Key-note address by Housing Minister, Brigitte Mabandla, at the North West Female Councilors Conference, Klerksdorp

1 Aug 2003

Programme Director
MEC Afrika
Honourable Mayor
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

The discussion on the South African women and their African counterparts has always raised a number of important attributes that women have. Women have for many years demonstrated a lot of courage in leadership at various levels. In addition to being heads of families and comforters for displaced men, they have become strong community organizers and developers.

In several African countries, including our country, women make the majority or half of the entire population. Economically, they produce 60 to 80% of all the food and head 30% or more households within their nations. However, when it comes to large-scale operations at national, regional and international levels in business and other sectors, they are marginalised or are largely under-represented. Obviously, this explains why women should be in the centre as well as the vanguards of the African renewal and NEPAD.

It is on this basis that we say that the notion of the African renaissance is linked to the African women's struggle for emancipation. As such, it is widely believed that the democratisation and renewal process will be incomplete if half of its population remains in bondage. Moreover, to exclude half of the continent’s population from the process of social transformation will not necessarily be a transformation, but an entrenchment and perpetuation of male domination in our society.

For the past nine years government has taken conscious steps to transform all sectors of our society. In the process, we have proved that addressing the gender imbalances that we have inherited constitutes one of our priorities in our transformation programme. We have demonstrated right from the beginning that our priorities in transforming our society lie, among others, in the empowerment of women at all levels. 

I am particularly pleased that the provincial government and SALGA have put this conference together. I think the gathering of women working at local government level will form a good basis towards creating female leaders in housing or women with good understanding of housing developments. 

More so because our procurement policy gives local authorities a greater role in respect of decision-making. Our idea is that the implementation of housing projects should be carried out at municipal level. Our observation is that the success of our housing projects has been greater where the municipalities have played a greater role in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects. We want this to continue to the level at which women empowerment initiatives are made at local level. You are there as female councilors to assist your institutions in this regard.

Information at my disposal shows that there are 236 women councilors in the North-West province out of 730. This brings women representation to slightly above 32% at local government level in this province. In addition, women constitute only 11,5% of the 3380 ward members in this province. This is in itself a challenge that we need to work hard to address as a matter of urgency. 

My Department shares the view that a transformed partnership based on equality between women and men is a condition for people-centred sustainable development. Our goal is therefore to ensure a sustainable housing and human settlement process to achieve housing with secure tenure, within a safe and healthy environment, and the development of viable communities for all people. In attempting to fulfil these goals, we have ensured that our policies contribute to addressing the plight of the women of our country.

There is no doubt that the housing policy allows women to be empowered through access to the subsidy and access to economic professional opportunities. Our records reveal that about 50,4% of subsidies approved in the past nine years were allocated to female-headed households. In addition, 38% of the 1,5 million units that we have already delivered through our subsidy have been allocated to female-headed households. In monetary terms it implies that we have transferred an asset base worth more than R9,2 billion to the hands of women through the housing subsidy scheme alone. 

One of our aims is the provision of security of tenure. Previously, the lack of security of tenure for women, in particular, has resulted in their being discriminated against and victimised. I must mention that Provincial Housing Departments have shown commitment to ensuring that title deeds for housing are registered in the name of the applicant and spouse or partner. This practice will ensure that the female partner is protected in terms of her rights and access to housing.

This, Ladies and gentlemen, is clear recognition by government that women are the most affected by the lack of basic services and infrastructure. Hence we always strive to adequately represent their needs in policy formulation and planning processes.

It is therefore important that as we reflect on and evaluate some of the strategic interventions that have been initiated, we look at the manner in which we have succeeded in bringing women to the industry. This Conference should find out how the various sectors of our society, including the housing sector, have gone to promote women’s access to opportunities and ultimately their empowerment in society during the past nine years. 

I am told that one of the aims of this conference is to develop women councilors and ward committee members. Of particular importance to me is the positioning of women’s role in socio-economic development of our communities and the extent in which government policies have succeeded in achieving this. There are many initiatives that are being championed by a number of stakeholders along these lines. In the housing sector, these include government, housing support institutions, network and support organisations such as Women for Housing, construction sector organisations, community based organisations such as the Homeless Peoples Federation and individual women from various communities. 

Women contribute to housing and participate in housing delivery at a number of levels. These range from participation as beneficiaries, and as housing activists to decision-makers on policy. The government has facilitated women participation through a number of policy initiatives that we have implemented together with support institutions. 

However, our interventions have, in the past nine years, sought to ensure that women are not merely perceived as recipients of housing, but rather as active participants in the housing process. As part of the consultation process, women beneficiaries are targeted to provide inputs on issues such as levels of services, design of houses, as well as location of facilities. By addressing the concerns of women, human settlements can become spaces that are safe and sustainable. 

The Peoples Housing Process is one of the critical programmes in the involvement of women in housing delivery. This programme is based on the premise of people as key resources and decision makers in the delivery of housing. Most importantly, it has also highlighted the role of women in housing. The majority of the community institutions that are set up to provide housing consists predominantly of women. These women are actively involved in the planning, financial arrangements and construction of their houses.

According to our statistics, women constitute at least 90% of our PHP projects’ active membership. We therefore believe that when women take control over a housing project, they are not only building houses but also initiate processes that assist in the building of families and communities. Thus, women have been seen to be at the forefront of a silent revolution, taking back their housing and communities. In the process, they become leaders both in business and in their communities.

This model of women’s participation, however, needs to become more widespread in other housing projects in the country. Given women’s traditional role in housing construction and maintenance, it seems only logical that they should be involved in the construction of housing. Today there are an increasing number of women that are practicing as sub contractors, contractors and housing developers. This is, in part, due to our decision to set aside 10% of provincial allocations for housing projects that are undertaken by female developers or contractors. 

The setting of targets alone will not ensure women’s success in the housing construction sector. For many women, support in the form of capacity building and skills training remain critical. In addition, access to finance and mentorship and networking are necessary for women to benefit from the process both as beneficiaries and generators of wealth. My department sets aside at least R10 million each year for capacity building programmes. We also work closely with training institutions to accelerate provision of training to emerging developers.

In order to overcome some of the obstacles they are facing, some women contractors and developers are entering into joint ventures with other similar companies or with more established contractors. This enables them to have access to joint resources when undertaking a contract or tap into the resources of more established contractors. It is still early days in assessing how successful these partnerships will be in promoting women contractors in the housing sector. However, our observation is that these should be encouraged.

Lastly, Ladies and gentlemen, let me confidently declare that the policy basis has been laid. Tools for women empowerment in housing and other sectors have been sharpened. All that is left is for the three spheres of government to implement the relevant programmes towards the attainment of this goal.

In the past nine years we have put mechanisms in place to ensure that both land and other resources are accessible to women. The government’s policy on land is geared towards ensuring that women do not only obtain land, but also have equal use, control and participation in decisions of land use and development. We have been able to build houses on tribal land, where a lot of impoverished women live, and we should be able to enhance their control over land through various other means. Having achieved much in this regard, women, including those living in rural areas, should therefore be able to lead our communities.

I thank you.