1.1 Members of the delegation, were as follows:

Staff:

Ms M Ntuli - Committee Secretary

Ms E Scholtz - Secretary to Chairperson

2. PURPOSE OF THE PROVINCIAL VISIT

The main purpose of the visit was to exercise its oversight role by assessing the provision of basic infrastructure, assessing the quality of housing units provided, assessing the pace of housing delivery, interacting with the Department of Housing. It was also to monitor the involvement of women and other disadvantaged persons in the housing delivery process as well as attention given to the emerging contractor. The committee also looked at challenges experienced by the provincial and local governments in the housing delivery process.

The delegation visited the National Department of Housing in Pretoria, where they received a presentation on the Annual Report 2003/4 and progress made by the Department. The presentation also dealt with the activities/programmes of the Department of Housing.

The delegation received apologies on behalf of the Minister of Housing, Dr LN Sisulu as well as Ms MZ Nxumalo, Director General, who joined the briefing ater.

Before the presentation by the Department of Housing, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Housing expressed dissatisfaction at not having received prior notification of the apology of the Minister and the Director General, because there was a visiting delegation from Iran which would be hosted by the Department of Housing.

Ms MZ Nxumalo

Mr M Dlabantu

Mr Dlabantu led the delegation and gave the Committee an overview of the briefing. Other participants from the Department of Housing participated by briefing the Committee on the activities of the Department of Housing which are organised in the following seven (7) programmes:

The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Housing, requested the Department of Housing to try and make the housing information brochures as well as promotional material available in their offices in Parliament, so as to distribute them to the public. She also commended the Department of Housing for their beautiful offices and furniture.

Mr Mabena - MP gave a vote of thanks on behalf of the delegation.

DAY 2

The delegation met with the Gauteng MEC for Housing, Ms N Mokonyane at the Parktonian Hotel, where they had a briefing on the work and activities of the Gauteng Department of Housing. She said she was in the process of putting together a hotline, which will make people understand what their rights were. She also told the delegation that Public Works together with the Department of Housing have put together an anti-corruption team in the province.

The MEC cited the following challenges:

There was a large number of housing stock.

After the MEC, Mr Martin Maphisa gave the delegation a presentation on the Annual Report as well as the budget of the Department of Housing.

The Chairperson thanked the Department of Housing for their presentation. She stressed that the delegation was not there to monitor the Department of Housing but to look at the critical role played by other stakeholders.

The delegation thereafter visited the Gauteng Legislature where they met with the Standing Committee on Housing. Mr G Tsotetsi, Chairperson of the Select Committee, welcomed the delegation. Mr M Molekwa briefed the delegation on their activities as the Gauteng Department of Housing.

• There was a need for the Standing Committee to align its budget with the strategic plan.

Mr Dodovu gave a vote of thanks.

The delegation was then given a presentation on Alexandra Renewal Project. The MEC told the delegation that Alexandra Project has been in existence for a number of years. The different categories of the community were well represented in Alexandra, namely the young and energetic, as well as the old and experienced. It was agreed that there should be one political head in Alexandra, and that is the MEC for Housing.

She also stated that Alexander Project was not a presidential project, although the president visited it. The deadline for this project is 2009.

Mr. Dhlamini gave a vote of thanks.

The delegation then visited the following projects:

At the M2 Men's hostel, the delegation met a woman contractor on duty, Ms Melita Raseale, from Limpopo province (contact No.082 5467 998). She shared one of her major challenges with the delegation as follows:

Late payments result in her sometimes having to stop working, as she cannot afford to pay the workers.

Other major challenges in Alexandra are:

DAY 3

During the third day of the provincial visit, the delegation had a briefing by the Mayor of Westonaria Local Municipality, Ms Maserame Khumalo. Also present were members of the Department of Housing in Gauteng, as well as local Councillors from Westonaria Local Municipality.

The Mayor's briefing was followed by the presentation on the Bekkersdal Urban Renewal Programme by the Gauteng Department of Housing.

1.1 In her welcoming address, the Mayor thanked the delegation for coming and for the interest shown in the Bekkersdal Renewal Programme. The Mayor gave a brief background on how the Bekkersdal informal settlements started and how far they have proceeded with the project. She then stated that overall, the project is funded by the Gauteng Department of Housing.

