Deputy Speaker, allow me to thank hon Dambuza for the question. The reply is as follows: Despite the huge advances made since 1994 in providing over 3 million subsidised housing opportunities, the housing backlog refuses to be eradicated and it currently stands at 2,3 million. The Department and the Ministry of Human Settlements realises that it cannot do this alone. Last year it launched Each One Settle One, to get South Africans from all walks of life to contribute in reducing the huge housing backlog.
The responses from corporate South Africa and ordinary people have been overwhelming. Besides those who pledged to provide a house for a domestic worker, building material, skills and land, Anglo American Platinum Ltd pledged to build 20 000 houses for its employees in the Limpopo and North West provinces.
The first phase of the project was launched in November last year, totalling 8 000 high-quality housing units in Limpopo and 12 000 in North West, primarily for employees of the mining company in the two provinces. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker and hon Deputy Minister, we believe that for the campaign to be successfully expanded, even to the rural communities, strategic intervention is crucial.
Does the department have a comprehensive and collaborative plan, strategy and programmes - together with the Departments of Rural Development and Land Reform and of Public Enterprises - to exploit the opportunity in the government's infrastructure roll-out programme and to ensure that job creation opportunities, People's Housing Process, PHP, promotions, as well as the development of a vibrant and sustainable housing co-operative movement, are developed to advance the developmental agenda? I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker and hon member, yes, we do have a clear programme to roll out this programme in the rural areas. We have a Rural Housing Loan Fund where we have housing vouchers that people can use to get material and build their own houses. At the same time human settlement is high on the agenda of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, PICC, where the issue of housing is at the centre of that process.
As we speak, we have the Vulindlela PHP building programme in KwaZulu- Natal, where 25 000 housing units are being built through the PHP process. We are encouraging ordinary people to be on board in order to build houses for themselves, and we will give the necessary support to the PHP process. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, thank you to hon Deputy Minister for the response. We welcome this public-private initiative between government and the private sector, which is very important in addressing the housing backlog.
However, Madam Deputy Speaker, funds are being pledged and/or donated by the private sector to this initiative. Hence it is very important to know that it is well accounted for, for the continued support through this private-sector initiative.
Hon Deputy Minister, the question is, what accountability mechanisms are in place to ensure that all the pledges and donations from the private sector to this campaign to build houses are being used for this specific purpose? I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon member, you must understand that as Human Settlements we are really anticorruption. As a result, we are going to make sure that every cent that is donated for the building of houses is utilised for that purpose.
We have systems in place to ensure that in each province there are units that are ready to absorb this kind of donation, and to make sure that people see value for money for every donation that we get, from ordinary people as well as from the private sector. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon Deputy Minister, indeed the cost of providing houses for the poor has thus far been phenomenal, though unnecessarily so. The backlog is huge. Had there been strict monitoring and supervision of the housing projects right from the beginning and all of the time, a lot of waste could have been avoided and government would not be talking of cut-off dates.
The principle of Each One Settle One is a noble one. In fact, it tallies very well with the principle of ubuntu, both at company and at individual level. However, government should not use this to abdicate its responsibility of providing houses for the poorest of the poor.
What mechanisms are being put in place by the department to monitor the success and effectiveness of the project to ensure that it makes a difference, and what has been the response so far, from the private sector in particular? Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, Ma Njobe, we have already said that in terms of the private sector and ordinary people the response has been overwhelming. In terms of ensuring that we monitor what is taking place, we have the Project Management Unit, PMU, which is the monitoring unit of the department.
Each province has a monitoring unit to ensure that the development of houses is monitored from the foundation stage. Each stage of the development gets monitored until the roof level, so that at the end of the day even the kind of products that get produced are quality products, even if those are the houses that are given through donations.
At the end of the day, what we need are quality housing units. Our monitoring unit is in place, but at the same time we also have the National Home Builders Registration Council, NHBRC, which is our quality assurance unit that makes sure that these houses are of good quality. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon Minister, thank you for the answer that you have given. What I want to find out is how many housing units have been facilitated through the campaign from the date it was launched, up to now?
