedded in such national assets, and not purely for profit maximisation. The Freedom Charter, too, remains our inspiration and our strategic guide to realising a better life and a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it.
As an ANC-led government, we are building a capable developmental state that has improved the lives of millions of our people.
Millions of people have houses, electricity and access to clean drinking water. Providing access to clean water for all has been the goal of the ANC. In 1994, only six out of ten South Africans had access to clean drinking water. Today, that figure has increased to nearly nine out of ten South Africans.
The Chairperson of the NCOP: Hon members, can you please just ... [Inaudible.] Please, proceed.
Few countries in the world have succeeded in expanding vital services such as water, sanitation, electricity, roads and housing to so many people in such a short time.
We are proud of the progress we have made and we will continue to ensure the roll-out and provision of water infrastructure is prioritised so that clean water is made available to all South Africans. We are aware that sustainable use of our water resources and making water affordable are central to achieving this goal. Access to water as a basic right is contained within the Bill of Rights in our Constitution. Our government has the responsibility to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.
The United Nation, UN, has recognised the right to water and sanitation as a human right in 2010. Goal six of the Sustainable Development Goal, SDG, encompasses access to water and sanitation for all by 2030. In terms of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which were the predecessor of the SDGs, South Africa has met its target for reaching the MDG for access to safe drinking water with moderate progress in reaching the sanitation target.
The National Development Plan's, NDP proposes improving water and sanitation infrastructure by prioritising new key water schemes to supply urban and industrial centres and establishing a national water conservation programme. The expectation is also for the sector to contribute to the creation of 11 million jobs by 2030; provide basic services to rural communities; to increase their capabilities and thus take advantage of economic opportunities; as well as to professionalise the public service and attract high calibre candidates. Commitment to implement the NDP is reflected in the Medium Term Strategic Framework, MTSF, 2014-2019, with specific actions that the sector should implement over the five year period.
South Africa is a water scarce country with an average annual rainfall that is far below the global average of 860 mm per year. While the recent drought in South Africa has largely been
responsible for water shortages in many parts of the country, a number of other factors such as ageing infrastructure, climate change, pollution, leaks and alien vegetation also contribute to water scarcity and challenges in the water sector. The proper management of water resources is therefore important to prevent water shortages and the interruption of critical water services.
While access to water and sanitation infrastructure and services in South Africa has improved significantly since 1994. However, due to population growth and urbanisation, an increasing number of people are migrating to the bigger metropolitan areas, resulting in a rising number of households in need of water and sanitation services. This in effect means that government needs to keep up with hat has been referred to as a moving target. This also points to the need for better coordination between Department of Water and Sanitation and Department of Human Settlements.
In terms of ensuring a responsive, accountable, effective and efficient local government, the department has detailed its plans and provided good results in the area of percentage of households with access to functional water services from 85% in 2013 to 90% by 2019. Furthermore, increase the percentage of households with access
to a functional sanitation from 84% in 2013 to 90% by 2019, including the elimination of bucket sanitation in the formal areas.
It is on this note that the ANC wishes to take this opportunity to commend the Minister on her commitment to ensuring that the Department eradicates the bucket systems within six months of the 2019-20 financial year. The annual target for 2019-20 the number of existing bucket sanitation backlog systems in formal settlements replaced with adequate sanitation services is 12 221. As a committee, we will ensure that we provide oversight over this and many other plans of the department. In this regard as well, there is a need to be greater co-ordination between the Department of Water and Sanitation and the Department of Human Settlements to ensure proper planning and eradication of bucket sanitation practices as well as the mushrooming of informal settlements.
The War on Leaks Programme was conceptualised to stop water leaks in households, schools, clinics and other public buildings. The project also assists with job creation and training of youth in basic plumbing and related skills. This project not only assist with job creation and the prevention of water losses, but also helps to save money, as water losses amount to about R7 billion per annum. At project inception in 2015, the War on Leaks programme was estimated
at R3,9 billion. However, the department had not properly budgeted for this programme. As a result, the War on Leaks initiative has persistently been financed through other sources of funds within the budgets of the water trading entity and main account. From inception to date, expenditure on this programme amounts to R2,7 billion, most of which has resulted in unauthorised expenditure.
The unfortunate reality is that, in an audit conducted in 2018, it found that nearly 4 000 schools across the country still have inappropriate sanitation facilities. The most recent victim to this was a five-year-old girl who sadly died after falling into a pit toilet at a primary school in the Eastern Cape in 2018. In relation to this, the Minister of Basic Education in a statement following this tragedy indicated that the death of a child in such an undignified manner is completely unacceptable, and incredibly disturbing. We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families who have lost their children to this undignified tragedy. Which is why, as the ANC, we wish to welcome the launch of the Safe School Sanitation Initiative that took place in August last year.
In echoing the words of the President at the launch of the Sanitation Appropriate for Education or SAFE: Initiative, this is an initiative that will save lives and restore the dignity of tens of
thousands of our nation's children. It is our constitutional demands. All available resources have been mobilised, including pledges from business, strategic partners, and the building industry to replace all unsafe toilets in public schools
The SAFE initiative will spare generations of young South Africans the indignity, discomfort and danger of using pit latrines and other unsafe facilities in our schools?
In the state of the nation address, infrastructure was identified as a critical area of investment that supports structural transformation, growth and job creation. The new approach that government has adopted, will include greater cooperation between the private and public sectors, as well as local communities and will also include financial and institutional measures to boost construction and prioritise water infrastructure, roads and student accommodation through a more efficient use of budgeted money. Furthermore, as part of efforts to provide employment through the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, labour intensive areas like maintenance, clearing vegetation, plugging water leaks and constructing roads will be focused on.
Water pollution is a serious problem from both an environmental and a socio- economic perspective. Apart from the fact that water pollution reduces or limits the utilisation value of water, it also places a burden on society due to the need for primary treatment, the costs associated with such processes, and the additional impacts on the economy. Furthermore, public health is often at risk as a result of poor water quality.
In 2018 there were incidents of water pollution complaints in the Midvaal and Emfuleni municipalities about the impact of sewage leaking into the Vaal River. This resulted in technical teams of the South African National Defence Force, SANDF, being deployed to the Vaal Area where they assisted with addressing the severe water pollution in the region. The pollution was as a result of vandalism, neglect and poor maintenance at treatment infrastructure and drains. This resulted in the contamination of the Vaal River and caused sewage spills in neighbourhoods. Critical repairs have been done and treatment stations had to be protected by troops.
Furthermore, in July 2019, a truck was seen dumping raw sewage into the Mthatha dam in the Eastern Cape. We condemn such actions with the contempt it deserves and what was also absurd was the R2 000 fines imposed on the private company by the municipality. This fine
is clearly insufficient to cover damages and or deter similar future misconduct.
This highlights the urgent need by the department for increased monitoring and enforcement in the water sector, as well as the need to review the instruments available to government departments and municipalities to ensure more realistic fines and punishment for transgressions.
There have been continuous concerns on the many challenges the department faces at the municipal level in relation to the delivery of water services. These challenges include poor maintenance and refurbishment of infrastructure, which result in, among other things, increased interruptions in supply and high levels of unaccounted for water; poor management of wastewater treatment works resulting in deteriorating raw water quality; slow delivery of sanitation services and inadequate cost recovery in the water services sector? We thus, urge the department to ensure that the Intergovernmental Relations Framework of work between the three spheres of government must be strengthened, especially in terms of service delivery of basic services, such as water and sanitation.
The department received a qualified audit opinion in 2018-19. The Auditor- General, AG, indicated that there was material uncertainty relating to the viability of the Department as a going concern. This was ascribed to an overdraft of R119 million accumulative unauthorised expenditure of R933 million, accruals and payables to the value of billion R2,005 billion. Consequently, the department would not be able to start any new projects in the medium term.
