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Some of the most critical speeches delivered by members of the
Democratic Alliance in this house has dealt with the department of
Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs.
However, as we have said before, the Democratic Alliance does not
criticise merely for the sake of criticising. Our oversight role
requires us to praise the good just as we condemn the bad. And indeed,
the budget presentation for 2015/16 shows a few positive developments.

We welcome the acknowledgement from the MEC in the annual performance
plan that there are “critical matters of concern”. These matters
include slow housing delivery and the poor state of municipalities in
the province. For a problem to be addressed properly, it must first be
admitted.

We also welcome the fact that the department will assist the district
municipalities to establish five functional Municipal Disaster
Management Centres, as required by section 43 of the Disaster
Management Act. A municipal disaster management centre is a crucial
component of an integrated, co-ordinated approach to disaster
management.

Likewise, we are happy to note the new target for the establishment of
provincial fire brigade services. We need to address the imbalance of
firefighting services as part of improving disaster management.

The Democratic Alliance has been raising concerns about disaster
management in the province since 2009. While there still remains much
more to be done, the 2015/16 budget presentation indicates that the
department is beginning to move in the right direction.

Unfortunately, not all matters are improving. Some of the targets set
by the department appear to be an exercise in ticking boxes. It is not
sufficient to have multi-year housing plans or reports on support
rendered to municipalities if the core business of the department is
not taken seriously.

Sanitation remains one of the most significant service delivery
backlogs, with the deadline for the completion of the Bucket
Eradication Programme having come and gone while a significant
sanitation backlog remains. According to the department, the current
backlog for the eradication of buckets on formal sites is 15 210
units.

The 2011 census recorded a provincial housing backlog of 53 097, with
the department noting in 2014 that it had reduced the backlog to 44
111. The Democratic Alliance believes that a feasible housing policy
must be flexible and must allow for serviced sites, upgrades to
informal settlements, finance-linked subsidy programmes and subsidised
rental housing in addition to the construction of housing units. By
constructing houses as well as using other housing initiatives, we
were able to deliver four times more housing opportunities with the
same money where we govern.

Some alternative housing options are addressed by the department in
2015/16. We welcome the fact that R4 million will be set aside to
assist households in the “gap market” to obtain access to housing
options. However, the amount might be insufficient to address the
needs of the department fully. We also welcome the proposed upgrades
to informal settlements in the Tsantsabane, Ga-Segonyana, Gamagara and
Kgatelopele municipalities.

Nevertheless, the annual performance plan still does not speak to
subsidised rental housing and low targets are set to address the
provincial housing backlog. The department’s annual performance plan
shows that it targets the construction of 1 181 housing units, the
surveying of 861 sites and the servicing of 2 345 sites. If all the
targets are met, the department will provide 3 526 housing
opportunities – enough to address only 8% of the provincial housing
backlog. Whether it is through serviced sites, improved access to
subsidised rental housing or the building of houses, the department
must do more to deliver better houses.

Title deeds are also taking too long to be processed. According to the
department’s figures, it transferred only 26% of the residential
properties constructed in the 2014/15 year. When a beneficiary of a
housing project receives the key to his or her new home, that key must
come in an envelope with the title deed. It must not come years after
the residents have moved in as part of a cheap electioneering
campaign.

Likewise, the Municipal Support Steering Committee must focus on
problems experienced at municipal level and not on scoring political
points.

The Democratic Alliance is cautious about the municipal support
programme which the department will drive with the provincial
Treasury. We support the intention to improve municipal management,
but it is inevitable that one feels some cynicism about projects that
are launched to improve municipal management. We have seen Project
Consolidate turn into Operation Clean Audit and now we hear about the
proposed implementation of the Back to Basics programme in the
province. All these initiatives have the common goal of improving
municipal administration so that service delivery can in turn be
improved. None has so far reached its intended outcomes, partially
because the root causes and the politics behind poor municipal
functioning are never addressed.

We do not need catchy project names or plans that re-invent the wheel.
It is highlighted year after year in the Auditor-General’s reports
that we really only need three things to improve municipal
administration. Firstly, municipal officials must have the necessary
skills and be capable of performing their duties diligently and with
integrity. Secondly, there has to be consistent consequences for any
failure to comply with prescribed laws and regulations. Thirdly, where
problems emerge, the leadership must find and implement solutions.
This responsibility rests on the councillors, the portfolio committee
as oversight body and us as public representatives.

The Democratic Alliance notes that there has been a number of service
delivery protests in the province since the start of the year. We want
to remind residents with service delivery concerns to be responsible.
You cannot solve a political problem by closing a road or keeping your
child out of school. If you are unhappy with services rendered to you,
use your vote. Vote out those councillors who are not delivering and
vote in those who will make a difference.

Issued by DA