Deputy Speaker, I have said that we have a pledge from the platinum mining industry that they are building 20 000 houses, and from that there are many other pledges that have been coming in. It is coming in dribs and drabs, but the response itself is very, very positive. We are also encouraging Members of Parliament to donate houses to other people. You can afford to do that as well. I thank you. [Applause.] [Laughter.]
Particulars regarding needs analysis by NHBRC to establish number of low- cost houses in need of rectification
53. Mr S Mokgalapa (DA) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
(1) Whether, with reference to his call for the rectification of low- cost houses, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) has completed the needs analysis to establish what number of houses is in need of rectification; if not, why not; if so, what number (a) of houses needs to be rectified and (b) has been rectified to date;
(2) whether the mandate of the NHBRC will be terminated; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NO501E
Deputy Speaker and hon member Mokgalapa, the department has commissioned the assessment study with KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape as a pilot project. Plans are ahead to extend the study to other provinces. This will provide the department with sufficient information on the extent of the problem and cost implications as a portion of the GDP.
The National Home Builders Registration Council, NHBRC, was established in terms of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act, Act 95 of 1998, and its reason of existence and authority remains valid and necessary in the fast-growing human settlement sector. Thank you.
Hon Deputy Speaker and hon Deputy Minister, in light of the tarnished image of the NHBRC and its failure to perform its mandate in ensuring that quality houses are being built, and the recent media reports about the alleged graft activities by the CEO of this council, Mr Mashinini, who is facing a disciplinary hearing amounting to R35 million in tender irregularities, and given the fact that you just said that you are not going to terminate the mandate of this institution, what steps is the Ministry taking in recouping the money and ensuring that the NHBRC performs its mandate and restores its public credibility? I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, it would be incorrect for the hon member to tarnish the NHBRC as a failure because of the individuals concerned. We have reported to this House that the process is in place to bring those perpetrators to book. The NHRBC is an entity that has assisted government in terms of quality assurance. We have no reason to terminate its mandate, because we are happy with its performance. We are dealing with the individuals concerned and the matter is on record in this Parliament. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, I thank the Deputy Minister for the replies given. The Minister is on record as saying that they have built houses that will last for 300 years in this country and yet they build low-cost housing that doesn't even last as many days. This is evident in the huge rectification programme initiated to deal with this issue. We need to put all our efforts, Deputy Minister, into building new houses and providing the 2,3 million people with their first house, instead of putting money into rectification programmes. What steps are being taken by your department to ensure that all housing projects are enrolled with the NHBRC and that the NHBRC measures up to its vision to be a world class organisation that ensures that home builders deliver sustainable quality homes? Thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, hon Borman, thank you for that question. What we are saying with regard to the issue of quantity is that we have stopped building houses in terms of quantity, where we are chasing numbers. We have to ensure that we build quality homes. In fact, not even houses but quality homes. We have put in place systems to ensure that at the end of the day there is strict monitoring of each housing unit, and we have urged provinces to put the issue of quality high on the agenda.
We are also encouraging them to be strict in terms of project management so that, at the end of the day, the housing projects that are taking place are those that we could be proud of when handing over the keys to the beneficiaries. But, at the same time we have to ensure that when the houses are delivered people do not just sign happy letters whilst the houses have cracks. Before the beneficiary accepts the key he or she must make sure that the house is of quality, and bring it to the attention of the authorities if the house is not of good quality.
At the same time we want to ensure that as far as the NHBRC is concerned strict monitoring is done, because we want quality assurance which is provided by this institution to the government. It is already there to ensure that government gives quality to its population. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker and hon Deputy Minister, while it is understandable and in fact welcomed that badly constructed houses have to be rectified if the lives of the occupants are to be any better, we have a concern as to how sustainable the project will be.
Can the Deputy Minister assure this House that it will be possible in the near future to rectify each and every house of substandard work? I am thinking, in particular, of the Eastern Cape where the smaller municipalities such as Amahlathi Municipality, which is located in the Amathole District Municipality, don't even appear in the future plans. Yet, even as we speak, the RDP houses there are falling apart and the NHBRC is not even known to exist in spite of its well thought-out mandate, which is to protect potential housing consumers from unscrupulous builders. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, it is our hope that every single house that needs rectification, particularly those that were built before the Breaking New Ground strategy was put into place. We understand that those houses are of bad quality and we hope that all those houses will be rectified. Rectification depends entirely on the availability of resources to do exactly that. We must remember that we have limited resources. We can only do as much rectification as the fiscus provides for. But we want the municipalities and provinces to come on board to prioritise those houses that are health hazards. In particular, in the rectification process, we should start with the houses that are falling on people.