The department is regressing and the AG indicated that this is because ofa breakdown in leadership and management. The Water Trading Entity, WTE, also received a qualified opinion as the value of the departments assets, stated at 95 billion were not a reliable figure. There were also recurrent findings of irregular expenditure.
The legal claims against the Department was recorded at more than R100 million for both the main account and the WTE. These claims are growing every year. The AG has indicated that these claims pose a financial risk to the department and should be urgently resolved.
At the end of 2017-201 8, the Department had a vacancy rate of 13%, with only 6 911 out of the 7 946 position that were filled. Reasons for vacancies not being advertised or filled were attributed to
Budget constraints imposed by National Treasury, which led to reprioritisation of more critical posts being advertised.
In addition, the Department performed poorly by achieving only 52% of its total targets, while spending 97% of its Budget. This is despite the fact that some of the planned targets were adjusted during the year under review.
Delays and lack of implementation of the majority of the projects is attributed to the procurement process, such as the appointment of contractors, designs and lack of funds. All these delays negatively affected provision of water and sanitation and the creation of job opportunities. The projects that could not be implemented were amongst others, the Tzaneen dam; Clanwilliam; Umzimvubu and ORWRDP 2D, 2E, 2F. It is worth noting that majority of these targets were not met in 2016-17 either. This is also a result of poor management of projects.
A case in point is Giyani in Limpopo. In 2009, Giyani was declared a disaster area, and as a result, the Department of Water and Sanitation resolved to find solutions to the water challenges in respect of limited or lack of appropriate water and sanitation infrastructure. In 2014 the Minister issued a directive to Lepelle
North Water Board to regularise water and sanitation services within the Mopani District. Of particular concern in this region were the Giyani Waste Water Treatment Works, the Giyani Water Reticulation Plan and the lack of water supply by the municipality to the Nkensani Hospital.
A budget of R502,5 million was approved for this project. Despite challenges encountered, the Giyani Water Treatment Works was refurbished and upgraded from 18 mega litres to 36,7 megalitres and currently operates at 36.7 megalitres. Of the 55 villages that were to benefit from the Giyani Water Treatment Works, bulk water reaches 42 whilst the 13 are supplemented or solely dependent on boreholes.
There have been several incidences of vandalism of infrastructure which was a severe challenge affecting the water supply and presented operation and maintenance challenges. Furthermore, illegal connections resulted in unbilled water for which the municipalities could not derive payment.
Concerns have been raised regarding the Mopani District Municipality and the Greater Giyani Local Municipality in respect of the ongoing operation and maintenance of Giyani Water Treatment Works and the Giyani Waste Water Treatment works, which was still under the
operation of the appointed service provider, Lepelle North Water Board.
However, the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS 2018 also paid specific attention to the Giyani Water Project and stated that it was plagued by malfeasance and was a cesspool of corruption". It stated that a new delivery and financing model was necessary for delivering water services to communities and that a key element of the new approach will be a stronger focus on project management and contract governance to ensure that projects are fit for purpose and maximise value for money in the water sector.
The water and sanitation sector plays an important strategic role not only in terms of providing basic services, but in ensuring that human rights and dignity are upheld. Ensuring a capable and well- resourced department responsible for the management and protection of critical water resources should be a key priority and we will as a committee intensify over-sight over this department p ensure that the department fulfils its mandate. The ANC supports the Budget Vote on Water and Sanitation with the conditions that the chairperson had already alluded to over committee. Thank you, Chair.
As hon Moletsane approaches the podium, let me indicate some minor changes regarding the speaker's list. Hon Ncitha will now speak for eleven minutes instead of the original sixteen. Hon Mahlobo will speak for fourteen minutes, not nine as indicated in the speaker's list and hon Cloete replaces the other FF Plus speaker. So, Cloete is now going to be speaker number eight not as Du Toit. Please, proceed.
Hon Chair, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members and fellow South Africans. South African Constitution Section 26 explicitly states that everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing." It then goes on to say that, the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right."
For 25 years the ANC government has violated the constitutional rights of millions of South Africans. We currently have a housing waiting list of just fewer than 4 million people and every day this list is growing. You come here to brag about all the RDP houses you have built, but what is the quality of those RDP houses. The Constitution says that everybody has the right to adequate housing. L m placing emphasis on the adequate part, because many of the
houses built by your department cannot be classified as adequate We have RDP houses falling apart everyday, with weak foundation and leaks in the roofs. That is why your department spent over R6 million in the 2017/18 financial year alone repairing RDP houses that were built. This bad quality is a result of your department reliance on outside contractors who receive tenders to build these houses. But these tenders are not given to people based on quality of work or price, but on who they know in the ruling party.
Tenders for human settlements are being used to enrich comrades in the ANC and their families and friends. The results of these were houses of such poor quality that they need to be repaired all the time. In the Free State we saw how Ace Magashule did the exact thing that I am talking about, to enrich his family. We need to have a state-owned housing construction company, and your department needs to build internal capacity. So that instead of relying on tenders the state builds the houses itself.
This will do three things, it will save money; improve the quantity and quality of houses being built; and it will create jobs. Another issue that your department needs to address as a matter of urgency is the continued evictions of in ANC and DA led municipalities all across the country. Things were quiet before the elections, the
moment the results were announced municipalities unleashed a massive onslaught against our people whose only sin was simply to build houses for themselves.
The municipal police, along with the help of dodgy private security, busy evicting our people everywhere, from Gauteng and the Free State, to the Eastern Cape and KZN. The ANC has been using the law selectively to keep African people homeless in this country. This clearly shows that the ANC government is not committed to resolving the housing crisis in this country. The budget presented here is unable to deal with the housing challenges facing our people, and cannot address the legacy of centuries of colonialism and apartheid.
The dispossession of African land in the country; the uneven development of cities; the poor employment prospects in the countryside have caused massive urban sprawl that your policy makers have been unable to handle. We know have thousands of people flocking into Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban each and every year because there are no opportunities in this country. But the state is not out of options, and can resolve the housing crisis if there is political will to do so.
This can be done through the following: Do away with apartheid spatial planning and expropriate land without compensation closer to inner city centres to build sustainable housing for all; create a housing access coordinating unit that involves national, provincial and local government which will regularly report to the Presidency on progress with housing provision, the elimination of slums and the provision of dignified sanitation; improve the quality and size of low-cost houses through the state housing construction company; ensure that the state regulates housing finance by providing housing finance that does not exceed a period of ten years; guarantee integrated human settlements that will in the real sense be definitive of all settlements led by the state and that will be equipped with guaranteed bulk services such as water provision, electricity, sewerage systems, parks and recreation facilities; convert unused state buildings into affordable housing for the poor, offering people long-term secured leaseholds to these buildings.
If your government does not take our advice and follow the steps that we have outlined there, the housing crisis in South Africa will only worsen. Until that happens we will reject this budget vote. I thank you.
As hon Cloete comes to the podium, one more announcement is that the five minutes allocated to hon Mahlobo will now goes to hon Minister.
Today we debate water but the pressing question this department needs to ask, is which water? Again, like we said so many times municipalities are the biggest perpetrators for our residents experiencing water shortages. We hear the appeals towards resident to use water sparingly, but residents are not the main culprits, Minister. Minister, you admitted in your budget speech that municipalities fail to deliver water to the people. You stated that they do not have the infrastructure to deal with the multiplicity of what is required of them. High levels of debt that municipalities have, impacts on, I quote, "the value chain and on the overall financial sustainability of the sector" whatever that means.