1.2 She also apologised on behalf of the Gauteng MEC for Housing for not being able to attend the briefing and the presentation as she had other prior commitments.

2. PARTICIPANTS

Also present, were members of the Bekkersdal Development Forum, Community Liaison Officers (CLOs), staff from the Gauteng Department of Housing, as well as members of the Bekkersdal community.

2.1 The Mayor cited the following challenges, which are experienced in the Project:

1) Disputes sometimes occur amongst building contractors over the project, with some displaying characteristics of wanting to own the project.

2) There is a general lack of communication amongst the stakeholders in the project.

3) Generally there is slow progress experienced in the development of the project.

4) There are community forums in place, but the project is still not running smoothly.

5) In general, the planning stage of the project took longer than was anticipated.

6) There is a general lack of skills within the community.

7) The community of Bekkersdal is only comfortable with local people to work in the project and do not welcome outsiders.

8) The community wants to tender for projects but have no skills but we as government don't want to give it to them because they are not capable of giving a good end product.

9) Land is not safe to build because of dolomite areas.

10) Some areas had electricity supply but were stripped by the residents because they needed it but had no funds to pay for it.

11) Qverall, 60% of the community is unemployed.

12)Approximately 8 000 people are still listed with the Department of Housing

13)The bucket system is still in place due to no pipes as people are moving all over.

2.2 Comments by the Chairperson: PC on Housing

• The Chairperson expressed satisfaction with the plan of relocating so many people (60 000 people) and the work that had gone into identifying suitable land before embarking on the project.

The Gauteng Department of Housing then gave the delegation a presentation on the Bekkersdal Renewal Project. In their presentation, they stressed the good working relationship between the Department of Housing and the Bekkersdal Development Forum. All three (3) spheres of government worked together to promote the development in the area. Bekkersdal is devided into two sections, namely, Bekkersdal formal area and Bekkersdal informal area.

Mr Steyn gave a vote of thanks for this session.

After lunch, the delegation travelled to Bekkersdal to do site visits such as, the taxi rank, transit camp and the toilet programme. There is a clinic, Police Station and a high school (Letlake High School), and also some emerging services in the CBD area.

Thereafter, the delegation attended the official opening ceremony of the Bekkerdal Information Hub by the Gauteng MEC for Housing, Ms N Mokonyane. Also present were, the Mayor of the Westonaria Local Municipality, Ms M Khumalo, members of the Bekkersdal community, local Councillors and a Preacher, Mr Z Seyabi who said the opening prayer. The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Housing also thanked the Bekkerdal community for their willingness to participate in the development projects.

The Hub is part of the offerings that come with the Bekkersdal Renewal Project (BRP). It is based on the realisation that the general well-being of the residents is vital in elevating the quality of life within the target community. The BRP also puts much emphasis on investing in the human capital of the local community by opening access to information.

In line with this, the Information Hub is a central point in Bekkersdal where information can be disseminated and accessed by the community as well as the key stakeholders in the project. Records of the BRP progress and activities will be kept at the centre. It will also serve as an information office for all project team members.

In her speech, the Gauteng MEC, Ms N Mokonyane thanked all stakeholders for their contribution to the success of the project. She encouraged the community of Bekkersdal to use the Information Centre and to look after it, as it will make their community develop even further.

Day 4

The delegation visited Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality where they were met by the Mayor, Mr Duma Nkosi, local Councillors and staff from the Municipality. The Mayor stated that so far, Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is the fastest growing municipality in South Africa. It is made of nine (9) towns, which were brought together under one municipal authority.

Mr. Neville Chaince, Director of Housing, made a presentation on their housing activities. After the presentation, the delegation asked the following questions:

Do people who buy the housing units get loans from the bank?

Response by the Mayor

The Mayor concluded by asking the delegation for their support.

The delegation thereafter visited the following social housing projects:

The delegation also visited the offices of the Cope Housing Association and the Johannesburg Housing Company and received a presentation about their social housing activities in the Gauteng province.

DAY 4&5

The delegation visited the following housing institutions in their offices. This was a courtesy visit aimed at familiarising the committee with the work of the housing institutions and also to extend to them an invitation for the public hearings to be held on 2-3 November 2004, in Parliament:

The delegation noted a lot of female employees in managerial positions.

The delegation completed the visit at 1 4h00 on Friday, 15 October 2004.