Department Budget 2002/3: hearings

Meeting report

HOUSING PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
24 April 2002
DEPARTMENT BUDGET 2002/3: HEARINGS

Chairperson: Ms Z. Kota (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Social Housing Foundation Powerpoint Presentation (document awaited)
Social Housing Foundation Annual Report
Thubelisha Homes Report
National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency (NURCHA) presentation (awaited)
NURCHA Annual report 2001
National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) Annual report
People's Housing Partnership Trust presentation (see Appendix)
People's Housing Partnership Trust Work-Plan Strategy 2002/3
Department Budget 2002/3: Vote 17

SUMMARY
The meeting aimed at affording the building organisations, that is NURCHA and NHRBC an opportunity to address the committee on their respective roles and the progress to date.

Social Housing Foundation informed the Committee of the planned activities for 2001/2002 which would influence social housing direction. Policy process, practice workshops, baseline database assistance, surveys and research, skills development and knowledge base would serve to facilitate this. Re-activation of job summit projects and improving upon and creating partnerships were other targeted areas.

The Committee was concerned that the bulk of Social Housing Foundation's funding came from external funding a situation, which it considered as unsustainable. The Committee challenged the Social Housing Foundation to urge the private sector to get involved in the programme.

Thubelisha Homes' presented a report to stakeholders for the fourth quarter of 2001/02.
2001 year ended well with four of the five measured production key performance areas achieving 90% and 110% of their respective (revised) targets. The key performance area of house handovers to clients achieved 83% of its target. Concern was expressed over the need for increased community involvement.

Social Housing Foundation (SHF)
Mr Moholo, General Manager, explained that the SHF is a section 21 company established in 1997 under the Housing Amendment Act.

SHF was given an express mandate by the government to develop and build capacity for social housing institutions and develop a policy framework for the sector.

On the strategic objectives of the SHF, Mr Moholo said that his organisation was mandated to provide the social housing sector the necessary strategic information and to help mobilise resources for the sector.

He added that the SHF wanted to facilitate capacitating of sectoral participants and promote the social housing sector which helped to facilitate sectoral stakeholder alignment to achieve business service excellence.

SHF was effectively answering to housing challenges in medium density housing and integrated development. In the process the SHF was creating higher quality housing and living environments.

SHF was promoting new and innovative building technologies with emphasis on housing institutions. In all these measures the SHF was answering to the government's housing related priorities, which encompass, among other things, urban renewal, eradication of poverty and transformation and black economic empowerment programmes.

With regard to developments in the sector the European Union was funding capacity building and support programmes. He also noted that there was significant growth and interest in the development of the co-operative sector.

Plans were underway to design policy that would facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for stakeholders and that the SHF was pushing for the formation of a federation to represent the fledgling Social Housing Institutions.

As for the 2001/2002 planned activities, the SHF was geared toward influencing the national social housing direction. This would be achieved by facilitating the Department of Health with policy process and best practice workshops. Other interventions would be helping with baseline database, surveys and research.

Other areas of activity would be to empower core clients towards sustainability. The establishment of Social Housing Institutions and help would achieve this with technical assistance.

Skills development and knowledge base would add to this year's calendar of activities for the SHF. One other targeted area is the re-activation of job summit projects and improving upon and creating partnerships.

Mr Moholo outlined the business plans for 2001/2002 by stating that the SHF would mobilise resources for the sector by seeking out alternative donor funding sources. Other important areas would be to partner with professional organisations and database experts for purposes of sharing experience and knowledge.

The current financial year would witness the broadening of funding base for the SHF and in particular the EU support programme. He observed that there was a Norad (Co-operatives proposal) and that his organisation would intensify networking through the provision of a web-site information centre.

SHF would embark on the promotion of a sustainable social housing provider network this year. It would give support for the federation whose branches would be activated accordingly.

Business service excellence hinged on internal communication, financial accounting system, project management system and structural requirements of donor organisations.

The Social Housing Capacity Building and Support Programme which is funded by the EU is aimed at the establishment of a viable, sustainable social housing sector in South Africa and the provision for the basis for its future expansion.

The objective of the programme as being to contribute towards the establishment of at least 60 sustainable housing organisations, and ensure that they achieve viability by June 2005.

