Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Deputy Minister, hon Members of Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, as public representatives mandated by the people of South Africa we need to continue to respond to the perspectives we spoke of as the ANC-led government began its term of office in 1994, fully conscious that none of the great social problems it had to solve is capable of resolution outside the context of job creation and the alleviation and eradication of poverty.
As public representatives, it is our duty to make sure that the dream of a better South Africa comes true, and working together we can and shall succeed in meeting the common objective that we have set ourselves as a nation, to build a better life for all. If only the departments and their entities would share the same vision as public representatives, achieving some of the goals would be much easier and much quicker.
The emphasis of the 2011 state of the nation address was on job creation through the Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, Phase 2, capital works programmes, effective service delivery at municipal level, and the eradication of corruption, with more emphasis on greater monitoring and evaluation by Parliament.
The Department of Public Works was allocated a functional mandate in terms of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The department is mandated to provide land and accommodation, manage such land and accommodation, and act as custodian of national government immovable assets.
It must provide strategic leadership to the construction and property industries, and co-ordinate the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme. The Minister of Public Works should carry out functions related to land and accommodation in terms of the State Land Disposal Act, Act 48 of 1961.
The Department of Public Works is also responsible for poor entities who report to the Minister of Public Works as the executive authority.
The Government Immovable Asset Management Act, Act 19 of 2007, was assented to on 22 November 2007, and it came into effect on 1 April 2008. The Act was introduced to assist the Department of Public Works in the effective and efficient execution of its stated mandate, which is derived from the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, and other relevant legislation.
The department's mandate includes custodianship and management of national government immovable assets, provision of accommodation requirements, and rendering expert built environment services to user departments. It also includes the acquisition, management, maintenance and disposal of such assets.
The creation of the nine provinces in 1994 resulted in the re-demarcation of the South African landscape. As of 27 April 1994, it was resolved that state immovable assets might only be registered in the name of the following: the national government of the Republic of South Africa; relevant commercial government; relevant municipalities, including local decision and metropolitans; and relevant state-owned enterprises.
The above resolution requires that the vesting process which constitutes the confirmation of ownership be finalised. A task team comprising representatives from the Departments of Rural Development and Land Reform and of Public Works and provincial custodians was established.
The task team undertook to visit all nine provinces and engaged different role-players to gather detailed information. It was after this exercise that the national vesting plan was completed.
The Act in its present form extends to only two spheres of government, namely the national and provincial levels. In 2006, when the Bill was first presented to Parliament, it was known as the Government-wide Immovable Asset Management Bill. The intention was to extend it to the national, provincial and local spheres of government.
Things started to change in the final deliberations on the Bill, when the portfolio committee members discovered that the Bill in its final form did not extend to the local sphere of government. It was after the committee members had raised serious concerns that the then Minister of Public Works, Ms T Didiza, in September 2006 presented a response from the then Minister for Provincial and Local Government, Mr F S Mufamadi. She indicated that adequate legislation provision was made in section 63 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, to ensure that municipal assets were adequately planned for and managed. Although the Bill was passed in its current form, an additional process would be undertaken to include the local level within three years - that was the agreement.
By the end of 2007, the Department of Public Works had managed to transfer 43 621 ha of land parcels to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for restitution and land distribution purposes. The Department of Public Works in March 2001 presented a progress report on the asset register to the portfolio committee. The total number of land parcels in the Department of Public Works asset register was 35 746; and the number of vested land parcels to target for 2010-11 was 12 653. The vesting target for 2010-11 is 19 660, which is 55%. To date, 8 288 land parcels have been vested by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. The area of land parcels vested by provinces to date is 17 554 ha. About 200 people were spread nationally to assist with the asset register.
The Department of Public Works has reported that the working relationship with the Deeds Office has improved, and as a result they meet regularly.
Regarding the Amnesty Call, Operation Buyisa, the Department of Public Works reported that in March 2011 the amnesty strategy was approved by the Minister. The appointment of call centre operators and investigators was completed on 28 February 2011. Call centre operators assumed duties on 1 March 2011. The call centre was fully operational from 1 March 2011 on 0800 782 542.
Bantu baseMzantsi Afrika ukuba ninabantu enibaziyo - isizalwane, umhlobo okanye ummelwane - abahlala kwizindlu okanye kwimihlaba engeyoyabo, abo bantu bayamenywa ukuba beze ngaphambili. Mabeze kusa ... (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[People of South Africa, if you know people who are occupying houses or land illegally, whether they are relatives, friends or neighbours, ask them to come forward. They must come while ...]