No Chairperson, municipal debt is infringing our rights to services and water let call it what it is. Scapegoating the previous regime's spatial planning and service policies forever will not work anymore, minister. The nine Water Boards, which were created under this ANC government, as well as the department combined are currently owed R14 billion mostly by ANC's municipalities for raw water and other water services It remains ironic that this side of ANC government
own this side of ANC government money. Indeed we need to recover this.
Afrikaans:
Die VF Plus moes in April vanjaar 'n strafregtelike klag teen die munisipale bestuurder van die Mafube Plaaslike Munisipaliteit en die res van sy munisipale bestuurspan indien oor die storting van rouriool in die Wilgerivier by Frankfort.
Die munisipaliteit, wat Frankfort, Villiers, Cornelia en Tweeling bedien, se rioolwerke is buite werking weens grond en klippe in die riooldam en wanneer die aanleg wel funksioneer, is dit net vir 'n kort rukkie. Riool loop ook op verskeie ander plekke in die Wilgerivier.
English:
To my Gauteng delegates I would like to say sewerage is running into the Wigelriver which running into the Vaal River which run into your dams. And then there is the Mangaung Municipality where residents have been plagued by water restrictions owing to non-payment by the municipality. The result: pipes bursts again and water interruptions occur again Last year, poor maintenance by the ANC in Mangaung
resulted in the Metro wasting more than 13 billion litres of water due to leakages that were not repaired.
This was according to your predecessor, hon Minister. Now, if we convert it, that Metro wasted more than 36 million litres of water per day. Based on the Metro's own tariffs, the value of the water that has gone to waste amounts to more than R233 million. That is in one metro.
Afrikaans:
Maar die prentjie lyk nie veel beter vir die res van die land nie. R3 miljard se water is in die 2016-17 boekjaar deur munisipaliteite in Gauteng vermors.
In Noordwes word water in Matlosana by Klerksdorp uit die Vaalrivier gepomp, maar die suiweringsaanleg funksioneer nie en amper die helfde van die water word weer net so in die rivier teruggepomp.
English:
Last year the Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation reprimanded the Department of Water and Sanitation for and I quote, "laxity" in releasing Green and Blue Drop reports since 2014. The committee said it was unacceptable that the 2016 reports were still
in draft stage in 2018 and we are still waiting for that report if I'm not mistaken. The committee itself said that it was of the view that, listen to this, the department officials are getting paid for doing nothing. In a report last year by the department of water and sanitation, the following challenges were identified by this department: Aging infrastructure including vandalism and lack of operations and maintenance; lack of implementation of risk management plans of water safety and limited technical expertise available within the department.
Minister you have little time today to speak about really pressing issue but you also have little time to fix our water problems as well. Stop blaming and start taking responsibility for your ANC failures. I thank you.
Thank you very Chair, the Deputy Chair, the Ministers and Deputy Ministers present, the special delegates from our provinces, the South African Local Government Association, SALGA, delegations, colleagues good afternoon. The ANC's approach to state power is informed by the Freedom Charter and the principle that The People Shall Govern. The attainment of power by the ANC is a means to fulfil the will of the people and ensure a better life for all. Thus, the primary priority of the ANC-led government, insofar as
managing municipal spaces for radical socioeconomic transformation is concerned.
We acknowledge that while urbanisation has many benefits for a country's population, it increases the burden on government to provide the key social services such as adequate housing and shelter, running water and sanitation. The delivery of low cost houses has been the ANC-led government's success story since 1994. We cannot run away from that - with nearly four million houses built for the poor. Yet an estimated one million people do not have registered title deeds for their homes they already live in.
In the past, the department experienced challenges in addressing the backlog of issuing of title deeds. For instance, in the 2017-18 reporting year, there was a total of 81 929 pre and post 1994 title deeds issued as reported by the provinces. Yet, the national department verification exercise totalled to 41 841.
The inconsistency in reporting outcomes thus resulted in a stand alone grant which was recently introduced to improve the national department's control over the performance outputs. In order to fast track the eradication of the backlog in the registration of title deeds for beneficiaries of subsidised housing, a special title deed
conditional grant has been implemented from 1st April 2018 to finance this programme.
We echo the sentiments outlined in the report on the high level panel in its recommendation:
Well situated urban land must be prioritised for social housing, both through expropriation, and through reviewing the conditions under which State-owned enterprises, SOEs, hold and dispose of well situated land.
It is to this end that the Housing Development Agency and the Social Housing Regulatory Authority are at the forefront of reclaiming well located state land and property situated in urban areas. This is the right direction and the progressive collaboration required as we journey towards dismantling historical spatial patterns and constructing integrated communities in South Africa.
Another initiative driven by the department is that of the Social Housing Programme, with an aim of creating affordable rental housing stock in South Africa's major urban areas which will ultimately free its occupants from ongoing government dependency, and will contribute to the restructuring of urban areas. The Department of
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, DPME's impact assessment of this programme found that -
The programme has delivered values for money in relation to the conversion of public funds into viable rental stock in the medium to long term. The relatively high levels of directed purpose, transparency, control and regulation, and delivery of accommodation in relation to the public money invested, exceeds most other public subsidy programmes.
The provision of housing opportunities through state subsidies also forms a key element in the work of the department as it bridges the gap between the haves and have nots and promotes inclusion in an otherwise exclusionary economy. These housing opportunities are unlocked by the initiatives such as the Government Employees Scheme, Finance Linked Subsidy Programme and the Rural Housing Loan Fund. Together, these funds facilitate access to housing credit to low income households and those in the gap market. The availability of these funds is a response to the ANC's manifesto where we committed to working with financial institutions and social partners to increase the provision of capital for housing.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, in February this year, equally announced that -
The Housing Development Agency will construct an additional 500 000 housing units in the next five years, and an amount of R30 billion will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfil their respective mandates.
We acknowledge that our people do not have full knowledge of these progressive finance initiatives aimed at ensuring that our people have housing opportunities and are not discriminated against, based on class, gender or economic status and location. We urge the department to extend its reach and ensure awareness programmes are implemented so that our people can take full advantage of the housing opportunities provided by the ANC-led government.
With the world fast approaching the fourth industrial revolution, the role of the Development Finance Institutions, DFI's, in terms of ensuring that Africa is not left behind will be crucial. To this regard, the ANC welcomes the launch of the Human Settlements Development Bank that was announced by Minister of Human Settlements in 2017. As reflected in her 2017 Budget Speech:
The bank will facilitate the increased provision of finance across the human settlements value chain, and the specific priority for the bank in this respect is the mobilisation of and the provision of finance for all planned catalytic projects.
We also want to see the operationalisation of the Human Settlements Development Bank in this financial year as this bank will play a significant role in changing the face of human settlements in South Africa. Chairman Mao has this to say:
Our duty is to hold ourselves responsible to the people. Every word, every act and every policy must conform to the people's interest, and if mistakes occur, they must be corrected. That is what being responsible to the people means.
Thank you very much.
Hon Chairperson, although significant progress has been made in bringing the supply of water and sanitation to previously disadvantaged areas in South Africa. There are still many underserviced areas particularly in our remote rural areas and informal settlements. Chairperson, ...
IsiZulu:
... Ngqongqoshe ngithi angikhale lapha kuwena. Kune zindawo KwaZulu-Natal ezinenkinga, Zululand, uMkhanyakude, Ilembe ngibala ezincane nje. Sihlalo bengingazibala zonke uma bekunesikhathi. Lezi zindawo zinenkinga yamanzi awabonwa nangalikhasha. Ezikoleni amanzi awabonwa, emitholampilo amanzi awabonwa, ezakhiweni zikahulumeni amanzi awabonwa. Ngiyacela Sihlalo ukuba ungicelele kuNgqongqoshe ukuba uma ngimnikeza lesabiwomali enze isiqiniseko sokuthi lezi zindawo uyazibheka.
