Dodgy housing figures
If the Minister of Finance and the Auditor-General lacks confidence in the Housing Department’s delivery figures, then there is no way that the people of South Africa should put any trust in the stated housing delivery figures.
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has questioned figures showing that 1,9-million houses have been built since 1994 and whether these included the thousands still standing empty because of poor workmanship.
Asking what constituted a house, Manuel said: "I truly don't believe that the numbers add up here." He questioned whether the thousands of houses standing empty because of poor workmanship were included in the Provincial Government and Expenditure Review figures for the 2002/03 to 2008/09 financial years.
The report showed that 1 930 783 houses had been built or were under construction.
"I think the people here have the right to know. It does not put us at the top of the popularity contest but I think that people have the right to know and we must try and deal with these issues," he said.
The report showed that while spending had more than doubled from R4-billion in 2002/03 to R8,7bn in 2008/09, there had been a "significant" decline in housing delivery. It cited poor planning and project management, unpredictable lead times and rezoning and environmental impact assessment processes as challenges.
The review figures showed that apart from the 1,9-million houses built, 1,6-million government-owned houses had been transferred to residents and property assets worth over R37-billion had been transferred to poor households.
But the report raised concerns that despite the 1.9-million houses delivered, the backlog was still growing.
With urbanisation growing at 2,7 percent a year, the report noted that the number of "inadequate dwellings" had increased by 20 percent from 1,5-million in 1996 to over 1,8-million in 2001.
Calling on parliament and constituency MPs to get more involved, Manuel said they urgently needed to carry out their oversight function in order to gain a clear understanding of the situation. Similar discrepancies existed with figures pertaining to water and electricity delivery, he said.
The Local Government Budget and Expenditure Review, which along with its provincial equivalent was tabled in the NCOP on Tuesday, showed that the electricity backlog in KwaZulu-Natal had increased by 17 percent between 2003 and 2005.
It reported that the number of non-electrified households had risen from 40 percent to 57 percent during the period under review. Only Gauteng and the Western Cape had managed to reduce the backlog. Manuel said on Tuesday that not enough was known about the quality and sustainability of public services.
"Chairperson, the reviews we table show that provinces and municipalities accounted for R161-billion and R199-billion of public expenditure in the last fiscal year. The question we should be asking ourselves is whether we know enough about the change this amount of spending has had on the lives of people," he said. Read more
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has questioned figures showing that 1,9-million houses have been built since 1994 and whether these included the thousands still standing empty because of poor workmanship.
Asking what constituted a house, Manuel said: "I truly don't believe that the numbers add up here." He questioned whether the thousands of houses standing empty because of poor workmanship were included in the Provincial Government and Expenditure Review figures for the 2002/03 to 2008/09 financial years.
The report showed that 1 930 783 houses had been built or were under construction.
"I think the people here have the right to know. It does not put us at the top of the popularity contest but I think that people have the right to know and we must try and deal with these issues," he said.
The report showed that while spending had more than doubled from R4-billion in 2002/03 to R8,7bn in 2008/09, there had been a "significant" decline in housing delivery. It cited poor planning and project management, unpredictable lead times and rezoning and environmental impact assessment processes as challenges.
The review figures showed that apart from the 1,9-million houses built, 1,6-million government-owned houses had been transferred to residents and property assets worth over R37-billion had been transferred to poor households.
But the report raised concerns that despite the 1.9-million houses delivered, the backlog was still growing.
With urbanisation growing at 2,7 percent a year, the report noted that the number of "inadequate dwellings" had increased by 20 percent from 1,5-million in 1996 to over 1,8-million in 2001.
Calling on parliament and constituency MPs to get more involved, Manuel said they urgently needed to carry out their oversight function in order to gain a clear understanding of the situation. Similar discrepancies existed with figures pertaining to water and electricity delivery, he said.
The Local Government Budget and Expenditure Review, which along with its provincial equivalent was tabled in the NCOP on Tuesday, showed that the electricity backlog in KwaZulu-Natal had increased by 17 percent between 2003 and 2005.
It reported that the number of non-electrified households had risen from 40 percent to 57 percent during the period under review. Only Gauteng and the Western Cape had managed to reduce the backlog. Manuel said on Tuesday that not enough was known about the quality and sustainability of public services.
"Chairperson, the reviews we table show that provinces and municipalities accounted for R161-billion and R199-billion of public expenditure in the last fiscal year. The question we should be asking ourselves is whether we know enough about the change this amount of spending has had on the lives of people," he said. Read more
posted by Jopie Fourie at 11:06 PM
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