We hope that in terms of working together with MPs in areas where we are not visible in terms of rectification processes that those areas will be brought to us so that we can take those matters up with the respective municipalities, Ma'am Njobe. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, I thank the Deputy Minister for the reply. What I want to find out is whether any full-scale investigation was launched into the process that has now led to a situation of large-scale rectification occurring. Has there been any prosecution of parties found guilty of awarding building tenders to certain building contractors? Thank you.
Deputy Speaker, yes, the matter has been given to the Special Investigating Unit, SIU, for investigation. We have reported to this House that certain officials were brought under investigation in terms of that. And the companies which were responsible for building shoddy houses were also blacklisted. So, the process is under way to ensure that we get to the root of the corruption as far as building shoddy houses for human settlement is concerned. So, the matter is with the SIU. I thank you. [Applause.]
Particulars regarding decrease in number of tuberculosis cases since 2007
89. Mr L S Ngonyama (Cope) asked the Minister of Health: Whether he has found that the Government had succeeded in decreasing the number of (a) pulmonary and (b) other kinds of tuberculosis (TB) since 2007, through (i) active community and (ii) specified medical programmes; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case? NO523E
Deputy Speaker, indeed we succeeded in decreasing the number of pulmonary TB cases between 2009 and 2010 by 1,1%. This decline also applies to extrapulmonary TB. Since February 2011, we started an active community-based care funding initiative on a large scale. Significant progress has been made with the diagnosis of TB. Whereas in the past we used to rely on microscopy - and that would take days; or on sputum cultures, which would take weeks - we are now rolling out GeneXpert technology, which enables us to diagnose TB within a period of two hours. Currently the GeneXpert detects TB on an average of 17% of tested subjects, compared to between 4% and 9% when we were using the old method. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon Minister, I appreciate your response to this matter. The progress is there, but very poor. According to the World Competitiveness Report, out of 142 countries, South Africa is ranked 141 in terms of TB incidents. The SA Health Review and the District Health Barometer that you released two weeks ago clearly indicate that although the Department of Health has put a lot money into the TB and HIV/Aids programme - we have increased the expenditure on primary health care and also invested a significant amount into the infrastructure and the human resources - South Africa still has one of the highest TB incidence rates in the world.
Hon Minister, it would appear that expenditure of more money is not the primary obstacle to better the health care system in our country. What are the main reasons that South Africa cannot achieve quality health care and reduce the TB incidence?
Deputy Speaker, I am not exactly sure what the hon member wants. It is a known fact that we have one of the highest TB incidence rates. I have said many times that out of the 22 high-burden countries that carry 80% of TB of the world, in terms of infection per population, yes, South Africa is ranked at number one. There is no question about that. We disclosed those results long ago. What we are saying is that there is definitely an improvement; for instance, the cure rate for TB used to be 60%, and is now at 71%.
The World Health Organisation says we must reach 85%, and we are moving towards that figure. There has never been any denial that we have a high incidence of TB. That is why, if you look at the National Strategic Plan for HIV and Aids, we said because TB is also driven by HIV/Aids it must treated as two sides of the same coin under one roof. The new National Strategic Plan shows that. On 24 March, the Deputy President of this country will choose World TB Day to launch the implementation of that strategy. So we are definitely making strides. I told you about this GeneXpert Technology. It is one of the technologies we are using to combat TB. As a result, we now know the diagnosis within two hours and not only days later. We are no longer only picking up between 4% and 9% of the people infected with TB; we are actually picking up 17% using this technology. We acknowledge that the incidence is very high, but we are making progress, and good progress at that. I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, I want to thank the Minister for the response. I have noticed that you are very passionate about various diseases, and TB in particular. Do you think you have enough Directly Observed Therapy, Dot, supporters to help in the follow-up of patients who are receiving treatment at home, and also in the identification and management of defaulters?