Inkinga enkulu eyokuthi kunamapayipi amanzi agcwele phansi uma uthi uvula umpompi amanzi akaphumi. Kunamapayipi alele eduze nomgwaqo okufuneka ngabe afakwe phansi. Lokhu kusho ukuthi kunenkinga ekhona ekusebenzeni amanzi kulezi zindawo. Into ozoyibona ke Sihlalo nawe Ngqongqoshe yiziteleka, abantu bateleka ekuseni nantambama kanye nasebusuku batelekela ukuthi amanzi akekho endaweni. Ngiyazinxusela Sihlalo ukuba uNgqongqoshe azibheke lezi zinto. Abheke nokunye okungadala amanzi abekhona njengemithombo [borehole.] nokuvikelwa kwamanzi esiphethu njalo njalo ukuze abantu bathole amanzi.
English:
We see that government housing projects and tenders have again been approved and yet, there is no action from government to begin the
building of social houses. Chairperson, I call on the Minister to investigate in this regard. Another critical issue is the poor state of many of our hostels, which are underdeveloped and in a poor state of repair. A simple visit to any hostel in KwaMashu, Glebelands, Thokoza, Daveyton or Sebokeng will show this to be the case. In many instances, as well as the people living in these hostels, live in subhuman conditions, many of which could be comparable to the living conditions of animals and livestock in the same instances or even worse. However, as the IFP, we appreciate that in other hostels there are developments that has been done, but still there is a lot to be done.
IsiZulu:
Ngalezi izizathu engizibeke lapha kuyangiphoqa ukuba uNgqongqoshe ngimnikeze isabiwomali ukuze lezi zinto zenzeke. Ngiyabonga. [Ihlombe.]
Fighters in the House, ...
IsiZulu:
... izivakashe zethu kanye nama-fighter emakhaya ngiyanibingelela.
English:
On 28 July, the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 64/292 recognised the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights. Our Constitution explicitly states that everyone has the right to water.
Minister, it is your department that is mandated to realise the basic human right of access water and sanitation for our people. But for the last 25 years, your department has failed to realise this mandate. This is because of corruption, incompetence and an unwillingness to reverse four centuries of dispossession and the unequal allocation of resources. Because of the failures of your department only 46% of households in South Africa have access to piped water. That means that for more than half our population cannot even get up and turn on the taps in their homesteads have to risk going outside.
In communities like Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, Giyani in Limpopo, Qwaqwa in the Free State and Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal people are going without consistent running water and either rely on water trucks or communal taps and rivers in their communities. In Jozini there is no reason our people not to have water. There is a dam in
the community, but the rights to that water were granted to a white family during apartheid.
In the year 2015 the former Minister and Bosasa employee Nomvula Mokonyane went to Jozini and promised the people that the dam would go from the single purpose use, to multipurpose use, and that the water from the dam must be used to provide services to the communities. It is now four years later and the people of Jozini still have no water. Why is the government allowing whites to own private dams, while the black majority does not have access to water? Wherever our people are having trouble accessing water, you also find that they are not being provided with dignified sanitation.
In communities and schools across the country, our people are relieving themselves in pit toilets, in the bushes and in buckets. According to Statistics SA only 61% of South African households use a flushing toilet connected to the public sewerage system. We are still faced with the sad reality of children dying because they have drowned in the pit toilets.
The government's inability to deliver basic water and sanitation, is worsening a global and local water scarcity that is only going to
continue. In Cape Town, we have seen the first signs and this water crisis has spread to Makhanda and other parts of the Eastern Cape, not forgetting Vaal. You know what's going on in the Vaal.
That is why government must not only increase access to water infrastructure, but it must also upgrade and maintain the current infrastructure. Currently Minister, because of the crumbling water infrastructure, we are losing one trillion litres of water due to leaks annually. Water that could be treated and recycled back into the water system is being wasted. The government must fix leaks, and there must be functional water treatment plants in every province. But this cannot happen if corruption is allowed to continue in the department without consequences for those who are involved.
It is because of corruption that the people of Giyani still do not have water. It is because of corruption that the R3 billion allocated in fixing water leaks has yielded no results, and has led to billions in unauthorised expenditure. It is because of corruption that the Bucket Eradication Programme ran out of a budget without meeting its targets. It is because of corruption and mismanagement that funding allocated to the department is now being used for overdraft payments, instead of for service delivery.
The government committed to service delivery could ensure that each household has access to house sanitation and hot running water by 2024. This is not difficult, and for this to happen the following steps must be taken. Ten thousand artisans must be employed to repair and construct the country's water infrastructure, and also expand it. These artisans must be plumbers and engineers, who repair leaks, build new piping and construct new facilities.
The backlog of 210 000 kilometers of piping for water and sanitation must be prioritised and every community must be connected to the water and sanitation plumbing system. All schools must be prioritised for flushing toilets and the department must work with the Minister of Basic Education.
All water treatment plants must be repaired, and new ones must be built. Minister, it is these sorts of plans and programmes which will provide water and sanitation to our people and guarantee them the dignity promised to them in the Constitution. However, they do not find expression in this Budget Vote. That is why the EFF rejects the Budget Vote, Minister. [Applause.]
MR T SIMMERS (WESTERN CAPE MEC-HUMAN SETTLENTS): Hon chairperson,
the National Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation,
hon Sisulu, the Deputy Ministers, hon Members of the NCOP and fellow South Africans. Firstly, let me take this opportunity to thank you for affording me the opportunity to delivery my first speech as the Western Cape MEC- Human Settlements in the NCOP today.
Afrikaans:
Dit is egter ook 'n jammerte vir my dat daar 'n konstante selektiewe narratief is dat die Wes-Kaap se DA-beheerde regering nie vir sy mense omgee nie, want dit is van alle waarheid ontneem. Ek gaan hierdie individue, wat hierdie narratief konstant dryf, aanraai om in Riebeek-Wes 'n draai te gaan maak, waar ek drie weke terug vir 'n 92-jarige voormalige plaaswerker en sy 85-jarige vrou, vir die eerste keer, trotse huiseienaars gemaak het. Gaan vra vir hulle of hierdie regering nie omgee nie.
Miskien moet hierdie selfde individue wie hierdie narratief dryf ook 'n draai gaan maak in Wupperthal, waar ek Maandag 53 tydelike residensile wonings oorhandig het, nadat 'n katastrofiese wegholbrand hierdie Morawiese sendingstasie amper verwoes het. Vra vir hulle of hierdie regering nie omgee nie.
English:
Chairperson, it is time that people need to get their facts straight before criticising this DA governed province, as we are and will continue to make intangible and empowering difference in the lives of our people, in fact since 2009 until the end of last year, this provincial government delivered just under 213 000 quality housing opportunities to its people and the current projects in our pipeline by 2022 we will deliver a further 105 000 quality housing opportunities through our various catholic and provincial prioritise projects across our province.
Chairperson, to ensure that we are going to achieve this 105 000 target, we have introduce three radical drivers: firstly is to radically accelerate the delivery of housing opportunities across our province. Secondly to radically implement the implementation of innovative solutions to ensure that number one can happen and last not least an indicated approach to human settlements. Now chair, radical does not equate to be violent, militant, [16:00:34] or rude.
Instead it means there will be a significant push towards getting our people into houses, but also towards giving people ownership through title deeds of these houses. As in both instances not only are we creating a better life for our people but we are restoring the dignity of our residents given our past and its injustices.
