2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum Slated for Manila; Influential Leaders in the Low-cost Housing Industry to Present Best Practices and Partnership Opportunities

2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum Slated for Manila; Influential Leaders in the Low-cost Housing Industry to Present Best Practices and Partnership Opportunities:

Manila, Aug 3, 2009 - (ACN Newswire) - Building on the success of the inaugural meeting, Habitat for Humanity International is organizing the 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum, in cooperation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to be held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Makati City from 7 to 9 September 2009.This year's forum revolves around the theme, "Maximizing Urban Poverty Housing Solutions for Greater Results." It gathers major stakeholders from the social, private and public sectors, academe and international organizations to share best practices, solutions and resource needs for the large and growing number of people living in substandard housing environments."More than half a billion people live in urban slums across the Asia-Pacific region and the drift to towns and cities is continuing. The poverty associated with crowded, unsanitary, unsafe living conditions is a major challenge for the 21st century," said Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific vice president of Habitat for Humanity International."The first Asia-Pacific Forum, held in Singapore in 2007, showed the value of bringing together shelter specialists from very different backgrounds to learn from each other. In Manila, the focus will be on the specific issues faced by the urban poor and practical ways to alleviate the burden of slum conditions."The forum presents opportunities for forging joint partnerships in housing projects, as potential sources of housing finance, cost efficient technologies, and social entrepreneurs are brought together by this event.Internationally acclaimed speakers and leading experts in housing concerns to share insights at the forum, include: Dr. Nicolas P. Retsinas from the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University, U.S. a., with a plenary presentation on "Housing Policy: How to Meet the Needs of the Poor" - Retsinas is a former board chairman of Habitat for Humanity International. Among other speakers are Bruce Ferguson, former urban economist of the World Bank and member of the Advisory Board of Global Urban Development, on the plenary topic "A Value Chain Approach to Affordable Housing: The Key to Massive Scale"; Graham Saunders, head of the shelter department at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, Switzerland, to speak on "Linking Disaster Response with Sustainable Development"; and Huub Cornelissen, director on energy and housing, The Netherlands Development Finance Company, to present the organization's initiatives in housing finance for the poor.From the Philippines, deputy governor Nestor A. Espenilla, Jr. of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will talk on the BSP's role in supporting housing microfinance in the banking sector. Philippine Vice President Noli de Castro, who is also the chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, will be the guest of honor and will deliver the keynote address.The three-day forum is structured in a manner to maximize dialogue, interaction and networking among participants. The forum's plenary sessions and discussion groups will focus on four themes: (1) innovations in housing the urban poor; (2) rethinking disaster response; (3) UNESCAP Quick Guides on Housing the Poor; and (4) a "Leaders of Tomorrow Meet Leaders of Today".The latter is a unique feature of the forum.

Student leaders from all over Asia and the Pacific will have the opportunity to study housing issues and discuss ideas and solutions with forum speakers and housing specialists. Speakers such as Hennie Botes of Moladi and George Modrovic of ELFI Wall System will also be present to discuss efficient housing technologies.Housing developers, microfinance institutions, local governments, and academics are encouraged to attend the 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum.

For more information and for online registration, please log on to http://www.aphousingforum.org/. You may also contact the Secretariat at 2APHFSecretariat@habitat.org.ph or at (632) 897 3356 or 897 3069 loc. 107.About Habitat for Humanity InternationalHabitat for Humanity International is a global non-governmental organization that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in the USA in 1976, Habitat has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 houses in dozens of countries, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.5 million people with homes they helped build and which they have paid for with affordable, non-profit loans. For more information, please visit www.habitat.org/apAbout Habitat for Humanity Philippines Habitat for Humanity Philippines, is a non-profit Christian Ministry that helps build responsible and self-reliant communities by enabling Filipino families in need to acquire affordable, decent and durable homes. It also partners with organizations, institutions and individuals in transforming lives and promoting people's dignity through building homes and conducting community development programs. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat for Humanity builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of homeowner families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit, fiances with affordable, inflation-adjusted mortgage loans.

The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments go into a local revolving fund and are used to build more Habitat houses. In addition to monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest their own labor - "sweat equity" - into building their Habitat house and the houses of others, increasing the pride of ownership and fostering the development of positive relationships within a community. To date, Habitat for Humanity Philippines has helped rebuild the lives of over 24,000 families and built over 200 school classrooms nationwide.Issued on behalf of Habitat for Humanity by Ysmael Moyer Valenzuela & Associates, Inc.

