Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete will on Wednesday and Thursday, 10-11 January 2024, visit Mpumalanga Province to meet with the contractors and developers and hand over about 619 title deeds to housing beneficiaries in the Tekwane South community.

The meeting with the contractors and developers to be joined by the Mpumalanga MEC for Human Settlements, Mr. Speed Mashilo, City of Mbombela’s Executive Mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko aims to provide a platform to ascertain sector-related issues which affect service delivery while mobilising these stakeholders to partner with the department to achieve its set targets.

In October 2023, Minister Kubayi launched the Title Deeds Fridays Campaign, to rally all spheres of government to dispatch title deeds on hand to the rightful owners. Consequently, MECs and Mayors have over the past few months embarked on various community outreach programmes to hand over title deeds to government subsidised houses beneficiaries.

The issuing of title deeds is one of the priorities for the current Medium Term Strategic Framework period. Other priorities include responding to the gap market through programmes such as First Home Finance and Social Housing, Upgrading Informal Settlements, and the delivery of fully subsidized government houses.

The visit will include a community engagement to solicit inputs on the recently published White Paper on Human Settlements, which is aimed at strengthening the sector’s approach to providing sustainable human settlements.

On the second day of the visit, Deputy Minister Tshwete will launch the Community Schemes Ombud Service Satellite Office (CSOS) in Mbombela. CSOS is an agency of the Department of Human Settlements responsible for regulating the conduct of parties within community schemes. The expansion of the CSOS footprint seeks to better service communities and follows the launch of other satellite offices in Limpopo and Western Cape Provinces.

Details are as follows:

DAY ONE:

Date: Wednesday, 10 January 2024 Activity 1: Engagement with contractors and developers Time: 08:30 Venue: Council Chambers, City of Mbombela

Activity 2: Title deeds handover and community engagement Time: 10:00 Venue: Mthunzi Kunene Community Hall, Tekwane South, City of Mbombela

DAY TWO:

Activity 1: Launch of CSOS Mbombela Satellite Office Date: Thursday, 11 January 2024 Time: 10:00 Venue: Block 1, Riverside Office Park, Riverside, City of Mbombela

For media enquiries: Contact Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson to Minister Kubayi on 064 754 8426 or Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za or Mr Freddy Ngobe, Mpumalanga Human Settlements Spokesperson on 082 859 4630

Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001a

The Deputy Minister of Human Settlements, Pam Tshwete together with Human Settlements and Public Works MEC, Sipho Nkosi will handover completed housing units to the first group of military veterans who occupied Aloe Ridge Social Housing Project in Pietermaritzburg.

This handover will mark the beginning of the remaining military veterans vacating the illegally occupied social housing project since 2018 as some have since voluntarily vacated the units.

The occasion will also see the delegation introducing contractors that have been tasked to deliver housing units for all affected military veterans within 12 months and meeting with the latter to provide them with an update on the steps that have been undertaken to respond to their housing needs.   Details are as follows:

Date: Monday, 15 January 2024

ACTIVITY 1: Siyahlola and walkabout at the sites earmarked for military veterans houses

Time: 10h30 Venue: Copesville, Pietermaritzburg  

ACTIVITY 2: Handover of units to military veterans

Time: 11h30 Venue: Umshwati housing project

NOTE: Media engagement will take place immediately after the handover of units  

ACTIVITY 3: Engagement with military veterans

Time: 14h00 Venue: Aloe Ridge Social Housing  

For media enquiries: Contact Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Settlements on 064 754 8426 or Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za OR Mlungisi Khumalo Spokesperson to MEC Nkosi on 071 412 4831

Some of the military veterans in and around uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal will now have a place called home. This follows yesterday’s handover of twelve housing units - the first batch out of a total of 32 units - to qualifying and verified military veterans.

During a Ministerial Visit to hand over the units on Monday, the Deputy Minister of Human Settlements Pam Tshwete, emphasized that the department remains committed to building houses for all the military veterans. She commended the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human Settlements for securing enough sites to enable the construction of other units including for BNG beneficiaries.

