Southern Africa Committee
521 West 122nd Street, Suite 61
New York, NY 10027
Housing in South Africa
By Richard Knight, July 2001
Housing
Statistics
|
House completed since 1994:
1.1 million. These houses have secured
tenure, running water, sanitation and electricity. |
Number of homes still needed: 2
to 3 million |
|
Number of people given shelter in the
past 5 years: 5 million |
Number of people still in need of
adequate housing: 7.5 million people |
|
Number of rented council units
transferred to full ownership: 370,000 |
Number of rental council units still to
be transferred to full private ownership: 350,000 |
Conflicts
and Challenges
Over one
million houses have been built and services have been extended to millions of
people. Nonetheless, the government estimates that an additional two to three
million units still need to be provided.
This backlog
is exacerbated by high unemployment (in the neighborhood of 50% in most
townships), leaving millions of people unable to afford basic necessities. The Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) recently noted: “While Africans make up 76% of the population, their
share of income amounts to only 29% of the total. Whites, who make up less than
13% of the population, take away 58.5% of total income.” The HIV/AIDS pandemic, with 4.2 million
South African infected, is adding to the development problem. It is estimated that
GDP will be 17% lower for 2010 than it would be without AIDS
Even where
people are housed, conflicts continue over access to basic services and housing
payments. Reports regularly appear in
the South African press of the formation of committees of township residents
occupying unoccupied houses, and fighting the cut-off of water and electricity
for non-payment of rates and evictions for non-payment of mortgages.
Apartheid's Legacy
Under
apartheid, segregation was mandated by law.
Blacks could not live in “white” areas but had to live in townships or
in impoverished rural areas know as bantustans. Very little housing was built for Africans by
the apartheid regime. As a result when
the ANC led government came to power there was only one formal brick house for
every 43 Africans compared to one for every 3.5 whites. The urban backlog alone was estimated as at
least 1.3 million units in 1994. To meet
population growth, 130,000 houses have to be built every year. In 1993 only about 50,000 houses were built. Between 7.5 and 10 million people lived in
informal housing such as shanties in squatter camps and back yards of Black
township houses. In the 1980s, as part
of the struggle against apartheid, township residents organized rent and
services payment boycotts.
Today,
millions of people still live in shanties and squatter camps. The government estimates that an additional 2
to 3 million homes are required to meet their needs.
Housing
Policy
In 1994 the African National Congress adopted
the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP),
an integrated socio-economic policy framework which is now the policy if the
government. The RDP set a goal of
300,000 houses to be built a year with a minimum of one million low-cost houses
to be constructed within five years.
South Africa’s current housing policy is rooted in the Housing White
Paper, published by government in December 1994.
Adequate Housing - Law of the Land
Section 26 of the Constitution of the Republic
of South Africa, 1996, states that everyone has the right to have “access to
adequate housing”. It is the
government’s duty to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its
available resources, to achieve the progressive realization of this right. Provincial legislatures and local government
share responsibility with the national government for delivery of adequate
housing. The Constitution also states “No
one may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an
order of court made after considering all the relevant circumstances. No legislation may permit arbitrary
evictions.” In October 2000, the
Constitutional Court made an important ruling on the government's
constitutional obligation to provide adequate housing for all and shelter for
children. The “Grootboom”
case (see The Constitutional Court of South Africa by Richard Knight,
Southern Africa Committee) is seen as setting a precedent for other social and
economic rights.
The establishment of legal rights to housing
began in 1997 the Housing Act was passed.
A comprehensive National Housing Code was issued in 2000. (A complete
copy of the Housing Code is available on the Ministry of Housing web site www.housing.gov.za.)
The
Housing Act, “housing development” is defined as:
1(vi) “… the
establishment and maintenance of habitable, stable and sustainable public and
private residential environments to ensure viable households and communities in
areas allowing convenient access to economic opportunities, and to health,
educational and social amenities in which all citizens and permanent residents
of the Republic will, on a progressive basis, have access to:
(a) permanent
residential structures with secure tenure, ensuring internal and external
privacy and providing adequate protection against the elements; and
(b) potable
water, adequate sanitary facilities and domestic energy supply.”