Biography of Tokyo Sexwale

ZAR.co.za - Biography of Tokyo Sexwale: "Sexwale"

Once an ANC activist, political prisoner and populist politician, leading businessman Mosima Gabriel (Tokyo) Sexwale is a man with a personal history as fascinating as the changes that have taken place in South Africa. He was once of the ANC's most ambitious politicians and tipped for great things. Nelson Mandela named him premier of the country's largest Gauteng province. Apart from his other qualities, personal courage alone made Tokyo Sexwale an extraordinary premier. From the beginning, during his first days in office in 1994, he ventured into hostels in East Rand townships where, before the elections, death tolls had sometimes risen to over 20 a day. Hostels were no-go areas for everybody save Inkatha Freedom Party warlords. But Sexwale ignored the risks. He left the Inkatha hostel-dwellers singing and dancing and agreeing to make peace with their neighbouring communities - which they did. Three months later South Africa's most conflict-ridden province descended into a calm broken only by the clashes of criminal syndicates. It must also have taken considerable nerve to have walked alone in the dead of night into a darkened, mutinous prison, lit only by fires and with injured people littering the floors, to negotiate the release of a white warder. When Sexwale came out of Modderbee on the East Rand at dawn that day in the middle of 1996, he left a peaceful prison - and he had the young warder safely with him. His bravery, and a belief that if a job were difficult then he personally should do it, sometimes frustrated colleagues. But if there are reservations about his leadership style among the many people canvassed on the subject, their judgements have been tempered by more than equal measures of praise. A senior aide who worked closely with him says:

"He has tremendous leadership ability, but often has difficulty in translating good ideas into action. He can see what needs to be done, but does not always trust those around him to carry out his plans."
In 1977 Sexwale was sent to Robben Island to serve a life sentence. He recalls one of his first impressions on arriving on the island and seeing Mandela:

"There is Nelson Mandela - the tall man amongst all prisoners on Robben Island - figuratively and literally. He was also taller than the jailers. Here is a man who, for 27 years, had to reshape himself, to emerge as ... some people call him, a saint. He is not a saint. He is fallible. And he's quick himself to admit whenever he has been rash, that he is also fallible. But in full glory you find Nelson Mandela towering above Robben Island. You meet him in the position of chancellor of the university of Robben Island."
Fellow Robben Island prisoner and close friend of Sexwale, Mzi Khumalo, formed the Pan African Mining Group with Sexwale and involved them both in mining and oil across Africa. He recalls a time there when prisoners became angry with elderly Rivonia trialist Wilton Mkwayi whose practice it was to squirrel away food to feed the pigeons. The birds would repay this kindness by defecating over the small recreation area the prisoners shared. Mkwayi had back problems, however, and was too frail to clean up the mess.The prisoners decided that they had had enough. They called a meeting at which consensus was sought on compelling Mkwayi to stop feeding the pigeons. Khumalo recalled the mood of the meeting.
"Tokyo disagreed with us; he said this man had been there for 20 years, and that the birds kept Mkwayi sane. I did my nut. Eventually Tokyo won the day; he offered to clean up the mess."
But the saga did not end there, Khumalo recalls with a laugh:
"Now, if Tokyo has one serious fault it is this - he loves to talk. So when the time came to clean he began, but some new people came into the section, so he put down his spade and went to speak to them, and the rest of us did the cleaning. He cleaned on other occasions; he does not shirk responsibility but if he can delegate he will."
A former Gauteng cabinet colleague expressed a slightly different view:
"He didn't always delegate, particularly if he felt he could make a stronger personal impact. However, he wasn't scared to take the rap."
Another close aide said:
"One of his biggest frustrations was that he went into government as a hugely successful mobiliser of popular support and a shrewd tactician, but he could not use that effectively in a government context."
To see Sexwale at a public event like the launch of Johannesburg's Inner City renewal campaign was to see him at his best. Switching between English, Afrikaans, Sotho and Zulu, he had the crowd laughing, cheering, pondering and applauding. No other politician could compete. Thabo Mbeki, who shared the platform with him, was well spoken in English only, and lacked the easy charisma so typical of Sexwale and Mandela. His style has not found favour with Thabo Mbeki of whom he said, "The president's shoes are huge and Thabo has tiny feet." (In 2001 Sexwale was accused, along with Cyril Ramaphosa and Mathews Phosa, of plotting to overthrow Mbeki from power. Sexwale denied the charges and all three received the backing of Nelson Mandela.)In the end, government stifled Sexwale, aides say. He too has acknowledged that he became exhausted by internal African National Congress intrigues.Khumalo says:
"One day he phoned me and asked me to come and talk. On the island it was our practice when discussing serious issues, to walk. We walked up and down, talking for about two hours. He told me he was thinking of leaving government for business, and I said, "Tokyo, Gauteng is too small for you."
Sexwale's primary interests are oil and diamond mining, for which he has concessions across Africa and Russia in a company he established called Mvelaphanda Mining (mvelaphanda is Venda for "progress").Not long after Sexwale announced his resignation from government, Harry Oppenheimer, patriarch of the Anglo-American and De Beers corporations, remarked at the opening of a diamond college in Johannesburg that few understood the local and international diamond-mining industry the way Sexwale did.Trained by the Soviet army during his Umkhonto we Sizwe days, Sexwale is reported to have networks among some of the major industry executives in the Russian state diamond company and has been offered concessions in the Federation. He has finalised diamond concessions in a number of Southern African states including Angola and is negotiating oil and diamond concessions in other African states.Finnish president Martii Ahtisaari approached him to be Finland's honorary consul-general in South Africa, and after Mandela gave his consent - there is little Sexwale does even now, without seeking Madiba's approval - the Finnish flag went up outside his Houghton home.Sexwale is a firm believer in economic patriotism:
"Japanese businesspeople work for Japan, the British work for Britain. The success of the African renaissance in repositioning our part of the world, depends upon economic patriotism. South Africans have to work for South Africa. Black business people will have to become economic freedom fighters in the true sense of the word. There needs to be greater opportunities for all, particularly in rural areas. Marx says if capital does not grow, it stagnates. We must see opportunities - and not only crises or global meltdowns."
He has a range of suggestions - from corporations freeing up their training centres at weekends for skills training and education to harnessing non-governmental organisations more effectively in developmental work.Sexwale has not made himself available for any elected ANC position; but he iremains active in his branch.
"A good leader must also be a good follower and as a member of the rank and file, I am prepared to be led. I love the ANC, it is a lifelong commitment to me. However, I am not cut out for government politics, it's too restrictive." As a successful entrepreneur Mr Sexwale is deeply committed to pursuing the dream of economic prosperity of the country's black majority. Relaxing at his office at home, his guitar and piano on one side, books lining the walls - a thick volume on Che Guevara wedged between a tome on The Competitive Advantage of Nations and Who Owns Whom - Sexwale muses:
"The challenge of existence is to fall in love with life and come to terms with all its joys and sorrows."Other famous quotes by Sexwale:
"The liberation struggle of our people was not about liberating blacks from bondage, it was about liberating white people from fear."
"Associate yourself not only with success but with failure too. Know your limitations, surround yourself with experts and good critics."
"If blacks get hurt, I get hurt. If whites get hurt, that's my wife, and if you harm coloured people, you're looking for my children. Your unity embodies who I am."

