Hon Speaker, let me start by saying that the IFP supports Budget Vote No 31. [Applause.]

Ningasheshi nishaye ihlombe. [Uhleko.] [Don't be in a hurry to clap hands. [Laughter.]]

We commend the department for a job well done under the leadership of the Director-General, Thabane Zulu, the Deputy Director-General, Neville Chainee, the Chief Financial Officer, Ms Funani Matlatsi, and all other officials of the Department of Human Settlements.

The department received unqualified audit reports from the Auditor-General, for the past four years and always had a plan to address issues raised by the office of the Audirot-General. They have always kept the portfolio committee updated on these issues and this must be commended, as it is evidence of the transparency and good governance under which it operates. We also commend the commitment and the passion of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, hon Dambuza.

Whilst the department's overall performance remains positive the following issues require attention: failure by the department to spend R4 billion allocated to it; and failure to effectively utilise the sanitation fund in that 94% of the money allocated remains unspent. This underspending resulted in the following crisis in the country: failure of the department to eradicate the bucket system in the Eastern Cape, North West, Limpopo, Free State and even here in the Western Cape. Former President Thabo Mbeki promised to eradicate the problem by 2017. The department failed to eradicate pit toilets in Sokhulumi, Gauteng; KwaDambuza in KwaZulu-Natal; Ward 4 in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal; Ward 10 in Khutsong, Gauteng; Winterfield in Gauteng; Thokoza in Gauteng; Cala in the Eastern Cape and many more. This is solely because of incompetence and underspending. The department must also ensure that our municipality has the necessary capacity to utilise the funds allocated to them. One often finds that our metros do not have the capacity to effectively use such resources. Even worse is the rectification programme. The programme of rectification has no place in the department. It exists because corruption and tender fraud exist in the department. It is wasteful expenditure in the extreme ...

Ngicabanga ukuthi uSihlalo uyakhumbula ngenkathi sise-North West, kwathiwa kunendlu ye-RDP ebiza izigidi eziyisishiyagalombili zamarandi. Namanje asikatholi ukuthi indlu eyodwa yakhiwa kanjani ngezigidi eziyisishiyagalombili zamarandi. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[I think the Chairperson remembers that when we were in the North West province, it was claimed that there is an RDP house that costs R8 million. Even today we haven't determined how it happened that only one house could be built at a cost of R8 million.]

Defective housing is a ticking bomb and when it finally explodes we are going to experience violent unrest, the likes of which have never been seen in South Africa. The people of Thokoza, Katlehong, Vosloorus, Benoni, Daveyton, Mamelodi, Saulsville, Alexander, Soweto, Sedibeng, Umlazi, Free State and the Eastern Cape have had enough. They live in dilapidated hostels that have been isolated, neglected and ignored by the department. These people live under terrible conditions.

Yini le eyenziwa ngabantu abahlala emahostela? Cala lini, Ngqongqoshe, abalenza elingasapheli? Ingabe bona abasizo yini izakhamuzi zaseNingizimu Afrika? Ingabe bona abayitheli yini intela njengawo wonke umuntu? Abantu abavela kwamanye amazwe ase-Afrika baphathwa kangcono kunabantu abahlala emahostela. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)

[What did the hostel dwellers do to deserve this? What crime did they commit that can never be pardoned, hon Minister? Are they not citizens of South Africa? Are they not paying their taxes just like everybody else? Even foreigners from other African countries are treated better than the hostel dwellers.]