Deputy Speaker, indeed we have. Out of the 72 000 people audited, when we were conducting an audit about people who are doing home-based care, community development work and primary health care work, 40 000 are actually Dot supporters. So we have enough.
In addition, we have established 190 teams consisting of five people each who have been doing family visits since March last year. In our database, we have 405 000 families where there is TB and we have agreed that from March last year until March this year we should have at least visited half of those families, and we are doing so. We are on course to do that.
Intended measures to minimise concerns of beneficiaries and to support social grant reregistration process
63. Mr V V Magagula (ANC) asked the Minister of Social Development:
(1) What measures does she intend to implement that will minimise misperceptions and concerns of beneficiaries about the social grant reregistration process;
(2) whether she has put mechanisms in place to support reregistration; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) mechanisms and (b) are the further relevant details? NO494E
Deputy Speaker, maybe we should say it is a verification process and not a registration process. Firstly, a comprehensive communication strategy that will ensure that all beneficiaries are informed and educated about the process of reregistration has been developed by the SA Social Security Agency, Sassa.
The strategy entails reaching beneficiaries through different modes of communication, including but not limited to the following: Letters to individual beneficiaries providing full details of the processes; media briefings by the officials, which is already happening; communication via television and radio, which is already done by myself and then Minister; and distribution of pamphlets at all Sassa local offices, taxi ranks, schools and other public places. All these combined will ensure that all beneficiaries are reached, and will thus minimise misperceptions and concerns that are likely to arise.
Lastly, yes, there is a plan or mechanism in place to support the reregistration. Sufficient resources will be deployed for the reregistration. The deployment of the resources is based on scientific calculations based on the numbers and location of our beneficiaries in relation to the minimum distance they have to travel to the place of registration. To further ease the tension, most registration locations are situated closer to the current pay point locations that beneficiaries are accustomed to visiting during their pay days and are familiar with. There are no additional details, except that things will become evident as the process unfolds. If there are problems, there are numbers to call: for CPS it is 0800 600 160 and for Sassa it is 0800 6010 11. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, Deputy Minister, you are the overall accounting officer for the Department of Social Development. The Minister was quoted repeatedly assuring South Africans that there will be no interruptions during the reregistration process, but irrespective chaos erupted. What steps will the Deputy Minister take to ensure that Sassa complies with the measures you have just alluded to, particularly in terms of rudeness, impatience and unhelpfulness of the staff as it happened at the West End Community Centre in Port Elizabeth and in all other affected provinces? I thank you.
Deputy Speaker, hon member, I think you raised a statement on that yesterday as well. Nobody's grant will be cut. That is the first assurance. People must not panic; they will be assisted at pay points on their pay days. Only those who have passed away will be removed from the payroll.
Lokho kuzokwenziwa ngesizotha nangobuntu obukhulu, lokhu kuzosisiza ... [That is going to be done with respect and great humanity, which is going to help us ...]
... if there are also changes in procurators. It also gives us an opportunity to get the correct addresses, telephones and cell numbers so that Sassa can have direct contact with the beneficiaries, not procurators; and also to ask them about the deductions, particularly regarding funeral schemes. Some old people have four to five funeral schemes and some don't even know about those funeral schemes.
Laba abasusa uthuthuva ezindaweni zezimpesheni yilaba abangafuni ukuthi kulungiswe le nkohlakalo. Uma ngingakutshela nje, lungu elihloniphekile, ukuthi njengoba kunesamba ... [People who start conflicts at the pay points are those who do not want this corruption to be dealt with. I can tell you, hon member ...]
... there is a total number of 94 292 investigated cases. Cases that have been taken to court are 20 121, convict cases are 17 411 and finalised cases are 18 845. The acknowledgement of death is 44 874.
When you look at all of these things and also look at our banks, we have more than R100 million ...
... eziduve emabhange zabantu abahola sebashona. Manje sibanjwe wukuthi kwenziwe lolu hlelo lokubhalisa kabusha ukuze sibazi abantu esibaholelayo, abaphilayo kanjalo nalabo abadla imali ngokungemthetho. [Ihlombe.]