Tokyo Sexwale Announced as Minister of Human Settlements

Pretoria - Tokyo Sexwale has been announced as the Minister of Human Settlements.Announcing his new Cabinet on Sunday, President Jacob Zuma said the Department of Housing will be called the Department of Human Settlements to take on a more holistic focus.Going through the list of those who will take up seats in his Cabinet, Mr Zuma said: "Minister of Human Settlements - Tokyo Sexwale."A highly respected businessman, Mr Sexwale has held many senior positions in the African National Congress. He was imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island were he was expected to serve a life sentence.As President of South Africa in 1994, Mr Mandela appointed Mr Sexwale as Premier of Gauteng.In 1998 he left public office and entered the world of business. He formed Mvelapanda Group, a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed BEE consortium.He also serves on the board of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organising Committee.Mr Sexwale was named Tokyo because he enjoyed karate as a youngster. - BuaNews

Minister Sexwale, we at moladi congratulate you on your appointment to head the Human Settlements Ministry. We assure you of our support in your task to address the backlog and quality issues that you face - Congratulations!

Asia-Pacific Housing Forum - moladi

Asia-Pacific Housing Forum - Homepage

> OVERVIEW

Building on each other’s strengths
More than one billion people around the world live in urban slums and this figure is rising as towns and cities continue to expand. The 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum will examine and propose concrete solutions for housing the urban poor and for dealing with existing slums. The forum will look at alternative approaches and scalable models involving national and local government authorities, businesses and social organizations working together and building on each other’s strengths to provide housing solutions.
Slums are particularly vulnerable to fire, floods and other disasters. The forum will provide a venue where major players and stakeholders in relief and development can explore strategies to bridge the gaps between emergency relief and sustainable redevelopment.

> WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The Forum is of interest to all who are concerned and engaged in providing urban poverty housing solutions like architects, academics, developers, urban planners, policymakers, NGOs, donor agencies, researchers, private and public sector actors. We invite you to join us at the September 2009 2nd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum in Manila, Philippines to:
present a research paper or case study;
participate in a dialogue or panel discussion;
showcase your initiative or project;
join a training event;
engage in a “Leaders of Today & Tomorrow” session;
be a participant.

moladi is proud and honoured to present our construction technology “The Moladi Approach to Affordable Housing Delivery”

moladi establishes construction training skills college

The backlog of houses in South Africa and the huge unemployment rate has prompted moladi to establish moladiCOLLEGE. The focus of moladiCOLLEGE will be to create employment and develop skills, creating an opportunity for Government to make good on its promise to deliver housing and create employment. moladiCOLLEGE has partnered with CETA (Construction Education and Training Authority) and Services SETA to train veterans