Six Key Results of the Programme
These were as follows:
-capacity within the three partners is established to implement the envisaged programme, providing the basis for future expansion.
-60 sustainable SHI's have been established and that they are capable of delivering and managing 48,000 units for rent to lower income tenants.
-capacity building programme for Social Housing Institutions has been prepared and the same has already been implemented.
-access to short-term finance such as the bridging finance and long term finance facilities for Social Housing Institutions have been secured.
-that the monitoring system for the Social Housing Sector has been developed and the same is operational
-the network for the main actors in the Social Housing Sector has been developed and the same is fully operational

Action Plan
Mr Moholo informed the Committee that the main areas of focus would be to facilitate the development of enabling policy environment and to ensure that the development of strategic Social Housing Sector information takes off.

SHF would promote the development of best practices in the Social Housing Sector which combined with the active communication of strategic information to sector stakeholders.

SHF would mobilise funding resources for Social Housing Sector in the coming financial year and that this will include the mobilisation of information systems and information technology resources for the sector.

On the Job Summit programme three pilot institutions had been identified. These were Witbank, First Metro and, Bara/Klip.. He said the pilot capacity building approaches would be developed and tested by the SHF but he hastened to clarify that the funding model was yet to be finalised.

Finance and Support
Mr Andrew Higgs, General Manager: Finance & Support, expressed concern over the decrease in grant allocation to the organisation and hoped this would improve.

The nature and scale of programmes emerging in the sector called for sustained growth in the Social Housing Foundation. This growth was necessary if the SHF was to be positioned to address the immediate capacity needs.

Mr Higgs concluded his remarks by asserting that in the final analysis it was the sustainability of the Social Housing Foundation that was at stake given that external funding played an integral role.

Discussion
Mr Nash (ANC) asked why the SHF had indicated in its report that it had two projects in the North- West but there were no housing units on the ground as yet.

Mr Moholo replied that in the case of the North- West the SHF had begun by establishing an institution before it could set out on implementing any housing project.

Mr.Shneemann (ANC) noted that the bulk of the SHF finances were sourced from external funding. Why had the private sector not been approached to participate.

Mr Moholo explained that the key issue was that Social Housing is a new concept in South Africa and that the private sector tended to look at the track record of a venture before getting involved. Another angle to the aloofness of the private sector in this regard was linked to political sentiments, which tended to project low cost housing as more a charity than a good business venture. He assured the committee that SHF was working on ways of breaking these perceptions.

Mr Moholo pointed out that there were quite a few private sector players who partner with the SHF on the ground. The challenge was to identify willing players.

Ms Semple (DP) noted that in the previous budget the SHF's budget estimate showed that operating expenditure took the giant share of the budget. She then asked how sustainable the SHF was financially.

Mr Moholo contended that the SHF was basically a capacity building institution with the mandate to support vulnerable institutions to stand on their own in the construction market. In this respect, therefore, the SHF was wholly dependent on donor funding.

Mr Moholo remarked that it is hoped that much later when the institutions the SHF was supporting had taken off the ground, the SHF would venture into ways of self-funding.

Mr Nash (ANC) wondered why the private sector was awaiting a track record when the SHF had helped put up 24,970 housing units. What sort of track record was the private sector looking forward to if the current one fell short of that?

Mr Moholo replied that some notable private sector players had shown some interest in this venture. He singled out Nedcor and Anglo as examples of those who had shown a strong willingness to participate.

Ms Semple (DP) said that the banking institutions provide special allocations for social funding. Had SHF approached the banks in this regard and if so what was the reaction?

Mr Moholo said that the reason why banking institutions were not dishing out soft loans to institutions for social housing was due mainly to the shaky credibility these institutions carry. Most institutions were engulfed in major problems and this tended to erode their confidence margins.

Mr Dlamini (ANC) expressed concern about dilapidated building structures. What plans, if any, did the SHF had for such structures.

Mr.Moholo pointed out that the SHF would really want to encourage entrepreneurs to come up with business plans regarding such abandoned structures. He said those who want to develop abandoned structures are encouraged to contact the SHF on what plans they have for the structures and in which way they would like the SHF to help.

Mr Moholo added that the SHF does at times get out of its way to talk to institutions on how they would like to transform hostels into family units. As for public houses, the SHF tries to transfer them to institutions and NGOs. He noted further that there are NGOs on the ground working to transform such structures into family units.

Ms Semple asked whether funding was available for tenants who wished to take over and develop derelict abandoned buildings.

Mr Moholo replied that the SHF runs a programme for tenants whose brief is to explain to the tenants where to get the money to run their development. He said the EU was the main benefactor for this programme adding that the EU had committed R 90 million to help tenants renovate such derelict structures.

Mr Buthelezi (ANC) wanted to know what action, if at all, the SHF takes against institutions that fail to deliver on their projects.

Mr Moholo replied that whenever such a situation arises, the SHF immediately steps in and negotiated with the Local Council on way to change of management.

