Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi: Human Settlements Dept Budget Vote 2022/23

• Published date: 10 May 2022
• Publication title: South African Official News

Our government derives its approach to Human Settlements from the injunction contained in the Freedom Charter that says: 'There Shall Be Houses, Security and Comfort!'. In truth, the demand for sustainable human settlements in our country has been on the increase and our pace of delivery has been slower than the rate of increase.

As I stand here before you today to deliver this budget vote, those who have been waiting for a housing opportunity for what seems forever are hopeful that the plans we are going to announce today are going to respond to their needs. They are also eager to hear how we intend to implement our plans.

It is within this context that we have adopted a continuous improvement approach to our work. Accordingly, we have effected changes within the human settlements delivery system that are aimed at ensuring that we continuously improve the efficiency, quality and speed of delivery of our products. The process of stabilising the human settlements entities is at an advanced stage with all Boards being appointed. Majority of the entities have completed the processes of the appointments of the executives and we will be announcing these appointments in the coming weeks.

To deal with the blockages and the slow pace of delivery, we have established a national Human Settlements WarRoom, with Mr Dan Gorbachev Mashitisho, the former Director General of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, as the convener. In this work, he will be supported by a team of highly specialised individuals who will bring a broad range of much needed skills to the sector. These individuals include:

Mr Abongile Dyariwe, project and construction management specialist with a Masters Degree in Built Environment

Ms Patience Ntombifikile Ndlovu, a specialist in Urban planning with a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning

Dr Mmaphaka Ephraim Tau, Governance, Strategic Leadership and Development Expert who until recently was the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre

Mr Kwena Maphoto, infrastructure development specialist who is a professional technologist in civil engineering

Among other things the War Room team will be expected to do the following:

Coordinate efforts, monitor and fast track the implementation of diverse projects across provinces.

Coordinate support of various entities and consolidate reporting to the War Room.

Provide project tracking tools on all projects to monitor and to report to the War Room.

Identify strategic partners that could assist to unblock challenges in project implementation.

Create an enabling environment for cooperative governance in line with Intergovernmental Relations Act.

In addition, to the technical capacity that will be brought to both the department and entities, we have made some policy changes that are aimed at ensuring we expand the speed and quantity of delivery. These include the following:

In the current financial year, the revised bands for the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme now called Help-Me-Buy-A-Home will come into effect.

As of the 01st of April, the applicable subsidy quantums have been revised from what existed in 2018, by 20.9 percent to ensure that they remain consistent with the ability of the...