Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has commended the Limpopo Provincial Government for championing the economic empowerment of youth and women contractors in the delivery of sustainable human settlements.
Whereas in the past two financial years, the province had its Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG) reduced during mid-year reviews because of poor performance, it has emerged as one of the top performers in this financial year. Limpopo's performance has exceeded expectations. The Minister welcomed this exceptional improvement, as a shining example of what the sector can achieve if greater attention is paid to capacity, monitoring and evaluation and efficiency of the service delivery systems.
"Over and above the remarkable turnaround in performance, the Limpopo Department of Human Settlements is one of the provinces that have consistently ensured designated groups are allocated at least 40% and more of the value of the housing projects. This has seen the province allocating up to 62% to the designated groups", said Minister Kubayi, adding that this will go a long way to transform the sector.
The Minister was speaking during the handover of houses at Spa Park, Extension 25, Bela- Bela in Limpopo. This is one of the projects by a woman contractor, which seeks to improve the living conditions of informal settlement dwellers, through the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme (ISUP). Among the beneficiaries was Ms Ela Bodiba Thobane (70), who expressed her gratitude that she now has a decent shelter over her head. The pensioner is one of just over 4000 beneficiaries of subsidy houses whose dignity has been restored since April 2023. Limpopo's delivery is against its 2023/2024 target of over 7000 housing units.
Thursday's handover of newly built homes to qualifying beneficiaries preceded the last meeting of a calendar year between the Ministry and MECs of Human Settlements (MINMEC) to assess the performance of the sector since the beginning of the current financial year, 2023/204.
The meeting received and discussed various reports, including the status update on the release of State land for human settlements development, Title Deeds Restoration Project, identification of all informal settlements at risk of being affected by disasters, payment of service providers within 30 days and the delivery of units against the 2023/2024 set target.
In relation to access to State land held by government departments for human settlement development, the MINMEC was apprised that approximately 2500 hectares of land have been released with Power of Attorney by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. These land parcels will enable the Department of Human Settlements to deliver on its various housing programmes such as social housing, affordable housing, informal settlements upgrading, and fully subsidized housing known as Breaking New Ground (BNG). Some of the land parcels that had been identified cannot be released because it is earmarked for other developments.
Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme
Minister Kubayi was very concerned about the poor performance of provinces and metropolitan municipalities on the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme, except for Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, which has performed remarkably well. She described it as an injustice that a great number of informal settlement dwellers lack basic human rights services and yet the grant money, allocated for such services, is being underspent. Accordingly, the Minister will convene meetings with Metropolitan Municipalities' Troikas, MMCs for Human Settlements and senior officials to deal with performance concerns raised at MINMEC.
Financial performance
The mid-term budget cuts have affected the Human Settlements Sector. However, some Provinces and Metros can do more with what they have. The MINMEC deliberated on the need for non-performing provinces to urgently come up with turnaround plans, in collaboration with the National Department. This intervention, including bilateral engagements with the Executive Authority, will assist Provinces and Metros to avoid operating outside the approved business plans and budgets. With only three months left in the financial year, the MINMEC discussed the possible need for budget reallocations, instead of losing money meant to improve service delivery to the National Treasury.
Payment of invoices within 30 days
The MINMEC noted with enthusiasm, the improvement in the payment of invoices within 30 days and sometimes less, to ensure that contractors stick to the agreed timelines and complete projects. MINMEC applauded the notable improvement with regard to the 40% set aside for designated groups throughout the sector in terms of access to grant-funded projects. Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and North West performed exceedingly well in allocating work to designated groups, including women, youth and people living with disabilities.
Title Deeds Rollout
The Title Deeds Fridays Campaign was starting to bear fruit, with about 15 371 title deeds handed over to beneficiaries since the campaign launch last month. "This is a clear demonstration that provinces are rallying behind the campaign. We should make it a point that together with MECs, we monitor the issuing of the title deeds and dispatch all these title deeds in our offices, "said Minister Kubayi.
Progress on the Implementation of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (2019/24)
A notable delivery over the Medium-Term Strategic Framework, 2019-2024, was the delivery of 22 034 units against a target of 20,000 units through First Home Finance, which is a once- off housing finance subsidy that enables qualifying beneficiaries to buy or build their first homes on an affordable basis. The performance of upgrading of informal settlements and title deeds issuance remains an area of concern. Various interventions like Title Deeds Fridays Campaign and engagements with metropolitan municipalities, will seek to address these non- performance concerns.
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Rectification Programme
MINMEC affirmed the need for all provinces to conduct a country-wide assessment of all housing built before the establishment of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) and the adoption of Norms and Standards, as some of these homes are of substandard quality and may endanger the lives of occupants. The Minister will in the coming weeks announce measures to address the rectification of these government-subsidized homes as a multi-year programme.
Meanwhile, the MINMEC tasked the technical team to devise solutions, within the policy, to attend to Khutsong residents, in Merafong Municipality in Gauteng, whose homes are in sink- hole areas. The solutions may include the identification of alternative land for relocations, provision of serviced sites and subsidies within the permissible quantum.