Mr Shneermann (ANC) expressed concern on the SHF staff structure and asked what plans the organisation had in building capacity in this area.

Mr Moholo explained that the Foundation was established in 1997 when it was operationally aligned to the NHF. He said the SHF became independent in 2001 at which time it had only eight staff members but that the number had climbed to sixteen employees. He added that the SHF was planing to increase its manpower by 50% to 24 employees.

Mr Moholo explained that the staff expansion programme was meant to enable the SHF venture into areas such as construction, management, finance and training. He however hastened to clarify that the SHF had no immediate plans to take on board a big work force.

Mr Schneemann (ANC) asked what plans the SHF had in becoming financially sustainable.

Mr Moholo replied that the point had been taken and that the SHF would look into ways and means of mobilising resources locally, especially from the private sector portfolio.

Ms Semple enquired why there had been such a big expenditure from the previous year's budget.

Mr Moholo linked the incident of increased expenditure bill to the increase in staffing which had gone up by more than 50%.

Mr Nash (ANC) disagreed with Mr Moholo's earlier remark to the effect that the East London housing market was saturated.

Mr Moholo clarified that what he actually meant was that there were more than enough housing institutions in East London but not housing units.

Thubelisha Homes
Mr Kevin Duncan, CEO, outlined the mandate, mission and vision of Thubelisha Homes. Its mandate is to procure or develop housing stock appropriate for rightsizing. The mission and vision of the company is to make a substantial contribution on a national basis, to normalisation of the low cost housing market through the provision of appropriate 'rightsizing' housing opportunities for qualifying clients.

The business purpose of the company is to procure, finance, dispose off and where necessary, hold and manage stock to provide adequate and appropriate housing solutions for ex-borrowers or occupants of PIP's and NPL's who have signed the necessary agreements and qualify for assistance.

Mr Duncan outlined the goal of the company as being the successful relocation of all qualifying rightsizing households by 31 March 2006.

Reporting on progress and performance, Mr Duncan pointed out that the 2001 year ended on a satisfactory note from an overall performance perspective with four of the five measured production KPAs achieving 90% and 110% of their respective (revised) targets.

However, the achievement of the 'primary' KPA of house hand-over to the clients suffered a major set-back on one of the key projects at the eleventh hour but that this KPA achieved 83% of its target.

The increased output delivered in the last quarter which clearly demonstrates that in most of the major activities, the system has shown that it can handle the higher volumes that will be required in the New Year. Mr. Duncan noted that what remains to be tested is the systems' capacity for the actual client hand-overs at these higher levels.

On the expenditure front, if the company is unable to obtain for its clients an exemption from the National Department for their R2479- "NHBRC" contribution, the company would have to fund the contribution off its own balance sheet.

Mr. Duncan cautioned that it was inconceivable to expect their clients to willingly contribute R2479- for what he called the "privilege" of being rightsized.

Mr Duncan said that the National Department is currently assessing a number of possible scenarios ranging from "close down tomorrow" through to "open ended into the future". He warned that any decision other than business as usual would have severe implications for the company, both operationally and financially.

A significant portion of the rightsizing portfolio and consequently the company's operational activity is concentrated in Gauteng. He however pointed out that the trend to date is to pursue a national focus especially in areas that have had enough potential and are therefore able to deliver on what he called a 'critical mass' of units to make projects viable.

The company's tender policy for construction activities complies with the Preferential Procurement Policy. He added that the Peoples' Housing Process route is being extensively investigated by the company to determine the efficacy of this approach as an alternative method of housing delivery.

Mr Duncan pointed out that cognisance must, however, be taken of the potential delivery speed and the time constraints that the programme has to comply with and that the termination date is due on 31 March 2006.

Mr Duncan informed the Committee that the company is sufficiently aligned with other institutions such as SERVCON, NURCHA and NHBRC. This alignment is through a range of formalised meetings, both on strategic and operational issues.

Noting that emerging contractors have preferred to link up with larger developers through joint ventures for finance, he said that the company's involvement with NURCHA has been limited and that the interaction with NHBR has been largely one of information gathering as to their new requirements for enrolment of the subsidy houses under the warranty.

Discussion
Mr Monsitsi (ANC) asked for more elaboration on the balance sheet.

Mr Duncan took members through the balance sheet explaining that his organisation had adapted new accounting methods this year.

Mr Nzimande (ANC) questioned Mr Duncan's reference to a demand for a 'bribe' and wondered whether this was not a necessary facilitation fee.

Mr Duncan replied that facilitation fees and negotiations were operational constraints that arose out of an internal exercise

Mr Nzimande (ANC) asked if communities were consulted before housing units were put up to avoid the hostility that normally greets efforts at relocation.