Chairperson, since we coming to be the Provincial Minister just over six weeks ago I have already handed out just over 200 housing units and 52 title deeds. One of our catholic project which is Forest Village which is in Easter River, we are at the moment handing over an average of 25 housing opportunities every second week.
Secondly, hon Chair, at our Belhar [16:01:22] which is also a catholic project by 2021 [16:01:26] 1225 housing opportunities. We are making significant strives to ensure the [16:01:31] programme actually is the success in our province. We recently 245 units have been already handed over, 241 of these units are [16:01:27] and by the end of this month a further 32 [16:01:28] units will be handed over.
Chair, I was quite supportive when I heard the Minister talking about our rural areas because I come from the rural areas of the Western Cape. So as part of our small town regeneration programme I have actually prioritise seven non metro projects and they are firstly the metro grounds in George, where we will [16:02:06] nearly 700 housing opportunities, [16:02:07] which is close 600 housing opportunities, [16:02:07] which is in Kannaland which is close to 400 housing opportunities, Vredenburg which is in Saldahna Bay, [16:02:11] which is in Mossel Bay one and half thousand housing
opportunities, [16:02:10] which is just outside of Oudtshoorn which in nearly 800 housing opportunities and the seventh one is Houston [16:02:31] where we will heal close to 7400 housing opportunities.
This is [16:02:40], this is the caring government, this is the DA government delivery. But chairperson to further accelerate this delivery we will need to focus on certain prioritise, firstly is to direct more resources for the upgrading of our informal settlements and the provision of basic services. Secondly is to increase the affordable and gap housing opportunities across our province.
Along with our [16:03:03] programme and lastly and thirdly prioritising the most deserving people in relation to the allocation of [16:03:05] houses and its no use that we deliver units but the true beneficiaries actually don't obtain these units therefore we will closely monitor that elderly people get these units, people with disabilities, child headed households those who have been the longest on our waiting list and finally backyarder's more particularly backyarder's which are house headed by single mothers.
Afrikaans:
Ek het gehoor hoe ons agterplaasbewoners vir baie jare vir hulp vra en ek het onmiddellik ingestem om in ons provinsie hieraan aandag te gee.
English: A few weeks ago I issued a executive directive to all municipalities in the Western Cape that from now on backyarder's must also be a priority. This means that when ever we identify beneficiaries from the municipal or provincial waiting list backyarder's must be prioritised, as we will work on a 50:50 split within other criteria. So while other have been talking about prioritising backyarder's for many years this DA government has made it official, Chairperson.
Chairperson my colleague the Provincial Minister of Transport and Public Works and I will also engaging about releasing provincial owned land and building which are close to transport the [16:04:20] and economic opportunities and I[16:05:31] our discussions are fruitful and we are making significant progress ...
Afrikaans:
..., want ons is daartoe verbind om mense se lewens te verbeter.
English:
...and through you chair, I would like to suggest to Minister Sisulu actually encourage her colleague the hon Minister of Public Works, Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille to also release the five tracks of allocated national owned land which is Eesterplate, Denel, Collenburg, Youngs field, and Wingfield obviously along with a budget for human settlement development as these key properties can generate 93000 housing opportunities if we can get the land from National government.
Chairperson, we live in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and in this week as the province launch our exciting youth competition to get the young people to design a [16:05:13] or [16:05:15] of a housing APP for citizen to actively and easily access information on government housing assistance and within the next six months to ensure that our beneficiary list is totally electronic, transparent and accessible to all beneficiary in this province.
Afrikaans:
Ons maak ook gebruik van alternatiewe boutegnologie, want in ons Mosselbaaiprojek gaan daar binnekort, die einde van die jaar, 150 eenhede voltooi word. Ons pluk reeds die vrugte van die vyf bestaande eenhede, deur die impak van alternatiewe boutegnologie te monitor. Hierdie eenhede kos tans goedkoper om te bou. Die
beginstigter spaar alreeds op kraggebruik en die impak op die omgewing is ook baie laer, wat natuurlik belangrik is vir volhoubare ontwikkeling.
English: Chairperson, furthermore, we will be also be embarking on creating a smart township concept. These settlements which are homeownership driven and inclusive of all the relevant services will be piloted throughout the province in our exciting projects in our green fields.
The process to establish these innovative integrated townships are already under way and we are looking forward to comments with these pilot project in due course. But all of these can only work chairperson if our citizens takes personal responsibility and we are currently encouraging responsible citizenship amongst our residents particularly for those who are in need of housing assistance from government.
Afrikaans:
Ons dring dus daarop aan dat persone by hul plaaslike behuisingskantore moet registreer. Indien hulle oor die jare geregistreer het, moet hulle seker maak dat hule kontakbesonderhede dieselfde is, sodat hulle ook van die geleenthede gebruik kan maak.
English: In conclusion, as the Western Cape we are committed to accelerate the human settlement delivery. Utilising technology by also promoting social inclusion through the development of integrated resilient and sustainable human settlements all of this in open society. I thank you chairperson.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION (Mr M
D Mahlobo): Hon Chairperson and Deputy Chair of the NCOP, Minister Sisulu, Minister Didiza, Deputy Minister Tshwete, Deputy Minister Skwatsha, MECs who are here, the leadership of SA Local Government Association, Salga, our Chair of the Select Committee, Comrade Dodovu, other members, and the leadership of human settlements, water and sanitation, in the next few days South Africa shall commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the historic women's march held that was held on 9 August 1956. Where in about 20 000 brave women marched to the Union Buildings protesting against the pass laws that were being extended to black women. One of the most important things that we could take out of those women is what they wrote in their petition and I quote:
We shall not rest until we have won for our children their fundamental rights of freedom, justice and security.
We will want to salute the mothers Charlotte Maxeke, Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, Ruth First, Winnie Madikizela- Mandela, Portia Shabangu, Nokuthula Simelane, Edna Molewa and many unsung, heroines of our struggle for freedom.
A lot has been achieved in the last 25 years in changing the lives of our people. However, the ANC government is the first to admit that more still needs to be done. We do not want to come and claim as the hon MEC same as you are claiming. Do not politicise issues of service delivery.
Chairperson, in the last few days I was in Swartlands, they thought their waste water treatment works was the best in the province, but the sewerage was running into the stream. Therefore, we all have problems. We all live in the glass house.
The issues that are raised by the chair of our select committee, Chairperson, we want to confirm that the Minister has decided to actually intervene on the difficulties we shared with you. [Applause.]
The administration is being stabilised. There is an Acting Director- General, DG, Comrade Mbulelo Tshangana. He has been taken away from
human settlements to stabilise, so that we do not have a holy hood. The issues around financial problems we have spoken to, we are the ones who disclosed in the select committee. There is a financial turnaround plan. A team working with Treasury and the Auditor- General working with the acting DG will deal with the issues. Issues of malfeasance, corruption, disciplinary matters will move with speed. [Applause.]
We also have to indicate that Minister Sisulu has spoken about the question of the staff morale that there are good men and women at particular levels. We need to be able to encourage them, but more importantly, the integrity and the morality of those who work in the system, we are going to vet everybody. So that nobody can cast aspersion on them, because we thought that everybody is a rotten apple. That is not the reality.
The importance of water is best captured by Mehmet Murat Ildan and I quote:
For every drop of water you waste, you must know that somewhere on earth someone is desperately looking for a drop of water.
Water is the most critical issue of our lifetime and our children's lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on our land. We live in a country where water is scarce, that and we agree with that one. The Ministry working with the sector, we want to ensure water security for our people so that there is enough water to meet their basic needs, that industry can invest knowing that there is a reliable water supply. However, we cannot guarantee rain for our farmers. However, we can ensure that the irrigation schemes and suppliers are predictable and well managed.
