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BACKGROUND TO THE COUNTRIES’ HOUSING POLICY AND HOUSING ACT PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE 9 JUNE 2009. INTRODUCTION.
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BACKGROUND TO THE COUNTRIES’ HOUSING POLICY AND HOUSING ACT PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE 9 JUNE 2009
INTRODUCTION • In order to fully appreciate the complexity of the housing programme it is considered essential to have a common understanding of the range of human settlements that we need to serve. • There is no internationally agreed classification but this presentation attempts to provide an interpretation of the South African settlement context
OUTLINE • Towards a common understanding of South African human settlements • The White Paper on a New Housing Policy and Strategy for South Africa, 1994 • The Housing Act, 1996
TOWARDS A COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT TYPOLOGIES
Settlement types • Human Settlements are complex social and economic phenomena which exist along an urban-rural continuum • No commonly agreed definition of “urban” and “rural” and clearly defined physical & social boundary between urban and rural areas • Urban and rural areas are economically, socially and environmentally interdependent • Major differentiation in the actual form of housing and types of tenure
Differentiation of settlements by tenure arrangements for housing policy purposes
Metropolitan areas • Region wide urban footprint • Established formal core of industrial, commercial and suburban development; • Formal townships, hostels and backyards; • Informal settlements with significant subsidised housing on the periphery; • High rates of (circular) migration • Highest concentrations of urban poor; • Examples –Gauteng, Durban, Cape Town
Primary cities • Typically former colonial administrative centres • Province wide urban footprint • Provincial hubs of mining and industrial areas • Limited suburban stock, formalised townships extended with subsidised housing and informal settlements; • Examples – Kimberly, Bloemfontein, East London
Secondary cities • Established formal core of mining, commerce and suburban development; • Often linked to old former “homeland” settlements in vicinity • Formal townships with backyards; informal and traditional settlements, • Significant subsidised housing on the periphery; • Rapid urbanisation and extreme levels of poverty; • Examples – Nelspruit, Rustenburg, Polokwane, Witbank-Middelburg
Small towns • Typically a small commercial, administrative, farming or tourist node; • Small, ageing formal housing stock; • Former township usually spatially integrated over time with the ‘old’ town through subsidised housing and informal settlements; • Diminished social services • Struggling economies, almost non-existent prospects for formal employment • Examples – Wakkerstroom, Lady Frere
Settlements with communal tenure • Households in rural areas who enjoy functional security of tenure (communal tenure); • Conflicting / contested land rights • Variety of densities • The poorest of the poor - elderly, women and children pre-dominate • Lack of social and economic development opportunities
Settlements with communal tenure • Economy - subsistence farming but dependent on grants and remittances • Some overcrowding, leading to poor utilisation of land; • Subject to seasonal / circular migration • Examples – Ingonyama Trust KZN, former “homeland” areas Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Eastern Cape.
Displaced dense settlements • Informal settlements on traditional land • Apartheid settlement patterns • Characterised by absence of formal industrial or commercial activity • Dependent on urban remittances and government grants • Out-migration and split urban-rural lifestyles common • Examples - Bushbuckridge
Intensive commercial farming areas • High yield farming; • Characterised by low labour inputs except in times of cropping; • Usually served by agri-villages / small towns • Examples – Fruit farming areas, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga
Large commercial farms • Significant consolidation over past decade • Increasing mechanisation • Marked by labour evictions in response to land legislation • Driving growth in poor populations in small towns – “poverty traps” • Low labour need except in cropping season • Worker housing varies from very poor to good • Central Free State – grain farming
Extensive commercial farming areas • Cattle and game farming in areas of low agricultural potential • Serviced by a small labour force • Housing usually on-farm and of uneven quality • Examples – Cattle and game farms around Northern provinces
Subsistence farming • Communal land rights • Mostly women • Far from markets and poor infrastructure • Mostly own consumption • Incomes augmented with remittances from urban areas and government grants
Policy implications • Constitutional obligation on State to progressively realise the right to adequate housing within the available means. • The National Housing Programme responds to the housing needs of all the settlement types and is continuously evolving as the socio-economic environment changes.
Brief background to the New Housing Policy and Strategy for South Africa,1994
Background • Multi-party and stakeholder negotiations in the National Housing Forum culminated in the Housing White Paper, being approved in December, 1994 • The policy was shaped by the prevailing context of the housing situation and past housing practices and settlement laws.
Housing challenges1994 • Population estimated at 43,5m • 43% unemployment • 55%of households earned below R1 000,00 pm (poverty line at the time) • Large informal sector not contributing to tax base • Only 16,9 % of households could house themselves • 83,1% of households earned R3 500 and less and needed housing assistance
Housing challenges1994 Housing backlog: • 1,5 to 3 million households in need of housing assistance • 200 000 new households per annum • 5 million traditional dwellings • 25% no access to potable water • 48% no sanitation facilities • 46,5% no access to electricity
The White Paper, 1994 Strategic thrusts: • Stabilising the housing environment • Supporting the housing process • Mobilising housing credit • Providing housing subsidy assistance • Rationalising the institutional framework • Facilitate speedy release of serviced land • Coordinating public sector investment
The White Paper, 1994 Key impacts • Introduction and refinement of housing subsidy scheme and backlog • Rationalising of roles and responsibilities and legislation • Mobilising housing finance National Housing Finance Corporation, Mortgage Indemnity Fund, • Rightsizing Servcon / Thubelisha • People’s Housing Process
Housing Act, 1996 • Defines the housing process • Sets general principles • Defines roles and responsibilities of government spheres • Provides for - National Housing Code, National Housing Information System, National and Provincial Housing Development Plans • Establishes the South African Housing fund and Provincial Housing Funds
Housing Act, 1996 • Rationalises previous housing legislation • Provides for the termination of “old” business dispensation • Has gone through a number of amendments most significantly: • Abolishing provincial housing boards • Pre-emptive right • Procurement policy