Other
Acts that impact on housing needs are: Rental Housing Act (1999) to
ensure that more houses are provided for rental purposes and to regulate the
behavior of unscrupulous landlord so they do not charge exorbitant rents. The
Act provides for adispute mediation between landlord
and tenants and outlaws the evicting of long-standing tenants from their homes
with mediation. Housing Consumer
Protection Measurers Act (1998) aims to protect homeowners from inferior
workmanship. Builders are responsible
for design and material defects for three months, roof leaks for a year and
structural defects for five years. The Home Loan and Mortgage
Disclosure Act
(2000) (modeled after the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act in the U.S.) encourages
banks to grant home loans and requires banks disclose annual financial
statements so that their lending practices can be monitored.
The
government's goal, as set out in the Housing Code, is the provision of 350,000
houses per annum until the housing backlog is overcome. Currently about 200,000 are being built
annually. Broad principles of housing
policy include people centered delivery and partnerships; skills transfer and
economic empowerment; fairness and equity; choice; quality and affordability;
innovation; transparency, accountability and monitoring; and sustainability and
fiscal affordability.
The
ability of government to provide housing is restricted by its macro-economic
policy known as GEAR. Two important
goals of this policy are to reduce inflation and reduce government expenditure
to below 4% of GDP. This in effect
limits the amount which government can spend on social needs including housing.
Access to
financing remains a major challenge to low cost housing development. The 1994 White
Paper estimated that at least 70% of South Africa's population in unable to
afford finance, a further 10 % to 15% will only be able to afford limited
finance, most likely from nontraditional lenders. Moreover, even those South Africans of color
who are able to afford loans are frequently denied credit as a result of
enduring discriminatory practices inherited from South Africa’s apartheid
past. Given this situation, compounding
Black South Africans’ history of distrust of the country’s banks, many do not
even think of applying for loans from formal financial institutions.
The
government has come up with a series of programs to help people finance the
purchase of houses. Over one million
housing subsidies have been provided.
This includes the Rural Housing Loan Fund that has financed some 25,000
loans for low-income housing.
The
government has a series of programs that allocate subsidies according to
recipients’ income. To date, over 1.3
million subsidies have been approved.
.
|
Monthly
Beneficiary Income |
Subsidy
Amount |
|
Up
to R1,500 ($180) |
R16,000
($1,939) |
|
R1,501
to R2,500 ($180 to $300) |
R10,000
($$1,212) |
|
R2,501
to R3,500 ($300 to $420) |
R5,500
($667) |
|
Note: Rand to dollar conversion is approximate. These calculations reflect the exchange rate of R1 = $0.1212 |
|
Banks have
been reluctant to provide housing finance and the government is having ongoing
discussions with the banks. The recent
collapse of the Gateway home loan program, which sought to create housing
opportunities for low and moderate-income households through an effective
secondary market, has been blamed in part on the lack of support from banks.
There
are significant differences in each province that need to be taken in
account. The Housing code notes that
53.7% of the population lives in urban areas.
The most urbanized provinces are Gauteng (97%) and Western Cape
(88.9%). By contrast, the Northern
Province is just 11% urbanized. Average
household size also varies. For example
in Gauteng it is 3.6 persons as compared to 5 persons in KwaZulu-Natal. Household income also has to be taken into
account. In the Eastern Cape 32% of
households earn less than R500 per month compared to just 5% in Gauteng.
In
addition to building new houses, some 370,000 rented council houses have been transferred
to full private ownership and a further 350,000 houses are scheduled to be
transferred. The government has also
setting up a national rental housing company.
Criticisms of the housing being built includes quality, size (many are
very small) and location (numerous identical houses in areas with no social or
economic infrastructure). Many of the
houses that have been built are what are popularly known as “RDP houses.” Some RDP houses are so small and badly built
that people joke that they are “so small you need to go outside to change your
mind.” The government has been working
to overcome these problems.
Sometimes
there are conflicts over housing. The Gauteng Housing Department is moving approximately 3,000
families from Alexandra to an area of Soweto, while launching a massive
redevelopment campaign in “Alex” itself.
When Soweto residents then occupied 100 empty houses designated for the
incoming “Alex” families, they were removed by a private security company.
Services
Between 1994
and 2000, 1.5 million new electrification connections have been established and
4 million more people given access to clean running water. This means that many people now use
electricity for cooking. The impact can
be seen in the recent closing of a match factory due to declining demand. Many of these connections are for a special
kind of pre-paid meter. However, many
people have been unable to afford to pay for these services. A recent survey by USAID found that South
Africans were willing but unable to pay for services. According to press reports, Soweto residents
owe Eskom over R1 billion for electricity.