According to Statistics SA, if we tell our true story, we have done well over the last 25 years. The general household survey that was conducted last year indicates that at least 89% of our households have access to water in their own dwellings. We also know that there is about 46,3% of households that have water in their own dwellings while 28,5% access water in their own yards. We have about 2,7% of households that they still have to fetch water in stagnant dams, pools, rivers and streams. As well as compared to 4,3% in 2003. And we are not hiding these difficulties.
That is why the Minister says, three million additional South Africans, we still have to reach them. We know that there are those
that do not have water over some number of days, it has caused certain disruptions and we understand the plight of our people. The plan that we have presented says that, we are making the right investments, innovation and management decisions; we just have to do them on time.
On the question that is being raised of the no availability of the source, while the infrastructure is there, the Minister has directed us to improve our water resource planning so that we can confirm whether ground water will be there, whether surface water will be there, whether wastewater would be able to be reused, so that when we do infrastructure investment our own modelling and water resource planning should be able to respond to that. For we know too, that for any development to happen, there has to be the confirmation of the source.
We have also been told by the Minister that we have to use technology. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already happening in the water business. In our already planning business, we are using complex hydrological models, which can predict the weather and system that can we have water for the next three to six years. We do have it. We are also using satellite images. We are using the big
data analysis. We can also use earth observation into satellite remote sensing. More impotently, we need to use climate focus.
On the question of sanitation, there are these 14 point something million South Africans that do not have sanitation facilities. However, to have sanitation facilities, we must be able to use water being provided. In the mean time when water is not there, there are other sanitation technologies that we must use. Low or no water flushing, waste is locally treated and therefore nonsewered, and we can also beneficiate waste.
Our commitment on eradicating the buckets in the Northern Cape and the Free State remains for those formal settlements. We must be able to qualify formal settlements which are an outstanding backlog.
We are also proceeding that we have no luxury of water. Our water conservation and demand management measures must proceed. Therefore the question of operation and maintenance of our infrastructure is high on the agenda and many institutions are struggling.
The question of education and awareness is important. How do we change our own behaviour on the limited resource?
We must also use the waste water, but more importantly even the acid mine drainage. Increase the groundwater extraction especially for rural communities and use new technologies. Municipalities around coastal towns - the question of desalination are an option, but then there is a catch 22 about the availability of energy and the expensive nature of technology.
On the question that we are exploiting our resources and we are causing problems in our rivers, the Minister has spoken about the problem of water quality. Pollution by industries, agriculture and all other users, including municipalities. She has directed us that from 1 August, we are going to increase our inspectors on the ground. We are not going to increase our inspectors on the ground, but we are also going to increase our eyes in the sky, so that we can deal with what happened there in Mthatha, where we were on 22 July with Mama Pam Tshwete and others. These polluters have nowhere to hide. They will pay and we will prosecute them. [Applause.]
We have taken that the Blue Drop must be back.
Deputy Minister, your time is up.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION (Mr M
D Mahlobo): In closing Chair, we want to quote that the communities of the Eastern Cape, Mahikeng in the North West, Dr J S Moroka in Mpumalanga, Sekhukhune and Giyane in Limpopo, Emfuleni in Gauteng, uMkhanyakude in KwaZulu-Natal, we have heard your plight, we will be coming there, working together with our municipalities and the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, we shall solve our problems. We want to say, let us work together and resolved these issues. We have the capacity. We thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, the former Chairperson of the SA Local Government Association, Salga, the Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, the Chief Whip of the NCOP, hon members, guests in the gallery and MECs present today, I would like to congratulate hon Minister on her appointment to the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation. Welcome back to the human settlements sector and welcome to the water and sanitation sector which together become a formidable portfolio under your leadership. Notwithstanding the progress in the delivery of basic services since 1994, including access to housing, water and electricity, objectives of spatial justice, equity, spatial transformation, inclusive economic growth and development remain elusive.
Many disenfranchised communities continue to be denied access to employment and economic opportunities by being geographical located far from such opportunities and by being structurally excluded from urban land markets in metropolitan areas, intermediary cities and small towns. Government, in particular local government has therefore face challenges in facilitating spatial transformation. The InterMinisterial Committee, IMC on land reform in the fifth administration resolved that Salga and the erstwhile Department of Human Settlements should collaborate in the assembly of land for human settlements.
Municipalities must form an integral part of the land assembly processes including the determination of how best to utilize the assembled land in support of a human settlement programme that contributes to spatial transformation. It is encouraging to note that the department is working with targeted municipalities to ensure that its land assembly process is linked effectively to the municipalities' Integrated Development Plans and Spatial Development Frameworks. In this context 58 human settlement projects have been prioritised in collaboration with the said municipalities.
The good location of the proposed projects will not only enable the transfer of land and housing to previously marginalised people, but
will also serve to reverse apartheid spatial fragmentation. The land and property provided to the beneficiaries shall serve as a useful asset that will enable them to participate meaningfully in their respective urban economies. Salga commits to work with the department in order to strengthen the collaboration between the department and the local government sector in the delivery of these priority projects in an effort to reverse apartheid spatial fragmentation.
Hon Chairperson, both national and international policy, call for urban policies to be implemented at the appropriate level, including devolution of built environment functions to local government. This one I know is a sticky point. We seem to face an ongoing chicken and egg situation when it comes to devolution and capacity at municipal level. Without devolution, we can never fully implement the policy objectives of the National Development Plan, NDP and the Integrated Urban Development Framework, IUDF. Every strategic goal of the IUDF requires integration and coherent urban development plans at the local level. Spatial integration cannot be achieved without new spatial forms in the human settlements, transport, and socieconomic areas.
Inclusion and access cannot be achieved if our communities do not have access to social and economic services within their local areas. Without harnessing urban dynamism in our cities, we cannot achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development. And finally without governance that enhances the capacity of local government and our citizens to work together, we cannot achieve spatial and social integration. Let us not allow capacity limitations to hamper achievement of the IUDF goals. Let us work together to support our municipalities whereby we embrace devolution and build integrated cities that are the drivers of social inclusion, sustainable economic growth and spatial transformation.
We are encouraged by the strides made by the water sector in the delivery of water and sanitation services. The 2018 household survey released by Statistics SA indicates a progressive realisation of meeting access to water and sanitation targets for South Africans. Progress to date includes an average 90%, and 83% access to water and sanitation services respectively. However, these strides are at risk with declining payments for water services, water losses, poor asset management, and aging infrastructure amongst others. Whilst 88,2% of households across South Africa are satisfied with the delivery of water, only 49% pay for this service.
As of June 2019, this is something that I do not think members that are sitting here want to hear, municipalities are owed R120 billion whilst our member municipalities owe water boards and the department R14billion. The issue of non-payment of services and debt management requires a special intervention at all levels. However, the suggestion to top slice municipal grants is not a sustainable solution. We welcome the commitment of the Minister to transform the water and sanitation sector with a focus on the unequal distribution of water, promulgation of new regulations for water conservation, fast-tracking of Mzimvubu Dam; training of municipal officials; eradication of the bucket system; and proposals to restore the integrity of the department.
We have recently undertaken an assessment of water service delivery risks and found that solutions to the many challenges impacting upon water services lie not in legislative change, but rather in implementing the current water sector framework. We welcome a legislative review process to update and improve the existing Acts in line with the Minister's transformation agenda.
