(AsgiSA) Annual Report 2008 - South African Government Information
(AsgiSA) Annual Report 2008 - South African Government Information
(AsgiSA) Annual Report 2008 - South African Government Information
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Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for <strong>South</strong> Africa<br />
ANNUAL REPORT<br />
<strong>2008</strong><br />
The next MTEF phase will require water and sanitation services to be delivered as part of a more coordinated<br />
and integrated effort around the built environment, particularly targeting the informal settlement<br />
process.<br />
Over the MTEF period, water and sanitation service provision in informal settlements will become intertwined<br />
and integrated with the national housing programme, with the objective of providing a basic<br />
water supply and functioning basic sanitation by 2014. Informal settlement bucket systems (largely<br />
eradicated in formal settlements) will be addressed through the housing process.<br />
Notwithstanding the significant gains made, the policy approach of targeting infrastructure “backlogs”<br />
is changing, given that the backlogs are a moving target, particularly in view of rapid urbanisation and<br />
decreasing average size of family units. Water policy-makers are increasingly focusing on the sustainability<br />
and efficiency of new water and sanitation infrastructure addition and the capacity to sustain the<br />
operation and maintenance of such infrastructure. This particularly applies to the state of wastewater<br />
treatment plants, a municipal competence, where a 2006 DWAF-commissioned study found that 35%<br />
of surveyed plants needed urgent capital upgrades, 56% of plants were adequately maintained, an<br />
absence of important data and information at 66% of all plants, and only 5% complying to licence<br />
requirements 5 . The DBSA (<strong>2008</strong>) also observed that there had been a general “overinvestment” in<br />
water-service provision and an underinvestment in treatment plants 6 .<br />
5.2.3 Housing<br />
Since 1994, some 2,7 million housing opportunities have been created through the national housing<br />
subsidy, which has absorbed over R49 billion. Despite this, rapid urbanisation has led to growing informal<br />
settlements in which an estimated 1,8 million families live 7 . The policy objective of eradicating<br />
informal settlements by 2014 is to be achieved through a number of initiatives, including:<br />
• Increased budget for the Integrated Housing and Human Settlement Development (IHHSD) Grant, rising<br />
from R12 billion in 2009/10 to R17 billion in 2011/12. The grant is allocated by the Department<br />
of Housing to provincial housing departments responsible for housing project delivery.<br />
• Improve the co-ordination and integration between provinces (which administer the housing grant)<br />
and municipalities (which provide bulk infrastructure). This issue has led to calls for the accreditation<br />
of capable municipalities to carry out the housing function and to channel the IHHSD Grant directly to<br />
those municipalities that have the capacity to effectively administer such grants 8 .<br />
• The creation of a dedicated institution (Housing Development Agency) to acquire, develop and release<br />
state, communal and privately owned land for residential use.<br />
It should be noted that house construction is an activity, which has significant backward economic<br />
multiplier linkages and, depending on the construction method choice, offers the potential to achieve<br />
poverty reduction through more labour-intensive methods.<br />
53<br />
11<br />
Transnet (2009), Transnet presses ahead with Capex amid global downturn, Press Release, 18 February 2009.