During the
1999 election campaign the ANC promised to provide free electricity and water
to the poorest households. However, it
is expected to take some time, perhaps years, before this promise can be fully
met.
Twenty-three
million people (51% of the population) now receive a basic free water allowance
of six kiloliters each month. However, it is expected to take some time,
perhaps years, before this promise can be fully achieved. Issues to be resolved include finance and
infrastructure. Another 15 million
people live in local government areas where the local government has not
decided to implement the water policy or are in the process of doing so. An
estimated seven million people live in areas where there is no infrastructure
for the supply of water. And the government has allocated R1.1 billion to
address this problem.
Provision of
electricity also faces many obstacles including the privatization of
Eskom. Households in 16
rural development areas will this month begin receiving 50 kilowatt-hours free
of electricity as national government continues to explore ways of making
energy affordable for South Africa's poorest.
This would give them access to energy for lighting, ironing, limited
cooking, water heating and use of a radio and black and white television. Two
ways to finance the provision of free electricity to the poor have been
discussed but the government has taken no decision. One is cross subsidies whereby the wealthy
pay a higher rate than the poor. But this is only feasible in some urban
areas. The other is subsidy from the
national treasury.
Recently
there have been protests in a number of townships resulting from the cut-off of
water and electricity due to non-payment.
There have also been evictions due to non-payment of mortgages (known in
South Africa as bonds). A series of “Electricity
Crisis Committees” have spring up in a number of townships including
Soweto. Many of those involved in the
protests are ANC supporters. The Western
Cape ANC has opposed evictions and water cut-offs in a town controlled by the
Democratic Alliance. The South African
Municipal Workers Union has helped form anti-evictions committees in township
in the Western Cape including Khayelitsha.
Conclusion
South Africa
has made great strides in proving housing and basic services such as
electricity and water to the people of South Africa. Despite not achieving its goal of 350,000
houses per year, the government says that its housing delivery surpasses such
world leaders as Sweden, Cuba and Singapore.
However, much remains to be done overcome the housing backlog and make
water and electricity available and affordable.
|
South
Africa's National Housing Code (excerpts) |
|
Government’s overall approach to the housing challenge is aimed at mobilising and harnessing the combined resources, efforts
and initiative of communities, the private sector, and the State. This approach has been adopted against the
backdrop of severe market and societal abnormalities associated with the
policies and political turbulence of the pre-democratic era. The goal
within both urban and rural areas is to improve the quality of living of all
South Africans. The emphasis of our
efforts must be on the poor and those who have been previously
disadvantaged. To meet this goal in a
manner that is viable and sustainable, we understand that we need to
undertake a range of interventions.
These interventions then underpin our policy and strategy…as contained
in the Urban and Rural Development Frameworks. Government’s
goal is, subject to fiscal affordability, to increase housing delivery on a
sustainable basis to a peak level of 350 000 units per annum until the
housing backlog is overcome. It is
expected that this process may take several years. Realisation of
the goal relies on government ensuring that its implementation systems in all
three spheres of government can accommodate the budget allocation and
delivery programme. In South Africa, in addition to the abstract
productivity benefits listed above, housing investment has a positive income
effect, creating new opportunities for earnings by low-income groups. In some townships, backyard shacks are
often built solely for rental accommodation, while extra space in formal
housing units is also rented out.
Rental income is then used to repay the mortgage or non-traditional
loan on the house. In addition to
rent, housing is also used as a location for a variety of small enterprises –
from spaza shops to hair salons. The income from these enterprises
constitutes a direct return on the household’s initial investment. Our vision is further reiterated in both the Urban and Rural Development frameworks. In each of these documents, the environment within which a house is situated is recognised as being equally as important as the house itself in satisfying the needs and requirements of the occupants. Ultimately, the housing process must make a positive contribution to a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and integrated society. |
Sources:
Much of the information in the Statistics and Policy
sections is taken from the Ministry of Housing web page, including the National
Housing Code, the ANC web site, selected news reports and the Reconstruction
and Development Programme. This includes much of the language in the
text. Other sources include South
Africa Yearbook 2000/01 (South African government, available at www.gov.za/), Development Monitory
(May 2001, GC Publication), Africa Recovery (January 2001, United
Nations), South Africa Fact Sheet 1995 (Africa Fund) and various
South African press reports.
Spelling: In
quotes from South African text and titles South African spelling is used. In other places U.S. spelling has been used.