Mr Duncan clarified that the problem was with the communities where people are being relocated. Some people are just not ready to accommodate RDP houses.

Mr Montsitsi (ANC) said that constant antagonism between Thubelisha and communities on relocation suggested that there was poor liaison on the ground.

Mr Duncan acknowledged this deficiency but explained that his organisation's policy seems not to be part of structures they were working with. He informed the committee that the company had identified key problems and that it was working on how to address them.

Ms Semple (DP) noted that operational constraints seemed to suggest that there was a clear lack of understanding and good rapport between Thubelisha and the affected communities.

Mr Duncan pointed out that some of these operational hiccups were difficult to remedy. He acknowledged the fact that his organisation must pursue vigorous marketing campaign measures to sensitise communities on the utility of these programmes.

The chair said that the issue of acceptance by Local Councillors was raised last year and enquired what the company had done in this regard so far.

Mr Duncan explained that his organisation's strategy is based on negotiation with the local communities. He revealed that Thubelisha would by the end of July come up with a proper marketing strategy to address this situation. The company had given itself at least two months within which period to identify the suitable stakeholder to deal with.

Ms Semple (DP) asked if the company carried out surveys and assessed the value of the area they wanted to relocate people to before embarking on the relocation programme. She pointed out that some communities are wary that their property market would nose-dive when RDP houses come up.

Mr. Duncan said that the company carried out surveys and valuations whenever practical. He however admitted that for the most part it is impossible to carry out this exercise. Whenever possible, the company tried to get a local person to take charge of the project as the CEO in order to cultivate the confidence of the local community.

Regarding evictions, Mr Duncan said that the Sheriff in collaboration with the local police normally carried out the exercise. He lamented the fact that most of these encounters were unpleasant and singled out an incident where 12 security officers and six tenants were rushed to hospital after a violent clash.

Due to such encounters the police were normally reluctant to get involved. Mr Duncan, however, hastened to clarify that these incidents were isolated.

Ms Buthelezi (ANC) asked if Thubelisha worked closely with the police in their programmes to which Mr Duncan replied in the affirmative. Senior police officer were involved in their committees.

Ms Buthelezi advised that community negotiation strategy should be reviewed and the negotiation skills improved. She asked Thubelisha to prioritise locals to be part of its development programmes.

Mr Duncan acknowledged that his organisation was yet to cover enough ground in the area of community consultations. He, however, promised to put more resources in this area.

Ms Semple sought for clarity as to whether it was the case that July 2002 is the final date for Thubelisha to which Mr Duncan replied in the affirmative.

Mr Montsitsi (ANC) referred to the mission and vision of Thubelisha, which he said, speaks of 'normalisation' a term, which is capable of different interpretations by different people. He observed that Thubelisha's problems seem to stem from the incidence of emerging contractors who are forced upon institutions and have to be given a sizeable amount of work as part and parcel of black empowerment programmes. He suggested that Thubelisha enlist the help of the department in this regard.

Ms Buthelezi (ANC) asked if the key policy of black empowerment was up and happening in Thubelisha's housing programmes.

Mr Duncan reiterated his earlier assertion that priority was given to the local people in the job creation programmes undertaken by the company. He however clarified that there was a difference between using local people as labourers and engaging contractors. He explained that as for the latter tendering practices did not allow his organisation a free hand to hire just anyone.

As for the issue of normalisation, Mr Duncan said that he understood it to mean there be law and order which covers paying for services, adhering to local authority by-laws, keeping a clean environment and so forth.

Mr Montsitsi (ANC) referred to the increased subsidy from 16,000 to 20,000 and asked if there would be an improvement in the quality of the units put up by the company.

The Chair asked for an indication on the progress made so far from the previous year.

Mr Duncan replied in the affirmative. It is expected that there would be better quality units but as for the size of the units that could only happen when there was a change in the policy on housing.

Having said that Mr. Duncan, however, hastened to clarify that the increase in the housing subsidy from R16, 000 to R20, 000 was to cover up for the last three years escalation. He lamented that in the past the contractors had not been given a fair share of their bargain due to this deficit.

People's Housing Partnership Trust
Ms Pinkie Vilikazi of People's Housing Partnership Trust reported on its successes, concerns and proposals. The Trust, established by the Housing Department in 1997, runs a capacitation programme to develop capacity at all levels of government, NGOs, CBOs and communities to support the People's Housing Process. This process allows access to housing subsidies for poor families who only have access to the housing subsidy but who wish to enhance the subsidy by building the house or organising the building themsleves.

