Hon House Chair, hon Chief Whip, hon members, special delegates from the provinces, thank you for according me this opportunity to share with you the challenges, the progress and the plans for Gauteng. The provincial week has enabled permanent delegates to interact with the Gauteng provincial legislature's leadership and various stakeholders, with the purpose of engaging with targeted stakeholders and communities to enable delegates of the National Council of Provinces to put community issues on the legislative agenda.
Oversight visits were undertaken by delegates from the NCOP and the Gauteng legislature portfolio committees, by SA Local Government Association representatives, by the Johannesburg Metro mayoral committee and by the Mogale City Local Municipality to Rietvallei Extension 5 and Muldersdrift in the West Rand region, and to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital and the Lilian Ngoyi Community Health Centre in Soweto, so that challenges identified could be noted and addressed by all spheres of government.
There was a briefing by the chairperson of the Gauteng portfolio committee on health and social development and, with the establishment of the new Gauteng provincial executive council, the department of social development and the department of health were merged into a single department. One of the issues raised is that there is a staff shortage which still persists in the department, hence the lack of proper service delivery. The dispute in terms of the provincialisation of health services had impacted negatively on service delivery, especially the emergency management services and primary health care services.
The recommendations given by the joint committees were that the health and social development committee should engage the department concerning the issue of the closing time of community health centres to enable communities to have greater access to health facilities.
In terms of the intervention by the government regarding the scarcity of staff, the Gauteng provincial government has already opened up nursing training colleges and has recalled retired health practitioners to respond to the filling of vacant posts, to the skills shortage and to curb the backlog which impacted negatively on service delivery. The Gauteng provincial government has developed a turnaround strategy called Kuyasheshwa: Gauteng Working Better.
With regard to the briefing by the chairperson of the Gauteng portfolio committee on local government and housing, the department of local government and housing is a merger between the department of local government and the department of housing, following the establishment of the fourth Gauteng provincial legislature.
The observation of the portfolio committee is that migration and immigration to the province have placed a lot of strain on provincial government resources, and they are impacting negatively on service delivery, as the government's plans are unable to respond adequately to the demand for services. There is an inadequate provisioning of budget for municipalities to enable them to perform their developmental function, which is being responsive to local development and local governments and community participation.
Part of the challenge in Gauteng is the land scarcity in which some of the underutilised land is not conducive to human settlement - it is wetlands and also has dolomite. The transformation of hostels into family units is under way in some parts of the province. The presentation by the executive council of Gauteng was informed by the 15-year governance review and the current priorities of the Gauteng provincial government. The presentation captured the progress made since the installation of the current political leadership and outlined a comprehensive programme with timeframes, which demonstrates that the Gauteng provincial government is on course in meeting its deadlines of the Kuyasheshwa five-year programme, which puts the province at the cutting edge of creating a better life for all.
The delegation from the Mogale City Local Municipality was led by the speaker, and together with a member of the mayoral committee and councillors they presented to us the challenges and plans for alleviating and addressing the backlog in housing. There are plans at Mogale City to build 25 174 houses at Rietvallei, Tarlton, Muldersdrift, Munsieville, Kagiso and Magaliesburg between 2009 and 2014 so as to address the housing backlog. The challenge so far that has been experienced with Mogale City is the purchase of land. The problem is that mine and private owners cause the land to be expensive and priced out of the market, which causes a problem for resettling the people.
Another problem is the lack of identity documents. The delegation was informed that a recent survey conducted by a staff member from the Mogale City housing division revealed that a substantial number of South Africans living in informal settlements do not have identity documents. Not having an identity books starts from not having a birth certificate. A person who does not have an identity book cannot register for a housing subsidy. In terms of the intervention by the NCOP, the matter must be brought to the attention of the Department of Home Affairs so that instructions can be filtered down to local departments to undertake campaigns in informal settlements. People in need of identity documents must be assisted. This is crucial in the formalisation and upgrading of the informal settlements, otherwise people will continue living in squalor in underdeveloped settlements. There is therefore a call for an increase in the number of mobile offices for easy access.
The objective of the Munsieville Urban Renewal Programme is to rejuvenate the old township by installing storm-water drains and sewerage systems, creating a healthy and conducive environment. The programme, however, is running short of funds. The unavailability of land is a problem because most of the land in Mogale City is not suitable for habitation and is also full of dolomite.
There is a huge informal settlement at Rietfontein with illegal land invasions. The rapid growth of the informal settlement threatens the municipality's developmental plans. Most of the inhabitants do not have identity documents, while a large percentage constitutes immigrants from other countries. Private-property owners often evict farm labourers who have been residing on the land for many years. These farm labourers do not have alternative accommodation, and this we condemn in the strongest terms.