Press
Reports on Housing
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg), June 29, 2001
Housing Shortage Still Desperate
By Barry Streek
About 7,5-million people in South Africa
still have to be provided with adequate housing -- despite more than five
million people being given shelter in the past six years.
Since 1994 about 1,129-million houses have been built, and secured
tenure, running water, sanitation and electricity provided.
Minister of Housing Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele says the provision of more than 1,1-million homes in six years was an achievement that very
few, if any, countries had matched.
“Five million South Africans who did not have a roof over their
heads, will return at the end of today to a place they call home, will have
running water and sanitation, which they did not have before we embarked on
this journey,” Mthembi-Mahanyele said during her
policy speech in the National Assembly last week.
Mthembi-Mahanyele also
said at an earlier press briefing that 7,5-million
people are still without shelter, and “between two and three million” houses
still had to be built to meet this need.
Many of these people are living in informal settlements in urban
areas, where 53,6% of the population live, whereas
others share accommodation. The pace of
housing delivery annually has declined -- from 300 000 in 1997 to about 200 000
the following year.
“We will be slowing down further -- we have to look at the quality
issue and at tenure alternatives,” Mthembi-Mahanyele
said.
Mthembi-Mahanyele said
the housing situation had been exacerbated by inappropriate policies, a skewed
distribution of resources and wealth and the general factors, such as growing
economies, which draw people to the cities.
“As a result of the shortage of adequate and available shelter, people
occupy any vacant land they find and put up shacks in areas without sanitation,
infrastructure or social amenities.
“Others occupy old disused and/or abandoned structures, or
prefabricated buildings of inferior material, some at an advanced stage of
decay.” Mthembi-Mahanyele said since 1994 the
government has consolidated more than 10 different housing departments,
fragmented policies and 34 pieces of legislation.
She said this was a journey that “took us through the potholes of
reluctance by financial institutions to extend credit to previously marginalised communities and redlining, and defusing the
landmines of fraud, corruption and criminal activity”.
One of the Department of Housing's flagship programmes,
the upgrading of informal settlements, involves 293 different projects that
benefit 232 000 families who had their shacks converted into proper homes.
Copyright © 2001 Mail & Guardian. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media
(allAfrica.com).
****
South African Press Association, June 19 2001
NEW BILL AIMS TO PROMOTE INVESTMENT IN POOR AREAS
New draft legislation aimed at promoting private sector
investment in poor communities would be presented to Cabinet this year, Housing
Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele
said on Tuesday.
Introducing debate on her budget vote in the National
Assembly, she said the Community Reinvestment Bill would follow legislation
which had stopped banks “redlining” or discriminating against loan applicants
from poor communities.
The Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Act - passed last year
- had forced banks to disclose their reason for not advancing a home loan or
mortgage.
The new bill would form the “next phase of this intervention”,
Mthembi-Mahanyele said.
It would also identify “causal deterrents” to investments
and create incentives.
Access to finance remained the greatest challenge facing
low-cost housing development.
Since 1994, the government had established four finance
institutions in an effort to normalise the housing
loan environment.
Some of the instruments had not worked out as they should
have, such as the Gateway Homeloans project.
Mthembi-Mahanyele said on Monday
that banks had played a major role in contributing to the failure of the
project, a home-finance scheme set up by the National Housing Finance
Corporation in 1998.
Banks were “very hesitant” to finance housing for low-income
earners, she said.
The South African Communist Party said in a statement on
Tuesday it believed the failure of the scheme and continued evictions of
residents defaulting on their home-loan payments, pointed to a need to
intensify the campaign to make banks serve the people.
In her address in the National Assembly, Mthembi-Mahanyele
said more than five million poor South Africans were provided with housing over
the past six years, but there remained a backlog of seven-and-a-half million
people who needed proper shelter.
She said 1,1-million houses had
been built over this period, all with secure tenure, running water, sanitation
and electricity.
But another two to three million units were still needed.
A total of 53,6 percent of the
country's population lived in urban areas - most in informal settlements
because of a shortage of adequate shelter.
Mthembi-Mahanyele said her
department had upgraded 293 projects and provided 232000 families in informal
settlements with proper houses.
****
South African Press Association, CAPE TOWN 22 June 2001
MBEKI WANTS BANKS TO HELP HOUSING DELIVERY
The country's banks were not pulling their weight to help
government speed up housing delivery, President Thabo
Mbeki said on Friday.