As this process needs close collaboration between government, private sector, NGOs and other support organisations, PHPT has embarked on capacity building programmes at various levels of government, NGOS and communities to support PHP initiatives.

PHPT has established People's Housing Partnership Units in provinces such as the Eastern Cape, Kwazulu- Natal and Western Cape in order to co-ordinate its activities. Facilitators were trained to mobilize and organize workshops, conduct a need-analysis and assess feasibility of business plans of communities without housing. Many training centres, universities and technicons provided training under the auspices of PHP. One such initiative saw two students enrolling for a technikon building course through assistance from Alpha Cement. Ms Vilakazi also said that communities offered their labour free to construction companies on site. This further fostered the spirit of masakhane in line with the PHPT vision. Costs were considerably reduced through the use of "free" community labour.

Ms Vilakazi pointed out that PHP has formulated a Work-Plan Strategy for 2002/3. In addition an Integrated Management Information System is being used to document, evaluate and monitor all PHP initiatives nationally. PHP also encouraged family beneficiaries to contribute towards their small housing subsidies and avoid dependence on government subsidy.

In conclusion, Ms Vilakazi informed the Committee of the resignation of the CEO of PHPT and cited this as reason for the non-availability of financial statements.

Discussion
An IFP member asked if beneficiaries who offered their labour were being paid anything at all and if so, who should pay them.

Ms Vilakazi replied that such beneficiaries were paid out of the PHP support fund. However, such payments are not wages in the private sector sense. Such payments are made to help beneficiaries with immediate needs such as transport and food.

Ms J Semple (DP) asked if there is any mechanism put in place to deal with subsequent defects on completion of the houses.

Ms Vilakazi said that municipalities are running a facilitation fund and are better placed to investigate any subsequent defects. PHP units will then supervise the process to remedy the situation.

Mr Dan Montsitsi (ANC) asked if there is anyway of knowing how much has been used and how much is left for housing development projects of PHPT.

Ms Vilakazi responded with an apology since the financial statements were not available to reflect the correct figures.

National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency (NURCHA)
Mr Cedric de Beer, CEO, stated that NURCHA is a non-profit making company in accordance with s 21 of the Companies Act and was established in 1995. Its focus is on attracting bank finance for low income housing through sharing the risk with banks and guaranteeing the loan for bridging finance loans for projects. Its mission statement reads: Nurcha initiates programs and takes considered risks to ensure the sustainable flow of finance for low income housing.

NURCHA is funded by the government together with development agencies such as the Open Society Foundation, Norad, SIDA and others. Since its inception it has been able to approve 487 project applications, paid claims worth R3.2m and issued guarantees worth R300m.

There has been a saving programme through which people are encouraged to accumulate savings that will contribute toward their housing. Small housing loans are also arranged for some while banks are encouraged to facilitate for lending facilities to those informally employed.

Discussion
Ms J Semple (DP) referred to NURCHA's mission statement and asked what the presenter regards as a 'considered risk'.

Mr de Beer replied that they take more risk than any other institution and that since they test the limits of the money they tend to lose some of it. They look at the project's legal and construction aspects to determine whether it has the capacity to develop. They have however rejected applications which were either ridiculous or had low profit margins.

Mr C Schneemann (ANC) asked about the number of NURCHA employees and how they are being paid.

In reply he was told that there are 42 employees, half are professional staff and half are support staff. The company uses the interest accruing on some of the funds it receives to sustain itself. However they are looking at exploring the lending opportunities as a means of earning more income. In doing so a balance has to be struck, with the goal of helping the poor still borne in mind.

The Chair inquired as to the form of criteria put in place for the granting of guarantees.

The response was to the effect that there is a standard application form which stipulates whether applicants are registered, their budget, cash flow and how the money is to be spent.

Ms Semple asked whether individuals are catered for as well or if the focus is only on a larger scale such as in dealing with institutions.

The reply was that individuals are catered for provided that they meet certain requirements such as monthly savings. They are expected to be able to save R100 a month without fail for a period of twelve months. They have also tried to negotiate for low interest rates with the banks.

National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC)
Mr Phetola Makgathe, CEO, noted that since March 2001, the NHBRC stopped operating as a Section 21 company and became a statutory body enjoying a five year monopoly. It regulates the building industry. Their vision is to be a world-class housing consumers' protection and warranty scheme. They are also striving to comply with international standards.

The NHBRC mission entails protecting consumers by regulating quality standards in the home building industry. There are stipulated minimum requirements. They establish warranty schemes against defects in new homes to assist housing consumers, specifically targeting the historically disadvantaged.