There are recommendations on the lack of land. Owing to the lack of land for poor communities and considering the fact that the local municipality and the provincial government are unable to buy privately owned land to resettle communities and build houses in safer areas, a proposal was made that the willing-buyer, willing-seller policy be reviewed.
The mining companies that are responsible for reckless and unsafe mining practices should get punitive and heavy financial fines as a form of restitution to communities and government. The relevant department of the Gauteng provincial government should speedily intervene in educating former farm labourers who work for years on the land where they were born and private-property owners who evict them without compassion for children and women.
The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital delegation was led by the hospital board chairperson and the acting chief executive officer. The Lilian Ngoyi Community Health Centre delegation was led by the chief director. The Lilian Ngoyi Clinic is the only clinic that closes at 10pm, and when the other clinics close at 4pm the patients are referred to the Lilian Ngoyi Clinic. The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital is exploring the possibility of operating 24 hours daily. Organised labour was part of the meeting.
In conclusion, the delegates noted and appreciated the sterling work of Mr Siphiwe Msimango, who has been volunteering his services at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital for the past 10 years. Thank you, hon Chairperson. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo walo mhlangano wale Ndlu ehloniphekile, amalunga ale Ndlu ahloniphekile. Laphaya ngomhlaka-7 ukuya kumhlaka -11 Septemba 2009 kwaba nokuhlangana okuhle phakathi kwethu esimele iKwaZulu- Natali kule Ndlu noNdunankulu wesiFundazwe kanye namalungu akhe omkhandlu ophethe kuleya ndawo.
Saba nomhlangano omuhle futhi nozihlalo bozihlalo bamakomidi bonke besilandisa ngokuthi asebenza kanjani amakomidi abo. USomlomo nePhini lakhe, noSotswebhu weqembu elibusayo neliphikisayo saba nokuhambisa okuhle kakhulu kuwo wonke amaprojekthi akhona anjenge -Dube Port nalapho sabona khona ukuthi isikhumulo sezindiza esikhulukazi saseThekwini siyaphela.
Kwaba ngumkhandlu waseMgungundlovu owaveza ngokusobala ukuthi izinkinga zawo zingakanani nalapho okufuneka basizwe khona wakubeka kwaba yinselele ukuthi uMnyango Wezasekhaya waleso sifundazwe kufudingeka ukwazi ukusiza. Kwaba nombuzo omkhulu mayelana nomasipala weTheku obizwa nge-eThekwini Municipality njengoba imeya kanye nemenenja yakhona bengakwazanga ukuhlonipha isimemo sezithunywa sokuthi bazothula umbiko mayelana nokusebenza kumaMasipala. Kwaba nenkinga enkulu yokubukela phansi izithunywa ngumasipala waseThekwini ngokubona kwami.
Ngenkathi ngibuka indlela uMkhandlu Wezifunda osebenzisana ngayo namasipala basekhaya ayaicacisi kakhle ukuthi kumele kusetshenzwe kanjani, njengokuthi balekelela uma kwenzenjani komasipala abancane basemakhaya. Ngithi-ke ngokwami isonto lokuvakasha lokubuyela esifundazweni ngalesekela kakhulu, ngalibuka nokuthi laba nokusebenza okuhle nokuthi kube nokuxhumana nokwazi izinto ukuthi kufanele zihanjiswe kanjani kuyo yonke into.
Ngithi kunguumsebenzi omkhulu wale Ndlu ukuqinisekisa ukuthi iziFundazwe ziyakwazi ukuletha kuhulumeni kaZwelonke izikhalazo zazo noma izinto abafisa zenzeke. Ngiyabonga. (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prince M M M ZULU: Hon Chairperson of this august House, hon members of this House, a meeting was held from 7 to 11 September 2009 between us, as I'm representing KwaZulu-Natal in this House, and the Premier of the province and the members of his council which is in charge of that area.
We had a fruitful meeting and all the chairpersons of the committees explained how they operated. The Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Chief Whips of the ruling party and the opposition party worked well on all the existing projects like the Dube Trade Port, where we saw the biggest airport of EThekwini which was nearing completion.
The Council of uMgungundlovu District shared with us all the challenges that they face. This was done in a manner which challenged the provincial district to intervene in their dilemma. There was a concern over the absence of the Mayor and the Manager of the EThekwini Municipality who failed to honour the invitation by the delegates who wanted them to present how they operated, which was insubordination in my view.
If you look at the way the district council and local government work together, I have observed that there is no clarity in terms of their role in assisting the small municipalities. I supported the week-long visit to the province. I also observed that there was good working relations and communication and everybody knew the plan of action.
One of the core functions of this House is to ensure that the provinces are able to submit their grievances or things that they wish to see happening to national government. Thank you.]