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

1. Towards a common understanding of South African human settlements

2. The White Paper on a New Housing Policy and Strategy for South Africa, 1994

3. 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

Settlement continuum

Primary citySecondary

citySmall town

Dense rural area

Dispersed rural areas

Intensive farming

Large scale commercial

farmingMetro area

Extensive farming

Subsistence farming

Urban Rural Continuum

Freehold and rental tenure Communal land rights Local arrangementsCommunal land rights

Migration

Remittance & grants

Good and services

Differentiation of settlements by tenure arrangements for

housing policy purposes

Settlements with secure freehold and rental tenure

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

Gauteng Metropolitan Area

Durban metro

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

Primary city

Primary city

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

Secondary city

Secondary city

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

Small town

Small town

Settlements with communal tenure

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.

Communal land tenure (KZN)

Medium dense rural settlement (EC)

Communal land tenure - homesteads

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

Displaced dense rural settlement

(Mpumalanga)

Farm settlements

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

Intensive farming

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

Large commercial farms

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

Extensive commercial farming

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

Subsistence farming

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.

Thank you

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 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

Housing challenges1994

The White Paper, 1994

Strategic thrusts:1. Stabilising the housing environment

2. Supporting the housing process

3. Mobilising housing credit

4. Providing housing subsidy assistance

5. Rationalising the institutional framework

6. Facilitate speedy release of serviced land

7. 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

Housing Act, 1996

• Defines the housing processDefines the housing process• Sets general principlesSets general principles• Defines roles and responsibilities of Defines roles and responsibilities of

government spheresgovernment spheres• Provides for - National Housing Code, Provides for - National Housing Code,

National Housing Information System, National Housing Information System, National and Provincial Housing National and Provincial Housing Development PlansDevelopment Plans

• Establishes the South African Housing fund Establishes the South African Housing fund and Provincial Housing Fundsand Provincial Housing Funds

Housing Act, 1996• Rationalises previous housing Rationalises previous housing

legislation legislation

• Provides for the termination of “old” Provides for the termination of “old” business dispensationbusiness dispensation

• Has gone through a number of Has gone through a number of amendments most significantly:amendments most significantly:– Abolishing provincial housing boardsAbolishing provincial housing boards– Pre-emptive rightPre-emptive right– Procurement policyProcurement policy

Discussion Questions?