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storyIn his 15 years of commenting publicly on South Africa’s housing sector and, in particular, the position of developers, no statement that he has previously made has evoked anything like the response of his latest, said Paul Henry, Managing Director of Rawson Developers.
This statement criticised the government’s policy of appointing contractors for low cost housing mainly on the basis of their previously disadvantaged credentials and without reference to their track record or experience.
Henry said that emails and telephone calls from all over the country had come in following the publication of the statement and had confirmed that many people are frustrated and disillusioned by the way the good intentions of the previous Housing Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu, have failed to translate into delivery at anything like the required pace.
Henry said that two facts have emerged clearly from the many calls that he has received as a result of his statement.
“The first is that there is a very large pool of talented individuals with the experience and training to tackle housing delivery who, for one reason or another, are currently excluded from the process. This is a tragedy for South Africa.
“The second factor to become crystal clear is that the new Minister of Human Settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, faces a massive challenge – which he has acknowledged – because Sisulu’s “Breaking New Ground” policy has been ineffective.”
The aim of the BNG policy, said Henry, was to eradicate shack settlements by 2014. In reality, however, there has been an increase in the number of unserviced shack settlements all over the country and a desperate shortage of affordable housing.
“There are,” said Henry, “three factors which are ensuring that the whole situation will continue to deteriorate. These are:
- the rapid growth of the South African population
- the ongoing move to the cities and the flight from the rural areas (a worldwide trend), and
- the influx of impoverished refugees, asylum and work seekers from other countries.
“This scenario inevitably calls for a rapid increase in the delivery of low cost homes, in most cases made available at minimal prices or low rentals.
“However, this is not happening because red tape and bureaucratic inertia in the Planning and Land Use Departments at provincial level and in the City Councils make it impossible to deliver at anything like the required rate, even though the money has often been allocated.”
The situation, added Henry, is complicated by the fact that many of those who have received free or subsidized housing often use the units as income earners rather than live in them themselves.
“Being very short of cash they sell or rent the homes and move back to a shack, thereby perpetuating the problem.”
Henry said that any review of successful shack clearance/low cost housing units worldwide (but notably in India and Brazil) will show that until the state makes full use of the private sector in all phases of the operation they tend to remain bogged down.
“The danger of involving the private sector,” he said, “is that corruption can creep in. However with a strong minister such as Sexwale in charge this can be prevented. The plain truth is that where developers, spurred on by the prospects of profit, are employed, we tend to see red tape cut, solutions found and delivery speeded up.”
Asked what “solutions” he as a developer would prioritise, Henry said,
“The first step would have to be a massive upgrading of informal settlements: 4,2 million South African households at the moment do not have basic sanitation and clean water services.
“Secondly, we need to see far more vacant land serviced within the next 24 months, with the necessary sewerage, water and electrical reticulation, in order to allow those with the initiative to build for themselves to do so.”
Plots of this kind, he said, should be sold on a freehold basis at very low costs – anything from R500 to R1,500, but the subsequent shack building should be controlled to ensure that no homeowner exceeds the space allocated to them.
Thirdly, said Henry, the government should encourage developers to experiment and make use of the many innovative less expensive building systems that have appeared regularly in our technical journals and at such public exhibitions as Rand Easter Show.
“To date we have seen a sad history of these almost invariably being rejected by the City Councils because they are not as neat and as easily understood as the traditional, boring concrete block systems. However they can very often be more aesthetically attractive, thermally efficient and in most cases a lot cheaper.”
Henry mentioned in passing the innovative use of straw bales, rubble and concrete systems, and sandbag walls.
As a fourth step in speeding up the delivery process, said Henry, he would encourage far more widespread use of the popular three storey walk-up apartments when new developments are being considered. These, he said, still provide the cheapest high density solution.
“I do not wish to give the impression that solving the housing crisis in South Africa will be easy – it is very definitely a complex subject – but that is exactly why we need the involvement of all those with in-depth experience from the private sector.”
There are signs, said Henry, that the New Settlements Minister, Sexwale, being himself an entrepreneur, will not be so suspicious of profit-orientated developers and will be willing to involve them at every stage of the process, observing all the protocols that ensure total transparency. This, he said, bodes well for the future.
“We could, therefore, be looking at a situation in which in the year ahead large scale land releases with services and far more rapid delivery of homes become a reality. It is certainly encouraging to see that the Minister is tackling the repair of some 3,000 existing homes with vigour and determination.”
For further information contact Paul Henry on 021 658 7100 or email paul@rawson-developers.co.za.