Their head office is in Johannesburg with several regional offices. Income is derived from registration fees and annual renewal fees among other sources. The registration of home builders is renewed for those who meet their obligations successfully.

Inspections are carried out and additionally, every region has a conciliation officer. The home builders can be suspended in certain instances though they have to be given a fair warning.

Discussion
Mr Scheemann asked if NHBRC has the capacity in terms of the resources and labour to carry out an inspection process and if they are able to inspect each and every single house.

Mr Makgathe replied that they have the capacity to inspect and that they intend to appoint inspectors for every 500 units. They are currently outsourcing some of the inspection work while training more inspectors.

One member commented that it would be wise to be women friendly in their selection of inspectors.

Ms Semple asked about the number of claims received until now and if NHBRC is coping with them.

In response it was explained that NHBRC currently has a R15m liability but that is if the fund runs at 4% failure rate. The results in June 2004 will determine whether the fund is sufficient as according to the opinion given by the actuaries.

The Chair inquired about the houses built by individuals on their own and whether they are also inspected in order to ensure their quality.

The reply was to the effect that a way of assisting such cases can be found. Dr Mahachi (Executive Director: Operations) did point out that their inspection duty only covers structural components of the houses.

A committee member commented that the word should be spread around about the existence of the NHBRC so that the consumers know where to direct their complaints about defects.

There was a question regarding the fact that complaints do not directly fall within the mandate of the NHBRC and so where should they then be directed?

Mr Makgathe explained that they do not turn a blind eye to complaints even though complaints are not directly covered by them.

He mentioned that NHBRC is working on introducing a system where those complying with the requirements will be granted certain benefits such as discounts.

The Chair thanked all the organisations that had presented - noting it was not merely because the government subsidises them that they were there that day but the aim was for Parliament to be able to interact with them.

Appendix
People's Housing Partnership Trust presentation
1. Introduction and Background

The White Paper on Housing published on 23 December 1994 indicated that the Government's overall approach to the housing challenge is aimed at "mobilising and harnessing the combined resources, efforts and initiatives of communities, the private, commercial sector and the state". It sought to do so through the implementation of seven key strategies.

One of the strategies is "Supporting the people driven housing delivery process". This strategy is aimed to support specifically the poorest of the poor families who only have access to housing subsidies and who wish to enhance their subsidies by building or organising the building of their homes themselves. During 1997 - 1998 a consultative process involving a wide range of stakeholder groupings took place and the valuable lessons learnt were applied in the formulation of the National Housing Policy: Supporting the People's Housing Process which was approved during May 1998. As a fundamental commitment to the poor, Government provides SUPPORT to The People's Housing Process in the form of subsidies, facilitation grants and housing support funding. By providing these opportunities the poor now have a right to exercise choice in the manner in which they would utilise the subsidy to house themselves.

The Department of Housing established the People's Housing Partnership Trust (PHPT) in June 997 to implement a capacitation programme to develop capacity at all levels of government, NGOs, CBOs and communities to support the People's Housing Process.

2. Funding Arrangements

Technical assistance and funding for the programme is provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS - Habitat) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Programme Support Implementation Arrangements Documents (PSIA) was signed for implementation in 1996/97 by the Government of South Africa (represented by the Department of Housing), the UNDP and the UNCHS - Habitat, which is also referred to as the Implementation Agency.

3.i. PHPT Mandate

The PHPT will implement a national capacitation programme with its support activities being initiated and carried out at the provincial and local levels". (See the National Housing Policy:
Supporting the People's Housing Process)

3.ii. Vision

Communities that are energetically mobilised and empowered to be masters of their own development through the PHP particularly with regard to housing development.

3.iii. Mission

To build the capacity of provincial governments, municipalities, NGOs, CDOs, tribal authorities, support organizations and other organizations which can potentially support the people's housing process by enabling them to provide support services to beneficiaries in both rural and urban settings.

3.iv. Objectives

The aim is to create a critical mass of support for and promote public awareness of the People's Housing Process by establishing a viable and sustainable framework of support to the People's Housing Process comprising:

- All government levels
- Support organizations (NGOs, CBOs, etc)
- Traditional Authorities
- Private Sector

4. Key Performance Indicators

According to the PSIA document, there were SEVEN programme components against which the performance of the PHPT was measured annually during the meeting of the DoH, UNCHS, UNDP and USAID. These programme components were used as benchmarks as from 1997 to 2001. The following is a summary of some of the key milestones achieved:

By the end of 2000 every Province was implementing PHP initiatives and they had all employed staff that was dedicated to the implementation of the process. This was positive for sustainability of the process while it was interpreted negatively in other quarters as money that was meant for the short employment of facilitators only reached the Trust after provinces had already committed themselves.