Questioned by the public broadcaster about housing, he said: “It
would also help a great deal if there was a much better response from the banks
on this matter.”
The government had not succeeded in getting banks to supply
funding to help support its housing programme.
Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele was discussing the issue with the
financial institutions.
“I have said to her I would also like to meet them myself.
“There seems to be great risk aversion from the banks and they
don't want to get involved and that limits the possibility of speeding up the
availability of new homes,” Mbeki said.
Earlier this week, Mthembi-Mhanyele told
Parliament that more than five million poor South Africans were provided with
housing over the past six years, but there remained a backlog of
seven-and-a-half million people who needed proper shelter.
She said 1,1-million houses had been
built over this period, all with secure tenure, running water, sanitation and
electricity.
However, another two to three million units were still needed.
****
Municipal
services: Willing to pay, but too poor [News24.co.za]
http://www.news24.co.za/News24/South_Africa/0,1113,2-7_1044945,00.html
A
recent survey showed South Africans were willing to pay for municipal services
like water and sewage removal, but could not afford to, the United States
Agency for International Development (USAid) said on
Thursday.
“Five
to ten years ago, people struggling against apartheid were politically
motivated to refuse paying for the rates they used,” said Lucius
Botes, project leader of the Centre for Development
Support at the University of the Free State, which conducted the research
commissioned by USAid. Now people had the will to
pay, but not the means.
The
research found widespread unemployment.
“The
poverty of many households in low-paying areas mean people cannot afford rates
charges, though most say they would be willing to make at least partial
payments.”
There
were high levels of satisfaction with the provision of electricity, water,
waste disposal and other municipal services.
“The
report indicates poverty, not a culture of non-payment, seems to be the main
reason for default of payment in most instances.”
The
study was prompted by the Project Viability Report of 1998, which indicated
that total debt to all municipalities for the 18-month period up to March that
year exceeded R8.5 billion.
Some
1599 households from 32 places across the country participated in the survey.
Policies
to help the poorest of the poor to afford access to basic services would partly
alleviate the problem of non-payment, the report stated.
“The
study implies that government will need to evaluate and monitor these policies
to ensure that they are fiscally sound and sustainable.”
The
researchers suggested municipalities should stimulate job creation through
appropriate local economic development activities, like small business
promotion through private-public partnerships.
****
South African Press Association, JOHANNESBURG 22 June 2001
SOWETO ELECTRICITY COMMITTEE STAGE A SIT-IN AT ESKOM
Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee members staged a sit-in at the
Eskom offices in Braamfontein on Friday after a
meeting aimed at resolving a conflict failed to bear fruit.
Committee spokeswoman Dudu Mphenyeke said Eskom invited the members to a meeting on
Friday and they went assuming they would get a response from Johannesburg mayor
Amos Masondo to a memorandum they handed to him
during a march earlier this month.
Instead Eskom representatives told the committee that the
government would provide free electricity only if residents paid their arrears,
she said.
“How can we pay areas when there are people sitting with areas totalling R96000,” Mphenyeke
said.
She said the members would continue the sit-in until Masondo, who she claimed promised residents free
electricity during his election campaign, addressed them.
“Actually we want Masondo to implement a
promise he made during his campaign. He promised us free electricity,” she
said.
Masondo's
spokesman Kgotso Chikane
said the mayor had informed the residents that he was waiting for a response
from Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
He said the mayor had a meeting with the minister after receiving
the memorandum. Mlambo-Ngcuka promised to take the
matter to Cabinet for advice.
Chikane said
the Metro was hamstrung and had no mandate to order Eskom to provide free
electricity because the power company was controlled by the national
government.
Mphenyeke
accused Eskom of divisionism, alleging the paratastal
had run a radio advert which called on senior citizens to visit its offices and
sign documents in regard to their arrears.
“The (comittee) rejects this move
because it is a repetition of the agreement signed by Sowetans
three years ago which was found to be...against the laws of natural justice. In
that agreement, senior citizens were duped to sign (sic), signing meant signing
away your rights as a customer.”
She said the protestors would spend the night at the offices and
would only leave after Masondo addressed them. Eskom was unavailable for comment.****
South African Press Association, JOHANNESBURG June 30 2001
GOVT INVESTIGATING CHEAPER ENERGY
The government was investigating various ways to make energy
affordable to the country's poorest households, Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on
Tuesday.
Government would begin the process this month by providing free
basic electricity of 50 kilowatt-hour per month to
people in 16 different rural development nodes countrywide, she told reporters
in Pretoria.