“We must clear the military veterans housing backlog once and for all. This is possible. We should work towards this objective. At the end, we will look back with pride having given back to our military veterans who sacrificed so much for the freedom we all enjoy today”, said Deputy Minister Tshwete.

The building of new homes for military veterans is a joint responsibility between the Departments of Human Settlements and Military Veterans, with the latter responsible for verification and additional financial resources.

Deputy Minister Tshwete acknowledged that the past invasion of flats at Aloe Ridge had some challenges, but a common solution was found amongst all affected stakeholders, leading to some military veterans voluntarily returning keys to management. However, others had to remain at Aloe Ridge while the construction of their new homes progressed, due to various circumstances including destitute cases.

This sentiment was echoed by the MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Sipho Nkosi, who has directed the officials and contractors to work around the clock to speedily deliver the houses for military veterans.

“There is no country in the world that does not look after its military veterans. By the end of this financial year (March 2024), I want to report that all affected military veterans are housed and have keys in their hands”, said MEC Nkosi. “When you finish building a house, hand it over to the beneficiary. This is the position we have taken. We are not going to wait for the projects to be fully completed before we give houses to the people. We hand them over as we continue to build for others”, he said.

The Mayor of Umshwati Local Municipality, Cllr Mandla Zondi extended a warm welcome to the first group of military veterans allocated houses in the area. “We felt privileged as the municipality to be home to some of our military veterans, Umshwati is part of South Africa and Umgungungundlovu District. When they fought for freedom, they did not fight for their townships or areas where they came from, but they fought for everyone in the country”, he said.

The housing handover was also used to announce five companies that have been appointed to help the province accelerate service delivery in Msunduzi and Umshwati Local Municipalities. The scope of work for these companies includes top structures and engineering services. They have been given a clear mandate to finish their work within twelve months, within a set budget, while not compromising on quality.

For media enquiries: Contact Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Settlements on 064 754 8426 or Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za OR Mlungisi Khumalo Spokesperson to MEC Nkosi on 071 412 4831

Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi and Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development, Lebohang Maile will on Wednesday (31 January 2024) hand over newly built homes and title deeds to qualifying beneficiaries in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

Together with the Executive Mayor, Sivuyile Ngodwana and the MMC of Human Settlements Cllr Masele Madihlaba, they will visit and handover keys to new homeowners at the Clayville Integrated Housing development Project - a mixed-land-use housing development expected to deliver 14 000 units. This development includes government subsidized housing (BNG), First Home Finance and social housing units. Over 7000 housing units have already been handed over to the qualifying beneficiaries.

Linked to the handover of housing units, will be the handover of title deeds to restore dignity and ensure security of tenure for residents of Ekurhuleni. In September 2023, the Minister and MECs of Human Settlements resolved to accelerate the delivery of title deeds to the beneficiaries. Accordingly, title deeds continue to be dispatched and given to the rightful owners across the country. Gauteng is one of the provinces that has been handing over title deeds weekly as part of the #TitleDeedsFridayCampaign.

The Ministerial visit to Ekurhuleni will include a community engagement as well as a meeting between all three spheres of government to reflect on the performance of the Metro on human settlement programmes and the delivery of basic services in various informal settlements.

Details are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 31 January 2024

1. TECHNICAL MEETING (CLOSED) Time: 10h00 Venue: Winnie Mandela Community Customer Centre, Tembisa

2. HOUSING HANDOVER Time: 11h45 Venue: Clayville Integrated Housing Development Project, Clayville

3. TITLE DEEDS HANDOVER AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Time: 01h30 Venue: Palm Ridge Community Centre, Katlehong

NOTE: Media engagement will place at Clayville, immediately after the handover of houses.

Media Enquiries, Contact: Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for Minister Kubayi on 064 754 8426 or Castro Ngobese, Spokesperson for MEC Maile on 060 997 7790.

Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Pretoria, 0001

The Deputy Minister of Human Settlements and District Champion for Beaufort West, Pam Tshwete will on Tuesday 06 February 2024, lead a Back-to-School and Community Outreach Programme in the Western Cape province.