Sekela Ngqongqoshe, ngiyathokoza ngempendulo osinikeze yona namuhla, ngisho futhi nokuthi siyakweseka nathi kulolu hlelo olwenziwayo lokubhalisa kabusha ngenxa yezizathu ezinikeziwe, ngakho siyabonga.
Kodwa kunesikhalo esisodwa esinaso engizocela ukuthi uSekela Ngqongqoshe asicacisele kusona. Laphaya KwaZulu-Natali abantu abazobhalisela kabusha imali yesibonelelo okokuqala baphindiselwa emuva kuthiwe kungenxa yokuthi uMnyango usaxakekile nokubhalisa abantu kabusha. Ngicela ukucaciseleka lapho ngoba ngokwami ukwazi, ngisho nangenkathi siluxoxa lolu daba ekomidini ... (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[... in the banks that belong to people who continue to receive a pension although they are dead. Now we are only waiting for this reregistration process to be concluded so that we know whom we are paying - those who are alive and those who are being paid illegally. [Applause.]
Deputy Minister, thank you for your response today. I would like to say that we support this reregistration process, considering the reasons given, and therefore I thank you.
There is one complaint we have that we would like the Deputy Minister to clarify. People from KwaZulu-Natal who went to register for social grants for the first time were sent back because they were told that the department was busy with the reregistration process. I would like to get an explanation in that regard because to my knowledge, when we discussed this, as a committee ...]
... it was said that no other activities that are done by Sassa will be affected by the reregistration. Thank you.
IPHINI LIKANGQONGQOSHE WEZOKUTHUTHUKISWA KOMPHAKATHI: Ngibonge kakhulu Lungu eliHloniphekile, ngempela kunjalo, akufanele ukuthi kube khona okuphazamisekayo ezikhungweni zokuholela, njengoba bengishilo nayizolo ukuthi akusizo zonke izifundazwe ezithikamezekile.
Bengishilo ukuthi lapha sikhuluma ngeGauteng, ingxenye ethile yeMpumalanga Kapa ingxenye ethile yeNtshonalanga Kapa, iMpumalanga kanye neFreyistasta. Lezi zifundazwe engingazibalanga angeke zithikamezeke. Ngamanye amagama kusafuneka uma kuvela izinto ezinjengalezi - njengoba sengininikeze nenombolo okufanele niyishayele - ihhovisi lami lihlezi livuliwe njengoba ngihlezi ngisho ukuthi wozani nizosho uma kukhona okonakalayo ezindaweni, sisheshe siphuthume ngoba ziningi nezigebengu; zikhona kubasebenzi kanjalo nakubantu abathatha imali kahulumeni ngokungemthetho. Ngicela ukuthi impela sibambisane kulokhu. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[The DEPUTY MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT: Thank you very much, hon member. It is indeed true: There must be no interruptions at the pay points. I said yesterday that not all provinces are going to be interrupted.
I did mention that we are talking about Gauteng, some parts of the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga and the Free State. The provinces that I did not mention here are not going to be interrupted. In other words, when such things happen - I have given you the numbers that you can call - my office is always open, so come and report it to me so that we can attend to that quickly because there are so many criminals; they are among the workers and the people who take government's money illegally. I am asking that we co-operate in this regard.]
Deputy Speaker, in view of the Deputy Minister's response, does she agree or not that the reregistration process is crucial to maintain the integrity of the social grants system; also further ensuring that those who deserve to receive the grant, especially among our rural and urban poor, receive it as reflected and confirmed by the recent research completed by the Centre for Social Development in Africa at the University of Johannesburg?
In a study that looked at the impact of the child support grant in households in the Doornkop area of Soweto, the research confirmed that the perception that the child support grant is abused is not merely anecdotal.
Deputy Speaker, yes, it is true, hon member. We want uniformity in Sassa. We cannot afford to have different institutions paying grants charging different fees. With the new system, you can get money anywhere if you are a beneficiary. If you are in KwaZulu- Natal or in the Free State, you can also get your money there. You are therefore correct, hon member.
Siyabonga ukuthi usilekelele kulo mzabalazo wethu wokuqeda inkohlakalo. Ngiyabonga. [We thank you for working with us in this struggle to eradicate corruption. I thank you.]
See also QUESTIONS AND REPLIES.