2001 Operational Activities

The emphasis of the PHPT's operations of the first two years was on getting support off the ground in all of the provinces so they could demonstrate the effectiveness of the PHP. In 1999 the activities moved more towards advocacy and promotion. Exchange programmes to demonstrate projects have proved to be an effective way of creating the critical mass of support to the PHP. A strategic planning session of the Trust and its partners was held in 2000 where it was agreed that the next phase of activities of the PHPT should he to take the programme to scale. Therefore the current operational activities focus on three strategic aspects namely:

- Communication
- Training
- Research and Development
- Technical advisory services; and
- Corporate services

4.1. Communication

The first goal for the PHPT staff was to create a presence in all provinces. This was a challenge because provinces were already set in their manner of operation and the introduction of PHP initially took place with no policy in place. However, a decision was taken to raise awareness and create a demand for PHP.

This is one of the most successful mobilisation that has been undertaken by the PEPT. Through this campaign the word "People's Housing Process" has become familiar to most people, in many structures, all levels of government, professionals, educational institutions and among NGO's and CBO's. Resources were used to coordinate and facilitate community Mass Meetings, workshop and to participate in conferences. In 1997 there was no PHP in the provinces/communities but today all the nine provinces have People's Housing Process Units and a Focal Point and or Coordinator. Initiatives have grown from strength to strength.

4.i.a. Government Level

The PHPT mobilised provincial and local government to support PHP through meetings, workshops, presentations and exchange programmes. The major achievements include:

· The establishment of the PHP unit in every provincial department, with staff that varies in number from province to province. This will ensure the sustainability of the process in the long term;

· The PHPT has been instrumental in the orientation and or training of these staff members to equip them to be able to support, mentor and monitor community groups, NGO's, municipalities and other stakeholders involved in PHP;
· A series of Information sharing workshops were held in each province to create the critical mass that led to various types of support mechanisms that are found in most projects;
· To date, an estimated fifty (50) municipalities (including District Councils) are acting as Support Organizations for local PHP initiatives. Many councillors have attended a workshop on PHP however, the impact may have been neutralised by the election of new councillors as well as the new demarcation introduced by the Municipality Systems Act 2000;
· Meetings and exchange visits were also coordinated for the political leaders eg some MEC's, councillors and officials visited PHP initiatives in other provinces to learn from their successes;

4.i.b. Community level

Activities were held to mobilise communities through workshops and Mass Meetings. These meetings were held everywhere including community halls, churches, under trees and in traditional kraals. In turn communities were able to lobby and or make presentations to their local leadership. NGOs, CBCs, constituencies and other civic bodies were mobilised to support PEP and the partnership has yielded excellent results. Both urban and rural communities were targeted.

4.i.c. Educational Institutions and other bodies

· Contributions were made to the universities' Capacity Building Programme through presentations and facilitating PHP training to participating students/officials. These universities include Fort Hare University, Wits University (P&DM), Free State;
· Technical colleges and Technikons were mobilised through presentations to contribute by including the teaching of PHP as part of their curricula as well as to involve their students in local initiatives as part of their Experiential Learning.
· Conferences, seminars and other meetings were attended to promote PEP.

4.ii. Awareness Campaigns

Local media has been used to promote PEP jointly with community leaders and projects. The
PEPT:

· Published and distributed four different kinds of promotional brochures on PEP;
· Published two kinds of leaflets, one on PEP and the other on Uitenhage
· Two videos have been produced on PHP in two provinces;
· Promotional materials like T-shirts, caps, and banners were produced;
· A promotional brochure on the PUP was documented and funded by the PHPT;
· PEPT funded the production of the UNGASS (United Nations General Assembly Special Session) video that was presented by the Minister in NYHQ;
· Participated at the Rand Show Exhibition of the Department of Housing

Strategic Guidance and Support

The functions of the Strategic Guidance and Support are:

- To identify, provide training to facilitators and support organizations at provincial and local level to provide support to the PEP;
- To provide strategic guidance and mentoring support to provinces, municipalities, support organizations and support providers to improve their capacity to provide support to the PEP;
- To identify, promote investigation development and piloting of Best Practice studies.

