Big business at human settlements

Big business at human settlements

What Housing Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale said in his departmental budget speech yesterday was not particularly revolutionary, but the way he said it was unfamiliar.
Sexwale used the language of corporate finance to describe the role of his department, saying that its ability to draw “the unbanked” and “uncreditworthy” into the formal economy by providing them with capital assets would play a key role in developing South Africa’s poorest citizens, as well as boosting the nation as a whole.
He also argued that housing and human settlements are, more directly, an extremely powerful “economic multiplier”, because of the stimulus given to a massive range of businesses when houses are built and when people set up new homes.
Sexwale said he would continue working closely with big business, particularly banks, who he said could be persuaded to go the extra mile beyond Corporate Social Investment because of the importance of these partnerships to the development of South Africa’s economy. He affirmed that “consultation will be the golden thread that runs through this administration”, that he had sat with big business and knows what they are doing, and that he would remain “a student”.
Sexwale sounded a cautious note about the future, saying that the global financial crisis means South Africa must be prepared to handle potential budget cuts, and that rapidly increasing urbanisation was a global reality that cannot be ignored.
He also spoke out against poorly-run or fly-by-night SMME contractors who, he said, have a tendency to “never stop emerging” because they don’t do proper business, confusing revenue with profit and capital with wealth. “Government needs value for money,” he stated.
Other speakers described the finalising of the Rural Housing Subsidy Vouchers, the Housing Development Agency and the continuation of the Breaking New Ground programme, while some called for national policies on hostel and backyard dwellers.
There was frequent mention of the need for better quality housing that was more energy efficient, and the Deputy Minister said more inspectors were being trained to ensure housing was up to standard.
While other speakers haggled over the progress made in the Breaking New Ground (BNG) programme’s flagship N2 Gateway project, Sexwale made it clear that he didn’t want to argue about things like the semantics of a new name, but would focus on getting to business.

Speaking the solution that moladi has proposed for the last 20 years