For more information visit www.moladiCOLLEGE.co.za

Tokyo Sexwale - Minister of Human Settlements

Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale
moladi
I REFER to the article Sexwale on East London fact-finding mission (SD, August 22). It is
encouraging to note the Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, on a fact-finding
mission regarding housing problems in East London.
However, it appears that again the minister, like his party, is engaging in talk- shops with
communities to solve housing problems. The minister is quoted as saying: “I’m here to
conduct a sincere conversation with the local leaders and residents to hear from them
about the conditions they live under.” He talks about not giving easy answers and
promises to face difficult situations.
But there are problems that can quickly be solved; for example, the 19000 houses that
need repair in the province. Why not simply fix them, rather than delay the process by
having more conversations with communities?
The provincial Department of Housing must set a deadline date by which all these
houses are repaired.
With a budget in place and the number of units required for rectification known, there
should be no more dilly-dallying over this matter. –
Dacre Haddon MPL, DA spokesperson on Human Settlements, Bhisho Legislature
Keywords: - moladi, tokyo sexwale, repair, houses, bad quality, provincial housing department, east london, housing problems

Raquel Rolnik | UN Special Rapporteur | Adequate housing solution

Raquel Rolnik Special Rapporteur Adequate housing solution

A lot can be found about Raquel Rolnik, the problem for us is how to get hold of her?
Secondly, it does not take a rocket scientist to tell the world there is a shortage of homes and slums must be eradicated.
To us the the real issue is to propose a solution, not to highlight the problem.

http://www.moladi.net/

Keywords: - Raquel Rolnik, architect, urban planner, Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur, right, Adequate housing, contact by @ mail, email, housing solution, urbanista, professora, Faculdade de Arquitetura, Urbanismo da Universidade, São Paulo, UN Housing shortage, UN Housing Solution, homeless

Affordable housing shortage 'stifles market'

Affordable housing shortage 'stifles market' - South Africa

Lack of affordable housing was a major obstacle to sustained demand in the housing sector and could lead to the slowing of house price growth to single digits later this year, a property group said yesterday."Without growing demand, price growth will decline," Harcourts Africa said. Chief executive Martin Schultheiss said the South African market's greatest need was in the essential buying category. "People need an affordable roof over their heads, as opposed to leisure or speculative buying."It was not only essential that greater volumes of affordable units were brought to market, not only for prospective owner-buyers but also for the affordable rental market, where better stock levels would spur greater investment."The household sector remains under pressure, with the latest figures showing the ratio of debt to disposable income still at nearly 80 percent," Schultheiss said. While this painted a rather bleak picture for prospective home owners, especially at the lowest end of the market, it also meant that they would be looking for affordable rental homes if they could not muster the finances to buy their own.

"Developers would do well to take note of this need and adapt development plans to cater for this sector."Although affordability is a common denominator, property investors are also looking for additional features - and developers who want to tap into this market should take heed."Schultheiss said investors wanted compact properties with easy access and hard-wearing surfaces for easy maintenance. "Tenants typically occupy units for an average of two years and landlords are keen to keep refurbishment costs to a minimum at the end of a lease period."Investors might also prefer built-in appliances and pre-paid meters for electricity. "And of course affordable units with low maintenance requirements would find favour among owner-buyers too," he added.

Keywords: - affordable housing, house price growth, development, affordable rental homes, South Africa, property investors, property group, moladi, formwork, construction, market, reduce

Zuma housing fund not functioning - Coovadia

Zuma affordable housing fund not functioning: “exists only in theory” Coovadia said

Cape Town - Incompetent municipalities were behind much of the housing backlog in the country, Cas Coovadia, chief executive of the Banking Association of South Africa (Basa), told members of the parliamentary standing committee on finance. He added that President Jacob Zuma’s billion rand guarantee fund for housing “exists only in theory”. A meeting on this fund had not yet been held with Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to finalise details.
The R1bn guarantee fund for affordable housing was announced by Zuma in his State of the Nation address this year. This fund is intended to help prospective homebuyers who earn too much for a state-subsidised house and too little for a bank home loan.
Coovadia said the fund existed only in theory and that South Africa had a shortfall of about 600 000 affordable houses for households earning between R3 500 and R15 000 a month.
He berated municipalities for no longer being able to build affordable houses.
He said that the banking sector had been criticised for not providing sufficient finance for housing but, even should the government give a 100% guarantee, this would not help if the houses could not be built in the first place.
About 120 000 affordable houses need to be built a year, he pointed out, but for the past three years only about 80 000 houses have been built each year.
The primary problem was the incapacity of municipalities, he said.
Five years ago finalising municipal regulations around house construction, such as issuing certificates of approval for developments, took 30 months. It currently takes a municipality 48 months to issue such certificates.
Affordable housing developers are simply withdrawing from projects.
Coovadia also rejected criticism from committee members that commercial banks were not advancing enough to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
He lambasted development financiers like Khula, which now wants to compete directly with commercial banks using its Khula Direct model – rather than developing a plan to provide security for those without collateral but with a good business plan.
The ANC’s Zephroma Dubazana said she had been under the impression that commercial banks used taxpayers’ money from the government fiscus, and were therefore obliged to help small enterprises.
Coovadia had to explain the difference between money from the fiscus, as in the case of Khula, and private deposits kept by commercial banks on the public’s behalf.
On Wednesday the committee will meet with the financial sector transformation council.