During the programme, more than 897 learners from H.M. Dlikidla Primary School and 551 Mandlenkosi Secondary School in the township of Kwa-Mandlenkosi in Beaufort West in the Great Karoo, will receive learner packages to enable them to focus on their studies including hygiene packs for young girl learners who, sometimes due to lack or not having sanitary towels, have to face formidable obstacles that deter them from attending school.

The Deputy Minister will be accompanied by Cllr Ebenezer Botha, Mayor of Beaufort West Local Municipality, Cllr Johanna Botha, Executive Mayor of Central Karoo District Municipality and stakeholders from the private sector and NGOs.

Members of the media are invited to attend the programme as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 06 February 2024 Venue: H.M. Dlikidla Primary School and Mandlenkosi Secondary School Time: 08H30 -10H30

For Media Confirmations: Contact Isaac Skhosana on Isaac.Skhosana@dhs.gov.za / 076 875 5681 5681

For media enquiries: Contact Nozipho Zulu, Head of Communications on 078 457 9376 or nozipho.zulu@dhs.gov.za or Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Settlements on 064 754 8426 or Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements

Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001

The Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, and Deputy Minister Pam Tshwete, will convene a roundtable discussion with Non-Governmental Organisations, Community Based Organisations, and Civil Society Organisations on the Draft White Paper on Human Settlements.

The Draft White Paper seeks to repeal the Housing Act of 1997 by strengthening the Department of Human Settlements’ approach in responding to the housing needs of the people. This entails a government approach through tailor-made subsidy instruments to provide adequate housing for the qualifying beneficiaries. It makes several policy proposals which include promoting and encouraging home ownership by introducing transitional housing, through a public-private partnership arrangement (rent-to-buy installment sales) and prioritizing the registration of land for human settlements in rural areas to provide security of tenure.

The draft policy is accessible here https://bit.ly/3vwvOF9 following its publishing for public comments in December 2023. Members of the public are encouraged to make their written inputs on the Draft White Paper ahead of the extended deadline on 28 February 2024.

Members of the media are invited to the round-table discussion as follows:

Date: Monday, 12 February 2024 Time: 09h00 Venue: City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Banqueting Hall. NB: There will be opportunities for media engagements

For media enquiries and confirmations, contact: Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Settlements on 064 7548426 / Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za or Nozipho Zulu, Head of Communications on 078 457 9376 / Nozipho.Zulu@dhs.gov.za Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements

Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi conducted an interview with broadcast news channel Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday evening to highlight key proposals of the Draft White Paper on Human Settlements, that aims to replace the current policy which is almost three decades old.

The subsequent public comments on social media platforms necessitate that Minister Kubayi provide public clarification in the spirit of frankness and open debate that enhances the draft policy under consideration. Access to adequate housing is enshrined in the Constitution in Section 26, that provides:

(1) Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing.
(2) The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right.”

Where Section 26 speaks about everyone, it does not specify the income levels of the different segments of the South African population, yet we know that our population is segmented into different income levels from low to high income. Within its available resources, government has created housing programmes that are aimed at helping the poor, the elderly, the child-headed households, and people living with disabilities to achieve the progressive realization of the right to access to adequate housing. This is with the understanding that households earning above R 30 000 have access to bond financing through established financial institutions such as banks and therefore can access adequate housing with indirect assistance from government.

The current housing policy dictates that government should provide free housing for households with income levels of between 0 and R3500, including designated groups and military veterans. Furthermore, government provides assistance through grants and subsidies to what is called the gap market or the missing middle - those who cannot access bond financing from financial institutions and yet they do not qualify to receive free houses for government. These are families earning between R3501 and R22 000 per month. Social housing which includes low-cost rental and rent to ownand affordable housing, which includes the First Home Finance programme, are some of the programmes designed to support the missing middle to access housing opportunities. It is important to emphasize that the missing middle programmes are private sector driven and government only creates a conducive environment, through grants and subsidies, for the private to develop and build housing units.