Last year government announced that free basic services would be
provided for those households earning less than R800 per month.
“I must confess we underestimated the administrative and
technological challenges,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
“We realised that the administrative
co-ordination was so chaotic that to have left each municipality to devise its
own means was going to come back and haunt all of us.”
She lauded municipalities which were, on their own, trying to find
ways to assist the poorest under their jurisdiction.
Municipalities could conceivably finance the free basic energy by
means of cross-subsidisation or from the allocation
they received from the National Treasury.
However, constitutionally the national government could not
dictate to the municipalities how they should use those funds, Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
That option tended to work well in the richer municipalities, she
said. Cross-subsidisation - whereby richer households
pay more and the poorest pay less - was impossible in areas where there was no
source to cross-subsidise from.
National government had to find money from its own budget to
kick-start the process in the 16 nodes identified by President Thabo Mbeki in his State-of-the-Nation address in February.
It included technological conversion, for instance of pre-paid
electricity meters.
The roll-out would continue until March next year when a strategy
would be devised for the next set of nodes, Mlambo-Ngcuka
said.
By then, preparation would be underway for six regional
electricity distributors (REDs), set to take over
from the current figure of about 250 businesses.
A decision would then also be made on the possibility to provide
free basic electricity to everyone, and step up the tariff for higher
consumption.
The free electricity of 50 kilowatt-hour
per month would save a household about R180 per year.
It would mean each household would have access to energy for
lighting, ironing, limited cooking, water heating as well as the use of a radio
and a black and white television.
Those using solar energy would receive an operation and
maintenance subsidy of up to R40 per household. These households currently paid
about R48 per month to maintain solar panels, the minister said.
In terms of the policy of energy efficiency, Eskom's
project on efficient light would be piloted in a number of areas, whereby free
energy-saving globes would be experimented with to determine if they could
reduce consumption.
Other measures to make energy more affordable included exempting
paraffin from value-added tax.
No specific arrangements had been made for liquid petroleum gas
(LPG), as few poor people used it. However, the government wanted people to use
LPG instead of paraffin for safety reasons, Mlambo-Ngcuka
said.
A mechanism could not be found to subsidise
the poorest people who used wood and cow dung for energy, she said.
All the experiences gathered from the different pilot projects
would be assessed in order to help the government - probably through REDs - with the ultimate roll-out of free basic energy that
would start in 2002/3, the minister said.
****
South African Press Association, CAPE TOWN July 1 2001
FREE WATER GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN WITH FEW HITCHES: DEPT
About 23 million people who were promised a basic six kilolitres
of free water per household by their local governments had benefited since
Sunday, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry said on Monday.
The department's director general Mike
Muller said: “Everything has gone according to plan. Although people in some
areas are disappointed that they have been left out, the understanding is that
there are a few problems in the new local government areas....”
Many municipalities had either not yet decided to implement the
policy, or were in the process of doing so.
Earlier it was reported that Pietermaritzburg
ratepayers would have to wait another three months to receive their free water.
Msunduzi municipality officials (which incorporates Pietermaritzburg municipality) cited technical and
administrative difficulties and uncertainty as the reasons for its failure to
deliver the services, especially in rural poor communities.
Muller said: “We will be helping those specific municipalities
with the planning and budgeting so that they can introduce and implement the
free basic water to every household as soon as possible.”
“The big gap and major problem faces those people who do not have
access to water infrastructure. But for that group we are spending R1.1-billion
this year in order to bring water to nearly one and a half million people and
we think we are making good progress on that front also.”
In a statement issued earlier on Monday, Water Affairs and
Forestry Minister Ronnie Kasrils said: “I need to emphasise that consumers should continue paying for water
until their respective local governments have informed them of their
arrangements.
“In many of the rural areas, the department is still the water
service provider, and although water is provided free, there is often
inadequate control over the actual usage.”
This resulted in some households often using more than the free
basic amount of 6000 litres a month.
Spokesman for the Johannesburg executive mayor, Kgotso Chikane said the
government's policy would not make a difference to rich households but would
help the very poor.
“It will really make a difference to people living in shacks and
small houses and come as a tremendous relief and really be a good proposition
if these people use their water sparingly since they will find that they won't
have to pay if they don't require more water than allocated.”
He said the government was also sorting out matters regarding body
corporates running flats and townhouses in order to
avoid tenants being cheated or exploited regarding the free water.