Keywords: - Cape Town, Cas Coovadia, banking Association, build affordable houses, R1bn guarantee fund, incapacity of municipalities, concrete homes, moladi, formwork, solution, deskill, Khula, Zephroma Dubazana, president Jacob Zuma, Tokyo Sexwale, shortfall

RDP houses 80 Percent of occupied illegally

80 Percent of RDP houses occupied illegally

Preliminary results of an investigation into the tenancy of RDP houses in Philippi’s Samora Machel suburb, which started a week ago, has found that only about 20 percent of those occupying RDP houses are the rightful beneficiaries.
About half of the over 4000 RDP houses built in the area have been surveyed so far, said Samora Machel ward councillor Monwabisi Mbaliswano on Tuesday.
Mbaliswano said 20 community members supported by the provincial Human Settlement Department, were going door-to-door and requesting the property title deeds.
The Samora Machel investigation, and a parallel investigation in Khayelitsha’s Mandela Park, was launched by the department three weeks ago after Development Forum executive committee members noted that many people who had been allocated RDP houses sold them before the national Human Settlement Department’s moratorium on the sale of state-subsidised houses by beneficiaries had lapsed.
Mbaliswano said according to preliminary results of the investigation in Samora Machel, residents who received RDP houses sometimes sold them due to poor building standards or to raise money for things such as burying relatives or relocating back to the Eastern Cape.
“We have found out that some of the beneficiaries had sold their houses and are now living in informal settlements and have re-registered in the housing department database,” he said.
Mbaliswano said most of the people who had bought RDP houses had no title deeds to prove it was their house, and only had affidavits from the police.
Zalisile Mbali, spokesperson for Human Settlement MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, confirmed the investigations into RDP house tenancy were ongoing.
“Most of the people who were allocated houses seem to be going back to living in shacks while some are reported to be living in the Eastern Cape,” said Mbali.
However, he said he could not yet say what would happen to people who were illegally occupying RDP houses.
But Mbali dismissed Mbaliswano’s figure of 80 percent illegal tenancy, saying: “We don’t know where the figures come from because the survey is not yet done. We will table the results once they are ready”.

Keywords: - RDP houses, Human Settlement Department’s, Bonginkosi Madikizela, Zalisile Mbali, poor building standards, concrete homes, western Cape

RDP house rented as shop

MEC throws man out RDP house:RDP house rented as shop

RDP house rented as shop

Mafikeng - A man running a shop from an RDP home he was renting in Coligny was thrown out of the house by a visiting North West MEC, her department said on Tuesday.Human Settlements MEC Desbo Mohono gave the businessman 14 days to remove his belongings from the house, which had allegedly been turned into a tuck shop illegally."Mohono made this startling discovery during her visit to Tlhabologang township at Coligny to assess progress on the 54 houses that were being constructed in the area," her department said in a statement.Mohono apparently told the businessman the house was intended for its rightful owner and not supposed to be a tuck shop."These houses belong to the needy. We will not allow people to use them for personal profit."The businessman told officials the owner of the house lived on the surrounding farms and that he paid him a monthly rental of R700.Mohono said after the businessman had been evicted the owner would be de-registered and the house given to another beneficiary on the housing waiting list.She indicated the owner would never get a government-sponsored house again.Department officials were attempting to find the owner before re-registering the house to a new beneficiary.

Keywords - RDP home, rdp housing, HOP huise, MEC Desbo Mohono, Human Settlements, beneficiary, towship, moladi solution, concrete home, formwork construction, rural housing solution, training, job creation

Housing need South Africa - 12 milllion people

Sexwale : 12 milllion people still in need of housing : South Africa

The SABC are reporting Saturday that Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, has confirmed that there is a backlog of two million housing units in the country.According to the Minister government still has to provide houses for 12 million people in South Africa.He was speaking at the launch of Tau Village, an inner city Social Housing project, in Pretoria on Friday and acknowledged that the government needed to meet people’s basic needs.The report also confirms that the residents of Tshabho - a village near Berlin in the Eastern Cape - have called on the Minister to investigate their housing project. While a company had been awarded a tender the project failed to take off. In addition that they have documents claiming to have finished their houses which was not true. According to residents' chairperson, Sizwe Yaka, several meetings have been held with the provincial department without resolving the issues.