The Minister in her interview with Newsroom Africa said amongst other things "When the Constitution says people have a right to shelter it's not because it says it must be done by the government, we must create a conducive environment for people to (also) access shelter in the private space." You will realise that what has been circulated on social media was a truncated quotation of the Minister’s comment.

The context of the interview discussion was the Draft White Paper, with new housing policy proposals, which has been published for public comment in December 2023. The Minister’s comments were referring to the importance of placing emphasis on the segmentation of the housing market, as part of the policy proposals in the Draft Human Settlements White Paper. Her reference to the creation of the conducive environment was precisely to make the point that there are other indirect ways that government will assist South Africans to access adequate shelter, such as social housing, first home finance subsidies and service sites to the qualifying beneficiaries. Simply put, government cannot and will not build a house for everyone except for the most vulnerable. However, where necessary, it will provide a conducive environment within its available resources for the private sector to create housing stock for other income groups.

The new White Paper does not propose the discontinuation of the current housing programmes but it makes proposals on the improvement on the housing delivery systems, tools and technologies and funding mechanisms.

The draft policy is accessible here https://bit.ly/3vwvOF9 following its publishing for public comments in December 2023. Members of the public are encouraged to make their written inputs ahead of the extended deadline on 28 February 2024.

For media enquiries and confirmations, contact: Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson to Minister of Human Settlements on 064 7548426 / Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za

The Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi will on Saturday, 17 February 2024 visit KwaZulu-Natal to handover government subsidized homes to qualifying beneficiaries in Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality in the Harry Gwala District.

The handing over of houses is an important step in the Government’s commitment to provide decent and affordable housing to disadvantaged citizens. The Harry Gwala District Development Model Co-National Champion, and Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Dr. Nobuhle Nkabane, together with the Human Settlements and Public Works, MEC Sipho Nkosi, will be part of handover of the Gudlucingo Rural Housing Project, expected to yield 1500 units upon the completion of the remaining 300 units in Phase-2.

The Ministerial delegation, including the District Mayor, Cllr. Zamo Nxumalo alongside other local mayors and traditional authorities, will as part of the programme launch the first phase of 300 units of the Amanyuswa Rural Housing Project. The development will benefit the community of Ward 5 and 7, who will also be introduced to the implementing agent.

The handover of newly built government-subsidized homes will precede a community engagement and certification/graduation ceremony of youth trained in Community House Building, as part of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) – one of government’s intensive employment initiatives. The certification will comprise of 20 young women, who received training in construction and entrepreneurial skills, through the Manzamnyama and Ofafa Development Skills Development Programme.

The trainees, who successfully completed the programme and deemed as multiskilled practitioners, will also be provided with equipment to enable them to gain access to the construction industry.

Members of the media are invited to the event as follows: Date: Saturday, 17 February 2023

1. TECHNICAL BRIEFING (CLOSED) Time: 09:00 Venue: Jolivet Education Centre, Ixopo, Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality, Harry Gwala District

2. GUDLUCINGO RURAL HOUSING PROJECT HANDOVER Time: 10:15 Venue: Gudlucingo Rural Housing Project, Ward8, Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality, Harry Gwala District

3. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND EPWP YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME CERTIFICATION/GRADUATION Time: 12:00 Venue: Mgangeni Sportsfield, Ward 5 Kwampondo, Ixopo, Ubuhlebezwe Local Municipality, Harry Gwala District

NB: There will be opportunities for media engagements For media enquiries and confirmations, contact: Hlengiwe Nhlabathi-Mokota, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Settlements on 064 7548426 / Hlengiwe.Nhlabathi@dhs.gov.za or KwaZulu-Natal Human Settlements and Public Works Spokesperson Mlungisi Khumalo 071 412 4831, Harry Gwala District Municipality Communications, Ndabezitha Tenza 071 561 1278, uBuhlebezwe Local Municipality Communications Zakhele Mtolo 072 068 1139.

Issued by the Ministry of Human Settlements Govan Mbeki House 240 Justice Mahomed Street, Sunnyside, Pretoria, 0001