Hon Chairperson the Minister's initiatives are a step in the right direction and importantly require a collective approach. Within this context we believe it is imperative for the Ministry and Salga to
explore establishing an intergovernmental structure with the objective of tackling the following seven key issues: Debt Management across the value chain; transformation of the sector; establishment of a water regulator; addressing the water licensing regime; institutional delivery mechanisms to improve coherent water management between role players in the sector particularly at catchment level; ageing Infrastructure; and mechanisms to ensure that critical issues are addressed within intergovernmental structures such as Minister and the Members of the Executive Councils, MinMECs and the Presidential Co-ordinating Council.
We look forward to a collaborative working relationship with yourself and your department.
IsiXhosa:
Siyangqina singuMbutho wooMasipala baseMzantsi Afrika ukuba kuninzi okwenzekileyo elizweni lethu kwaye kuninzi ekusa funeka kwenziwe.
English:
As we bow out I want to leave you with the words of Amilcar Cabral:
Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.
Thank you very much, let us move South Africa forward. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson of the NCOP, HON Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon members of executive councils, MECs, hon members and fellow South Africans, the American poet, W.H.Auden once said: "Thousands have lived without love, but not one without water".
The preamble of the National Water Act clearly states that the water of South Africa belongs to the people of South Africa. Section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa determines the right to water. These rights are inter-linked with the right to food, health, housing and a clean and healthy environment.
The state is constitutionally obliged to provide clean drinking water for human consumption, provide quality drinking water as well as the provision of basic sanitation services to protect the environment.
The Department of Water and Sanitation proudly branded itself with water is life and sanitation is dignity.
While the mission of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Cogta, is to ensure that all municipalities comply with their constitutional obligations and perform their basic responsibilities and functions without compromise.
Afrikaans:
Suid-Afrikaners regoor Suid-Afrika kan gegtuig dat water nie meer 'n grondwetlike reg is nie. Dit is genade as jy water in 'n kraan het. Daar is water in die strate en in die velde en geen water in reservoirs en druktorings nie. Die grootste krisis van watervoorsiening is nie net beperkte hulpronne nie; dit is wanbestuur deur plaaslike en distriksmunisipaliteite asook waterrade. Hoewel elkeen van hierdie eniteite 'n mandaat het waarbinne hulle bestuur van water en sanitasie vervat is, word dit in die praktyk gegnoreer.
Moniteringsverslae van waterkwaliteit word nooit aan die publiek openbaar nie. In Noordwes het wyle Minister Edna Molewa, Minister van Waterwese in 2012, die water in die Ngaka Modiri Molema
Distriksmunisipaliteit "ge-redflag" [gemerk] as nie geskik vir menslike gebruik nie. Dit is nog nooit opgehef nie.
English:
Chairperson, why then is the government authorities not kept accountable within their mandates to comply with their constitutional obligations to deliver basic human needs to all South Africans? Why must the Department of Water and Sanitation train people to contain bulk water leakages in municipalities when these municipalities are obliged within their legislated mandates to provide and manage effective water management as well as water loss management.
The lack of the provision of water and sanitation is a public health crisis. It deprives people their right to live in dignity. Every human being suffers if there is no water. The Department of Water and Sanitation' slogan of 'Water of Life' indeed is true because if there is no water, there is no food. Without food there is no life.
It is then when services are not delivered, communities take to the streets with destructive behaviour and the public order police move in with rubber bullets and stunt grenades. This cycle will never stop until people are provided with basic human needs.
Fifty thousand litres of sewage flow into our rivers every second. Our sewerage system is collapsing. A 2017 report indicated that only 60 of the 824 treatment plants released clean water. This poses a great threat to agricultural produce and will soon be affecting the quality of our human lives, if it has not done so already. When diseases like cholera, typhoid fever, hepatitis and many other water borne diseases affects our communities, it will be too late to save our water.
Water specialist, Dr Anthony Turton says: "Once a river slips from a favourable state to an unfavourable state, we don't have the science to get it back." South Africa's limited capacity of water and toxic pollution control of inadequately treated sewer and discharges by mines and factories is now becoming a national disaster.
Where lies the problem? What went wrong? Is it the lack of political will or the appointment of untrained and unskilled employees? Is it financial mismanagement or lack of management skills, discipline and control? No demanding of accountability of officials? No management and maintenance in municipalities causing extensive damage to infrastructure and broken pumps?
I really could go on for a while, but I would much rather spare the national government the further embarrassment of continuously listing the result of their failed oversight. But one thing is clear; failed water augmentation projects all result in dry reservoirs, dry taps and disgruntled unhappy people.
South Africans are subjected to intense water shortages due to reasons created by governance practices. But with oversight and visiting many communities without water it is the most vulnerable that suffers the most. I was there, I saw what is like to be without any means to drink, to cook and to clean. I visited the village of Setlagole in the Ratlou municipality where pumps were removed by the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality more than 10 years ago and not replaced. These South Africans have no other way but to dig pits in the dry Setlagole riverbed, lowering small children down those sandpits to fill up the lowered buckets of seepage water to be pulled to the surface. Water is no life for them.
It is time for national government to understand the severity that the people of South Africa are facing. Water is life. Live up to that slogan, Minister. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and your Deputy Ministers in the House, members of SA Local Government Association, SALGA, permanent delegates and also alternate delegates, hon MEC, I've seen one from my province, special welcome, ladies and gentlemen.
As our 2019 Election Manifesto correctly outlined that we are building a capable development state that has improved the lives of our millions of our people. Few countries in the world have succeeded in expanding vital services such as water, sanitation, electricity, roads and housing to so many people in such a short period of time.
Thus, as the ANC, in our 54th National Conference, we resolved on the need to ensure that water provision must be addressed as an integral part of human settlements.
Thus, as the ANC, in our 54th National Conference, we resolved on the need to ensure that water provision must be addressed as an integral part of human settlements.
The 5th Administration made commendable in strides in achieving the following objectives within the Human Settlements sector:
Increasing housing units in better-located mixed income projects, especially in the social, co-operative and rental houses. In KwaZulu-Natal we have that, especially in eMhlanga; and
Focusing on the catalytic projects such as integrated residential programmes and directing investment and overcome apartheid spatial geography.
Regarding the radical transformation of the water sector, we are away that although the repressive and discriminatory water legislation of 1956, the Water Act, was repealed and replaced by the progressive National Water Act of 1998. South Africa is characterised by vestiges of apartheid colonial laws which perpetuate unfair allocation and access to water.
These inequalities have led to the abuse of water due to illegal privatisation-by a minority who have a long standing privilege or preferential rights to water resources. More importantly, this inequitable allocation has led to a lack of access to adequate water supply for the majority of South Africans, particularly the blacks, who are in the majority in this country. This is a regrettable situation which must be addressed decisively.
Central to this problem are the vestiges of the repealed Water Act, Act of 1956, specifically remnants of riparian rights (appearing as existing water use entitlements) which are present in the different forms and clauses in the current piece of legislation which governs the water sector in South Africa today.
Our rural and poor communities have had to bear the brunt of the riparian principle for far too long. This clause needs to be reviewed so as to ensure that the ownership of water will be fully transferred to the state to ensure equitable and fair allocation and access to water in our country.
The military veterans have not been forgotten by the ANC government nor neglected in the life and work of the Department of Human Settlements. Instead, the department's 2018-19 plans and budgets reflect the ANC's 53rd and 54th National Conference resolutions where we committed to improve the living conditions of our military veterans.
We equally note and commend the department's commitment to fast- track and complete the provision of housing to military veterans through appropriate consultation and applicable legislation.
Apart from providing housing, the Minister in her 2018-19 budget speech noted that the Department of Human Settlements, through its entity, the National Home Builders Regulatory Council, NHBRC, would facilitate the training of 450 military veterans in the 2018-19 financial year. The NHBRC is responsible for regulating the home building industry. It will equip our military veterans together with other designated groups with technical and home construction skills that will enable them to actively participate in the construction and home building sector.
