23 July 2024

Advancing a transformative human settlement policy to realize integrated, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable post-apartheid human settlements

Honourable House Chairperson
Honourable Minister and Deputy Minister
Honourable Members

As the African National Congress, we are pursuing a national democratic revolution as a political strategy to achieve the Freedom Charter’s objectives. It was our forebearers, in the course of our national liberation struggle, who decided to craft the Freedom Charter as a guide and vision for a post-apartheid democratic society. 

Since the political and democratic breakthrough of 1994, the ANC-led government has led a protracted struggle through the implementation of transformative socioeconomic policies to realize the vision of the Freedom Charter, in this case the right to adequate shelter.

• Defending and deepening the democratic gains in the human settlement sector

Honourable Chairperson, it is the mischievous, reactionary, and outright political opportunism of some who stand here and claim that the ANC-led government has done nothing to transform the lives of our people in the past thirty years. 

South Africa is one of the few countries in both the developing and developed worlds that have made access to adequate shelter a constitutional right, and it is incumbent upon the democratic state to take reasonable steps to realize this right. As the African National Congress, we strive to fulfil the Freedom Charter’s objectives.

Over the past thirty years, the ANC-led government has launched a massive housing programme unlike any other in the world, building and distributing more than 3.5 million houses to vulnerable members of our society. Today, most South Africans take these important achievements for granted, demonstrating that the right to shelter has permeated our society and, as dictated by the Freedom Charter, “there shall be houses, security, and comfort for all.” 

Honourable Members, it is the ANC-led government that has also ensured that the beneficiaries of government-subsidised housing receive their title deeds as a proof of ownership and guarantee that they will never be forcefully removed from their home, as it was done under colonialism and apartheid. We might not be where we want to be in terms of issuing title deeds, but it is a work in progress. We urge the Minister and her team to accelerate the issuance of title deeds.

The Human Settlement Budget Vote and Policy Statement, presented by Minister Kubayi, demonstrate both continuity and change within the human settlement sector. We are confident that these measures are progressing towards the progressive realisation of the right to shelter, and as the ANC, we fully support them.

• The importance of transforming housing into human settlement is paramount.

Most of these government-subsidised housing projects were built in areas away from economic and social opportunities, were without social amenities like education and health facilities, and most importantly, were perpetuating colonial and apartheid spatial planning. 

Honourable Members, having recognised the issue, our ANC-led government seeks to transform the housing sector into a human settlement sector to ensure that any housing projects not only dismantle apartheid and colonial spatial planning but also have all the necessary features making life easy, such as reliable and affordable public transport, economic opportunities, education, health, sport, and recreational facilities. 

As the African National Congress, we applaud our ANC-led government’s commitment to realising spatially integrated human settlements by implementing housing projects that are mixed developments, accommodating the various income groups. In her Budget Vote and Policy Speech, Minister Kubayi announced that her department will persist in completing the declared one hundred and thirty-six (136) priority development areas (PDAs), where provinces and municipalities will implement her department’s housing programmes such as mixed-use development, informal settlement upgrading, social housing, and affordable housing.

• Accelerate the process of acquiring land, expropriating neglected buildings, and releasing those for the purpose of building human settlements.

Honourable Chairperson, the land question in our country, above all other questions, is what gave birth to the national liberation struggle, and its resolution is a matter that our country cannot further postpone. To create a spatially integrated human settlement, the government has to acquire well-located land and make it available for human settlements in the form of various housing programmes, especially the BNG and serviced sites. 

As the African National Congress, we welcome the commitment by the department to release state-owned land for purposes of human settlement, and the target land has the potential to make possible 64 000 housing opportunities, as announced by Minister Kubayi.

This financial year, the Housing Development Agency (HDA), the departmental entity responsible for acquiring and rezoning land for the democratic government, is going to acquire an additional 1000 hectares, of which 700 hectares will be rezoned and developed for human settlements.

Honourable Members, as much as we welcome the decision to acquire and transfer state-owned land for human settlements, we wish to urge the Minister to utilise existing legislation to expropriate privately owned land as provided for by Section 9(3) of the Housing Act. The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s 2017 Land Audit Report illustrates that either a company and trusts, or individuals who own these companies and trusts, currently own the majority of well-located land that the government can acquire to dismantle colonial and apartheid spatial planning and truly build spatially integrated human settlement. Therefore, we are calling upon the democratic government to take steps to address the land question in our country. 

We further wish to commend Minister Kubayi for her commitment to acquire both abandoned or neglected government and private buildings in the central building districts or the inner-city of our major cities and have them repurposed for affordable housing for our people. Already, the department has taken steps in this regard, as illustrated by the acquisition of the SABC’s Rockland Villas in Sea Point for the development of affordable housing.

• Expanding access to housing, security, and comfort for a better life for all

Honourable Chairperson, the African National Congress affirms that the Budget Vote and Policy Speech persist in broadening housing accessibility, fostering security and comfort, and achieving a superior quality of life for every South African citizen.

The ANC-led democratic government continues to prioritise housing provision for the working class and the poor in our society, especially women, youth, and people living with disabilities. For the current fiscal year, the Department of Human Settlement is going to build and deliver 39 146 BNG housing units, 35 876 serviced stands, and issue 11 584 title deeds to our people. In addition, the department has planned to deliver 2,699 social housing units through its entity, the Social Housing Regulatory Agency (SHRA), and address the bottlenecks that hinder the full implementation of the upgrading of informal settlements programmes by the various provinces and municipalities. 

• Finalising the White Paper on Human Settlement and the Review of the Housing Act and Housing Code

Honourable Chairperson, during the previous administration, the department released the White Paper on Human Settlement for public feedback. The Minister went above and beyond the legal requirements to extend the public comment period. She also actively collaborated with various interest groups to gather their perspectives, ensuring the White Paper’s results accurately reflected the diversity of perspectives in our nation. We applaud her efforts for this.

As the African National Congress, we are convinced that the proposed White Paper on Human Settlement clearly responds to the 2030 National Development Plan Vision of creating spatially just, integrated, equitable, and sustainable human settlements. The White Paper also requires that the department review the Housing Act to align with the current human settlement sector and department. 

Honourable Members, the review of the Housing Act and the Housing Code will progressively align well with the department’s current programmes as it seeks to respond to a number of challenges facing the human settlement sector, among them climate change. The review of the Housing Code will enable the government to build houses that are climate-change-resilient and withstand some of the devastating natural disasters associated with climate change. 

Finalising some of this important work, we are convinced that our democratic government is advancing a truly transformative human settlement policy to realise integrated, inclusive, equitable, and sustainable post-apartheid human settlements.

Once again, as the African National Congress, we fully support the Human Settlement Budget Vote and Policy Statement, as tabled by Honourable Minister Kubayi.

I thank you.