Chikane said
his department was also working around the clock to ensure that the city,
together with Eskom provided free electricity to residents in Johannesburg in
the near future.
***
ANC provincial leader Ebrahim Rasool yesterday again
called for a moratorium on all evictions. This week has seen evictions and
water cut-offs across the Cape Flats. Many more families face eviction while
communities under the leadership of the anti-eviction alliance are trying to
resist the evictions.
On Thursday 21 June , the ANC's office in Mitchell's Plain was flooded by
people who had been evicted. An emergency legal aid clinic was set up while ANC
members made arrangements to accomodate those with
nowhere to stay. It is clear that the Unicity is not
following due process in regard to many of the evictions taking place. The ANC
is in the process of compiling affidavids of those
evicted who say they never received a summons and other who say that they went
in to make arrangements to pay but their money was not accepted by the council.
Mr Rasool said;
“When the DA gained control of
the unicity on 5 December 2000 the ANC called on them
to place a moratorium on all evictions until a common indigent policy was
adopted by the new council. Both Cape Town and Tygerberg,
while run by the ANC , had put in place a moratorium
last year. All the DA agreed to was a grace period over December. In January
2001 the evictions and water cut offs started again.
“The DA promised jobs for all.
They promised to be for all the people. Now we see their promises lying in
tatters. Now they are trying to stop the ANC's campaign for fair rates by
forcing a 7 % rates increase for all ratepayers. Under the ANC in 2000 , we had actually brought rates down in places like
Mitchell's Plain. These areas have been paying high rates and subsidising the wealthy areas like Camps Bay and Sea Point.
“Many people who are being
evicted simply cannot afford to pay. Others have tried to make arrangements and
then fell behind. Tygerberg does one thing. SPM says
something else. There is no common policy. While this is happening people are
suffering. Families are being broken up. Children are traumatised.
“The ANC know that some people
are illegally occupying houses and that some houses are used by gangsters.
These issues must be dealt with.
“The only way to move forward is
to stop the evictions now and agree on a policy which will benefit those who
genuinely cannot pay and expose those who simply don't want to pay. If the DA
does not agree to this, the suffering of innocent and poor people will
continue.”
Contact: Head of Communications
Cameron Dugmore on 082 894 7553
****
Sunday Times 9/7/01
Evictions loom in suburbs
By Edwin Lombard
Department of housing is set to turn the screws on tenants who owe
millions of rands in rent arrears
Scores of tenants in well-off areas could soon face the same fate
as those in Mitchell's Plain and elsewhere on the Cape Flats who have been
evicted over the non-payment of rent and services. The provincial department of
housing is set to turn the screws on tenants who together owe millions of rands in rent arrears. Cecil Herandien,
provincial minister of housing, said he was compiling lists of tenants in the
former white areas of Parow, Goodwood
and Sercor Park in the Helderberg
who since 1991 have not paid rent for their government-owned homes.
In one area in the Helderberg alone,
tenants owe in excess of R100 000 each.
Twenty-seven families that appear on the list owe a combined amount of
over R2-million. The debts have been accumulated since 1991. Monthly rentals
for these areas vary from between R150 to R400.
“I'm compelled to act against these people otherwise I will be
accused by the auditor-general of maladministration,” said Herandien.
He said if defaulters did not make arrangements to pay off r arrears, “we will
have to act against them.”
Residents on the Cape Flats who have been forcibly evicted by
officials from the unicity council for the past three
weeks accused the DA-controlled provincial government of treating tenants in
slightly more well-off areas with kid gloves while treating them “like animals.”
Ayesha Davids of the Anti-Eviction campaign on the Cape Flats said
the DA was “still practising apartheid” . Herandien said most of the tenants in the houses and flats
that fell under his department had family members who were employed, but were
simply refusing to pay rent.
only act against those
tenants who were administered by the provincial department of housing.
Louwtjie
Rothman, DA councillor for Goodwood,
said he was unaware of the planned evictions.
Herandien said
the arrears owed to both the provincial department of housing as well as local
government was seriously undermining the province's
ability to address the backlog in housing. He also said the DA in the province
had formulated a provincial housing policy on the handling of all issues of
housing.
“What it will come down to is that we will draw up a poverty
profile that will distinguish between people who don't want to pay and those
that simply cannot pay.” Residents of Lavender Hill will hold a public
gathering today to collect affidavits from people who claim to have been
assaulted by police during an eviction attempt in the area last week.