Keyword - Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, backlog, million, housing, moladi, concrete homes, sustainable development, South Africa, corrupt, fraud, SABS, basic need, job creation, houses, rdp, subsidy

RDP houses sold in contravention of Housing Act to be confiscated

RDP houses sold in contravention of Housing Act to be confiscated

RDP houses in the province transferred to beneficiaries less than eight years ago, which have been sold by their owners, will be confiscated and given to the needy, says Housing MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela.
Location specific audits have revealed that in some cases, as in George, up to 90 percent of RDP houses have been sold by beneficiaries, and a visit by former housing MEC Richard Dyantyi in 2008 revealed that up to 60 percent of RDP houses in Du Noon had been sold or let.
But Madikizela said the Housing Act stipulated that the RDP housing beneficiaries were not allowed to sell their houses within an eight year period, and his department was to audit the 101 000 housing subsidies granted since 2002.
“The houses that are returned to the Department in terms of the pre-emptive right clause (in the Housing Act) will be reallocated by municipalities to qualifying people in terms of the relevant criteria,” said Madikizela.
“We will find a way that government reclaim the houses (RDP) and give them to the needy.”
But he said the magnitude of the problem had to first be determined.
To this end his department was busy drafting terms of reference to appoint a service provider to analyse the status of all state-funded housing projects.
He said the survey to be conducted by an appointed service provider would also establish how many title deeds still needed to be transferred to beneficiaries and, where title deeds had not been handed over, what the reasons for the delay were.
“It is anticipated that this survey of our projects will be concluded by the end of the financial year (31 March 2011). However, once we have some preliminary data from this study we will already be in a position to start to plot a way forward in dealing with this matter.”
In Du Noon residents were scared to speak about the sales and ownership of RDP houses, saying they feared being killed if they spoke out about what exactly was happening.
Community leader Madlomo Ndamane said the sale of RDP houses was “a hot business” in the township.
“Its a big problem.”
She said beneficiaries sold their house, and then once they had spent their money, tried to reclaim it.
She also said there were people who were approved RDP house beneficiaries, but never occupied their house, suggesting that money could have exchanged hands and other people were given the houses instead.
Meanwhile, the City has admitted that it was battling to issue title deeds to approved RDP housing
beneficiaries in the metro.
Land acquisition specialist in the city’s housing directorate, Marlize Odendal said in many cases the occupants of RDP houses were not the official beneficiaries, which made it difficult for the city to issue title deeds.
“It’s a general problem (issuing of title deeds) and its country wide,” said Odendal
A senior city official in the housing directorate, who did not want to be named as he was not sure he was allowed to speak to the press, said the process of issuing title deeds in Du Noon was suspended last year as city-contracted workers received death threats from residents.
Blaauwberg sub-council chair Heather Brenner confirmed that city efforts to investigate “approved beneficiaries” of RDP houses in Du Noon had been continuously disrupted by people who did not want the project to move forward.
Brenner said of about 1000 RDP houses in Du Noon, half of them had been investigated and were occupied by official beneficiaries, but the remainder were unknown and under suspicion because residents there had threatened city contractors.
“It’s been a very frustrating exercise, true beneficiaries have been waiting for ten years to get their title deeds. They deserve them.”
Odendal said similar problems had been experienced in Gugulethu and Langa. — West Cape News

Keywords - RDP, illegal, confiscated, MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela, RDP houses, beneficiaries, Housing Act, human settlements, department, western cape, capetown

Squatter sites rise - informal settlements double

Squatter sites rise - informal settlements double

Squatter sites rise

The number of informal settlements in South Africa has doubled in the last 10 years.

Just last week about 100 households started erecting shacks across Main Reef Road near the Princess informal settlement in Roodepoort, western Johannesburg.
One of those hard at work was Tlotlo Sejamoholo.
"I was living on a plot but the owner sold it and we had to leave last week," he said. " That is why I am here."
Sejamoholo's neighbour, Josephina Mosulusi, said: "We are under constant threat from Metro police but we have nowhere else to go."
Other residents of the new shanty town said they moved from Princess because they were on a flood plain.
In 2001 there were 1 066 shanty towns nationally. That number has since risen to 2628 informal settlements "as at the 2009-10 financial year".
"This figure does not take into account any new or illegal informal settlements that emerged from the time the study was initiated and concluded. This figure is estimated to be nearer to 2700," said Chris Vick, who speaks for the national Department of Human Settlement.
Only about "721 informal settlements have been identified nationally for formalisation and upgrading with basic services by the various provinces and local municipalities", he said.
Gauteng has the highest number of informal settlements. At least 84 new informal settlements sprang up in the last five years - from 405 settlements in 2005. In January 489 were counted.
"Only 122 lend themselves to formalisation. To date 69 of the settlements have already been formalised and are now legally recognised as townships. That means people have a title deed registered in the name of the beneficiary," said Fred Mokoko, Gauteng spokesperson for housing.
"Settlements can only be formalised if the location of the settlement is complimentary to Provincial and Municipal Planning Policy such as the Spatial Development Framework (SDF) and Integrated Development Plan (IDP) in which municipalities amongst other things make provision for future housing planning.
"Settlements earmarked for formalisation will have to undergo not just an assessment from a planning policy or framework compliance point of view, but also suitability in terms of physical features such as the soil conditions, environmental sensitivities," Mokoko said.
"It would be important to acknowledge that as planning for a particular settlement is completed, and in the absence of stringent growth management measures in place, settlements continue to experience internal growth that often renders approved township plans obsolete. Such township plans will have to be amended or alternative plans must be put in place and often such dense settlements will have to be relocated elsewhere," he said.
Johannesburg municipality is carrying the heaviest burden with 180 shanty towns.
Currently, 25 percent of Johannesburg's citizens fall in the informal category which equates to about 200 000 households.