This intervention is in line with the commitment made by the ANC-led government to provide and implement structured support and economic opportunities to black-owned companies in the housing and residential property sector, with special attention to those owned by women, youth, military veterans and people with disabilities. The other challenges in terms of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Through the Urban Settlements Development Grant and the Human Settlements Development Grant, the Department of Human Settlements is empowered towards providing sustainable and integrated human settlement and ensuring that our economy grows by including the participation of youth, women and people living with disabilities, through the 30% set asides within the housing value chain.
There is a very important matter of the economic value chain that is associated in the grants aimed at building sustainable human settlements. We call on the department to ensure that women, youth and people living with disabilities find expression in this economic value chain of such projects as this will play a pivotal role in curbing the increasing unemployment rate of the country and will upskill the masses of our people with the necessary skills required for them to enter into the market and be active participants in the economy.
The role and functions performed by the entities of the Department of Human Settlements are crucial in promoting the quality of human settlements, providing social housing, promoting the interests of housing consumers, ensuring more inclusion and participation in the human settlements value chain.
The Estate Agency Affairs Board regulates, maintains and promotes the conduct of estate agents will receive R162,2 million in the 2019-20 financial year. However, much need to be done to ensure that the entity fulfils is mandate of transformation through developing and including our youth.
In conclusion, the foundation for the developmental agenda in South Africa has been set within the Freedom Charter, which is the living soul of our country's progressive Constitution and is the foundation of Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan, NDP. Everything we are doing is in pursuance of the vision of this plan to address the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.
What is needed now from all departments in this country, but more especially [Coughs.] [Interjections.] for the Department of Water and Sanitation and Human Settlements is to follow what the founding drafters of the Freedom Charter, the Constitution and the recent National Development Plan have envisioned and use this as a base for all future planning and commitments in the water, sanitation and human settlements sector. I thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
The MINISTER OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, WATER AND SANITATION: Deputy
Chair, I must apologise to the last speaker that we didn't have water here, we represent water and we should have had. Next time we will remember that.
Deputy Chair, allow me to correct a protocol error I committed a little earlier. I did not recognise the presence of Minister Didiza
and the Deputy Minister Land Affairs. They are here to pledge their support to give land to Human Settlements so that we can [Applause.]
I would like to think everybody who has spoken in support of the budget; those who have not spoken in support obviously have their own reasons for that. Nonetheless, I'm happy to have come here and seen that most of us here are enlightened about the issues that we face. And I must confess that listening to everybody here I'm very proud to belong to the ANC. They stand here ANC members and you can see they know what they are talking about, wake up. [Applause.] It was a lecture worth listening to, each one of them. Because we have the responsibility to govern.
I want to thank my Deputy Ministers. I could not have chosen and asked for better, they are very energetic and completely on the ball assisting me in making sure that we get down to the people. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
I want to also acknowledge the Chairperson, hon Dodovu, and I can see that he's been working 24 hours round the clock with specific intent of assisting us to turn the Department of Water Affairs round. We have a plan hon Dodovu and it will be in your disc which
we promised you; just get into the disc and you will find all the plans that we have put out there and we will follow them through.
Informal settlements are with us for some time, I did note that some of you are very concerned about that, it is part and parcel of urbanisation. It is an international phenomenon not just restricted to South Africa and the only internationally plan is to ensure that we can plan for it, it will be with us for many years to come. Therefore, it doesn't help us comparing one city to another and the level of informality that it has.
Hon Seleku, I'm certain that you either slept through a revolution or we have ... I'm not sure. Because we actually have the best policy on human settlements, internationally acknowledged as the best. So, try another way to deflect attention from this. The first thing that you should do is just acknowledge what is there, there could not have been better than what we have. The crisis that you explained is in your hands, the crisis that you talk about, every sentence has relevance to first and foremost the Western Cape. We are not here to discuss the Western Cape; we are here to discuss the country and your responsibility towards the country. And if you are faced with particular problems in the Western Cape, the answer is in
your hands, you have your MEC here, talk to him and show that we deal with the problem that you have put out there.
Deputy Chair, there is a member here who has been fossilized in some old, old century, who actually seems to think, it must be the Freedom Front Plus, who seems to think that we are overplaying the idea of apartheid spatial planning. I don't know where he comes from. It is the most notable divide that the world has ever come across. It is with us and it will with us. You just wake to the fact and deal with the matter and make sure that you come on board. We should not leave you in the 19th century, we are moving ahead.
I want to indicate to the MEC Peters here from the ... sorry, the MEC for the Western Cape that he is indicating to us the progress that they have made. We have a mean meg in a few days time and you are free to come and boast to mean mag, we have the statistics to show whether or not you've been misleading the House. [Applause.] There has been a hyperbole of things that have not happened at all and you know that. Nonetheless, we will get to that. While we are here, please make sure that you deal with the issue of Crossroads, make sure you deal with the issue of Khayelitsha and all of those matters. And we will deal with the matter of the land that belongs to Denel, etc, because you, again, are one of those of people who
slept through significant part of our history. This land has been redirected and is being used.
To the member of the IFP, I'm very glad that you have mentioned the issue of the hostels. I'll make a request to you that you call a meeting of the dwellers of Glebelands and tell them what we would like to do, with you, and if agreed and they are going to work with us, we will be there to make sure it is done. This is you responsibility and we are willing to work with you to make sure that this is done. [Applause.]
To the EFF, Luthuli, you are an embodiment of total contradiction, from your name to everything you said, completely. [Applause.] I mean, I listened to you so eloquently explaining just how well you understand this sector, I was beaming with pride and then in the end you say you reject the Bill. [Interjections.] I mean, what's wrong with the budget? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you? [Interjections.] Yes. I mean ... sit down with the other members and explain to them what you stood here and said. I mean it's 80 out of a 100, 80%. And why would you reject the Bill ... reject the vote? [Interjections.]
Hon Deputy Chair, I want to say to hon Sotashe, hon Sotashe we will unfortunately have to go ahead and top slides from you. if Treasury can do the top slides for municipalities for Eskom it can do it for yourself. You are completely unable to live up to your expectation and pay up, you owe us in the region of sixty-something billion rand, you as municipalities. And you stand here and say let's talk about devolution of power. How can we talk about devolution powers when you can't even pay the most basic rates that are required of you? when you are in a better position to manage the affairs of the resources of municipalities, when you are better able to handle sanitation we will talk about devolution.
Finally, you say we should not claim any easy victories, you should not claim any victories either.
Hon Deputy Chairperson, we've heard what everybody else have said, we've appreciated the amount of time that has been put into this and we would like to make sure that everything that has been raised with us here we will follow through. We will come back to you on a regular basis and follow through with responses to all the matters that you have raised. Thank you for your support. [Applause.]
[Inaudible.] some of us here because [Laughter.] Ya [yes] that members have been working very hard this week so we can understand that there is some fatigue creeping in but thank you very much Minister, the Deputy Ministers also, the special delegates from SALGA and the MECs, we want to thank you for participating in this debate.
Before we call the next order I will just allow the members to stand for two minutes. Just to feel a bit better, stretch yourselves. [Laughter.] Please, I want the members to stretch, they are still tired. [Laughter.]
We [Inaudible.] two minutes, you can sit down. Members we said two minutes, order, we said two minutes, two minutes. [Interjections.]
Okay, if I knew it will cause so much disorder I would have not allowed it. Order members.
Two minutes have passed can we sit down please. Order. Members, we made sure that there is coffee and tea outside, but we cannot go all at once, so one or two at a time. Just get something and come back. So that we can continue, all of us I'm sure want to finish this. I'm sure about this.