5.a. Training

Piloted the People's Housing Process Facilitator training who would form a core network of facilitators in the following areas:

5.b House Construction Training

5.c Technical Advisory Services

In order to initiate a project the PHPT's approach has been to meet with key stakeholders like local councils civic structures and other local interest group peculiar to a specific community. This is then followed by a series of workshops and or meeting to build the necessary consensus. The PHPT had to develop the methodology for these community workshops that are necessary for a community to realise their own potential to carry out their development. The workshops are:

· Community information sharing;
· Community action planning;
· Identification of community support needs;
· House costing and design;
· Project application

Because the process is not a blueprint, it is possible to reach the project implementation without having had some of the workshops. With experience, it is possible to achieve most of the objectives through meetings, consultations and even facilitating two of the workshops in one day under unique circumstances.
In some instances, the facilitators that have been trained through PHPT funded training are now providing the most needed support to provinces, local authorities and communities. For example:

- Facilitators like Bellion Nzakayi, in the Western Cape, Ms Lindelwa Maneli and Mfundo Toyise are now facilitating community initiatives taking into account the additional resources families are bringing;
- Provincial Units staff that were trained by the PHPT in other instances, are now able to facilitate the process up until the implementation phase with minimum or no support at all.

In other instances, consultants/facilitators are sub-contracted by the PHPT to provide the necessary support and or intervention so as to make sure that provinces develop the necessary competencies for the PHP.


5.c.i. Exchange Programmes

One of the most successful and effective way of learning has been through the exchange programme. This entails visits to existing People's Housing Process initiatives, discuss with staff and other ordinary families who are actively involved to share views and clarify issues. The PHPT has been actively involved coordinating and funding exchange visits for:

- Political leaders like Councillors
- Housing Committees
- Community members
- Support Organisations
- Provincial officials
- local authorities
- NGO'sandCBO's

5.d. Research and Development

The aim of the Research and development Programme is to develop a bank of information accessible to government, Support Organisations and communities. Six Best Case Studies have been completed to date nationally.

These studies will be packaged and simplified for printing and easy understanding by all role players. It is hoped that these experiences and lessons from these initiatives will be used to trigger off more innovation and mobilise communities.

Integrated Management Information System

The PHPT has just installed the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) for documenting, evaluating and monitoring PHP initiatives nationally. The IMIS has been to evaluate the current status of ALL PHP initiatives national and the summary of the findings as at July 2001 is as follows:

NB The above situation has changed completely and the latest report will be submitted in during the next meeting.

7. Project Monitoring

At present provinces can be proud that they support PHP and the fact that they have officials dedicated to supporting communities and a range of private sector and NGOs who support the process. This is a positive trend but it is also presented new challenges. The PHPT would like to highlight some of these challenges.

a. Data capturing

The monthly financial reports as well as reports from site visits by Building Inspectors (Certifiers) provide a wealth of information which cannot only reflect the performance of a project but would also assist provinces to access updated information easily. Currently there may be a certain number of projects under construction - but updated information about these projects are not immediately available from one source. As the number of projects increase it will become even more crucial for the PHP UNITS" to include a function of collecting and inputting this information about projects into the database

b. Project Monitoring

Currently "PHP" officials attempt to visit all projects on a regular basis to check the quality of facilitation and to assist with conflict resolution and mediation. These are very time intensive activities and if provinces wish to continue performing these functions effectively, urgent attention should be given to the necessary tools and in other instances to the staffing requirements.

C. PHP Monitoring

In cases where some projects are almost completing construction and winding up operations, it is important for the provinces to evaluate the PHP program and approach as a whole to understand where the delays and weaknesses are and to put in place new systems to ensure that future projects do not experience the same difficulties. This may include interviewing all the role players and reviewing all existing systems. The PHPT is aware of instances where it has been said that the PHP is slow only to find that all partners have fulfilled their requirements while the province/s take an even longer time to respond accordingly. In some instances it is the province/s that delay the process.

d. Support Funding Grants

In 1998 the Department of Housing allocated funds to all provinces for use as both the Establishment and Facilitation Grant. According to the policy, up to R570, 00 can be made available per beneficiary family. However, this fund has never been replenished and a few provinces are now facing financial problems.

In order to address this crisis especially in instances where provinces have approved PHP projects but have no support grants, the PHPT has resolved to support the following:

i. Ten (10) projects with 897 approved subsidies in the North West Province with an allocation of R511 290.00; and
ii. Twelve (12) projects with 3989 approved subsidies in Mpumalanga Province with an allocation of R2 273 730.00. The other remaining 1 250 subsidies will be covered during the next financial year.

The PHPT is aware that there are already provinces which are also affected and their situation will receive attention in due course.

8. Interim Management Arrangements

Due to the sudden resignation of the PHPT CEO in November 2001, an Interim Management body has been established between the PHPT and the Department of Housing.

Prepared by: Pinky Vilakazi
PHPT