Keywords - Gauteng, informal settlements, moladi, rural development, concrete homes, backlog, households, Integrated Development Plan, Human settlements, shanty town, Chris Vick, Department of Human Settlement

Lindikhaya Mpambani.: Acting housing CEO paid R4m

Lindikhaya Mpambani - South Africa: Acting housing CEO paid R4m

government housing company has paid its acting chief executive officer a R2.1-million bonus on top of his R2.2m salary.Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale revealed in a written parliamentary reply that Servcon Housing Solutions had, during the 2008/09 financial year, paid out more than R1m in a performance bonus and R1.1m as a retention bonus to acting CEO, Lindikhaya Mpambani. Servcon is a Human Settlements Department entity that deals with the registration and verification of state property.The Daily News was unable to reach Mpambani for comment.Sexwale said all Servcon employees had received a retention bonus during the 2008/09 financial year, but all the payments were approved by the company's board remuneration committee.

The minister did not say how much the other employees received. In May, former public works director-general, Manye Moroka, was grilled by Parliament's spending watchdog over a potential conflict of interest after he awarded Servcon and another state company, Intersite, a tender of R223m while he was a board member of Servcon.Moroka disagreed with MPs that there was a conflict of interest in awarding the contract.The standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) also questioned the R215 000 bonus Moroka got from Servcon even though he had left the company and started working as public works director-general.Moroka said he had invested the bonus. After joining the government, Moroka continued to serve on Servcon's board and chaired its remuneration committee.He also told MPs that he had recommended to then public works minister, Thoko Didiza, and provincial MECs that Servcon be given the tender. Former public works director-general, Sam Vukela, told Scopa that the department had paid Servcon R7.6m and Intersite R2.8m for work done so far. The two companies were given contracts to audit all state assets across the country. Moroka quit as public works director-general late last year after fighting with Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge over the R215 000 bonus. Doidge accused Moroka of awarding the contract without following tender procedures. Moroka admitted to Scopa that there was no budget for the R223m tender.

Keywords - Lindikhaya Mpambani, Servcon, Tokyo Sexwale, housing, bonus, defunked, housing, South Africa, government owned enterprise

Ghana Ministers Accused of Misconduct in Housing Deal

Ghana Ministers Accused of Misconduct in Housing Deal General News 2010-07-17

Two cabinet ministers of Ghana are under pressure to resign as they face misconduct accusations in a housing deal between the government and a South Korean-owned firm.The agreement of the deal was suspended indefinitely by the parliament on Thursday on grounds that certain portions of the draft were missing.The ministers involved are Alban Bagbin, minister of water resources, works and housing, and Kwabena Duffuor, minister of finance and economic planning, who worked on the deal before its submission to the parliament.The deal, worth 10 billion U.S. dollars, was negotiated between the government and the STX Engineering and Construction Ghana Limited, and involves construction of affordable housing units in the next five years.Spio Garbrah, vice chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, told a local radio on Friday that the suspension proved the officials in charge of the agreement had done a rather "poor job."Edward Ennin, an opposition lawmaker, called for immediate resignation of the two ministers, saying that they had failed to heed advice from some lawmakers that the STX housing deal deserved proper scrutiny before it was brought before the parliament for approval.The Integrity Initiative (GII), Ghana's anti-corruption agency, also called for the dismissal of the ministers whose inaction, it says, led to the suspension of the debate over the deal in the parliament

Keywords - Ghana, Minister, Housing, misconduct, billion dollars, stx, concrete homes, human settlement, Rural Development

New designs for low-cost housing

New designs for low-cost housing - SouthAfrica.info

New designs for low-cost housing Nozipho Dlamini

South Africa's affordable housing market is looking to alternative building materials in a competition designed to foster innovation in the industry.
Seventeen houses have been built in Soshanguve Block XX, near Pretoria, using traditional and modern building technologies other than brick and mortar.
The 17 designs - using materials such as insulated precast concrete, brick and steel, and water-based resin - are all entrants in the National Housing Innovation Competition.
The competition is being run by the Housing Technology Innovation Hub, a joint venture sponsored by the National Homebuilders Registration Council (NHBRC) and Absa Bank.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has tasked the NHBRC with building 1 800 houses using new designs, as part of the government's Breaking New Ground social housing programme.
Visiting the Soshanguve site accompanied by provincial housing ministers on Friday, Sisulu said they were "overwhelmed by the beauty, creativity and good quality" of the houses. Sisulu said the provincial ministers had a "great" chance to view the houses and decide which style they could introduce in their provinces.
"What we have seen here today is a typical example of integrated income dwellings that government is always talking about," she said.
NHBRC chief executive officer said the competition was a response to the minister's call to identify new housing products.
"These products have already been judged on all technical aspects, it is now the responsibility of the community to give their opinion of the products," he said.
Sisulu is expected to announce the winner soon.

Keywords - moladi, lightweight concrete home, house, human settlement, ABSA innovative housing, competition, winner, nhbrc, shack, rdp, developer, builder

Houses of horror - RDP housing corruption

Houses of horror - RDP housing projects corruption disappearance of millions intended for housing for the poor.

HIGH-RANKING Sundays River Municipality officials have been implicated in an extensive web of alleged corruption involving the disappearance of millions of rands intended for housing for the poor.



Allegations of gross mismanagement and fraud relating to four key RDP housing projects – for which more than R100-million was set aside in the once-thriving municipality – have been laid bare after a Herald investigation that was triggered by a government-initiated forensic audit in the newspaper’s possession.


So crippling has the alleged corruption been that the municipality’s accounts have been frozen.


The provincial administration has revoked its responsibility for any projects involving large sums of money, such as housing delivery, while it is placed under administration until it becomes functional again.


Government sources say arrests are imminent.


Tens of millions of rands have been paid to builders who were never authorised to become contractors on the RDP developments and who failed to complete the projects, while key officials have been accused of entering into “corrupt relationships” with councillors and their relatives by awarding them lucrative RDP home building contracts.


Top officials and councillors have also been accused of contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act by allegedly profiting from municipal building tenders – which they are accused of influencing for their own benefit – by awarding them to their families or companies they have shares in.


They, in turn, upped and left after completing only half the work.


Authorities are also trying to recoup up to R8-million which “vanished” from municipal coffers. The Herald has learnt the money was paid to contractors – who were never given the official municipal approval to work on the various developments – from a municipal account accessed by someone using the password of a former chief financial officer.


The projects at the centre of the cash scandal include those in Enon and Bersheba and Moses Mabhida in Kirkwood to which the Housing Department respectively granted R26.5-million to build 450 homes, and R45.7- million for 750 houses.


In Addo, a project in Nomathamsanqa township was granted R18-million for 300 RDP houses, while a stone’s throw away in Noluthando, R28-million was released for the building of 801 homes.


The projects, began between 2006 and mid-2008, should have been completed by now, but have ground to a halt. The Herald found hundreds of half-built homes throughout all four projects.


The figures are contained in a continuing forensic audit by the Housing Department, a report on which is in The Herald’s possession.


An inspection by the newspaper of the four housing projects revealed none were complete, with several hundred homes either half-built or mere shells with no piping or internal finishes such as ceilings. In many cases, houses lucky enough to have roofs did not have water or electricity or connection to sewerage pipes, effectively forcing the occupants to be reliant on a bucket system.


At least four councillors, two top municipal officials and several private contractors – some of whom are family of the councillors – are being probed in forensic investigations by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), known as the Cobras, as well as the Housing and provincial Local Government and Traditional Affairs departments.


The Herald has learnt that the East London-based SIU – which two weeks ago seized and copied the hard drives of the municipality’s computers as part of its probe – has passed on its findings to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks.


Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi confirmed yesterday that the police unit was looking into three investigations regarding the municipality.


Former acting municipal manager Lungiswa Roji has also been suspended and is understood this week to be facing a disciplinary hearing for allegedly turning a blind eye to major irregularities by councillors and officials implicated in the scandal.


In March, Local Government MEC Sicelo Gqobana placed the Sundays River Municipality under administration and sent in Vuyo Zitumani as acting municipal manager to solve all the problems which had crippled delivery in the area.


Zitumani acted in a similar capacity in 2007 when she was made acting municipal manager of Mthatha for nine months.


Sources close to the businesswoman said she was shocked at the level of corruption within the municipality when she arrived four months ago.


“When it comes to officials (found to be corrupt), we will be hard on them,” said Zitumani, who yesterday refused to disclose the names of those implicated in the various probes.


“There are serious allegations which the SIU has reported to the MEC,” she said.


“We want to wrap up the investigations as soon as possible. The communities want to see action and are very eager to see an outcome.”


Zitumani said the area’s housing development status – allowing the municipality to oversee developments – had been revoked and was now in the hands of the provincial department.


She has also cancelled five housing tenders which were awarded irregularly.

Keywords - RDP, housing, housing for the poor, housing tenders, Municipality officials, corruption, millions, corrupt, builders, contractors, RDP developments, Top officials, councillors, human settlements, Housing Department, Local Government, MEC Sicelo Gqobana

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Commonwealth Business Council - moladi Building New Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Commonwealth Business Council - moladi Building New Partnerships for Sustainable Development

moladi honored to have been invited by the Commonwealth Business Council to speak in Abuja, Nigeria at the upcoming “Nigeria International Investors Forum” from 15th – 17th September 2010 - “There is a strong demand in all segments of the housing sector in Nigeria, but this session will particularly focus on the provision of affordable housing, where there is perhaps the greatest urgency and opportunity for international investment” -

www.moladi.net

Keywords- moladi, Commonwealth Business Council, moladi Building New Partnerships for Sustainable Development, nigeria, affordable housing, investment, hennie botes