5 September 2004
The South African Communist Party (SACP) warmly welcomes the unveiling of the New Housing Plan by the Minister of Housing, Cde Lindiwe Sisulu. We wish to congratulate the Minister and Government on these bold new steps that will go a long way towards provision of decent housing for the workers and the poor of our country. In addition we welcome the fact that the reach of the housing policy is broadened to cover the entire residential property market. That this plan is located within a broader new human settlement plan will go some way towards overcoming the stubborn racial and class geography of apartheid settlements. We are looking forward to engaging with further details in this regard as they are released in the coming period.
The extension of a full housing subsidy of R28 000 beyond those earning R1 500-00 to include those earning up to R3 500 is the most welcome development. Combined with the creation of a new subsidy for those earning between R3 500 to R7 000 per month, this will ensure that for the first time, the core of South Africa?s working class has an opportunity to have a decent roof over their heads. This latter category of the working class has for the past ten years fallen through the cracks. They were not receiving any subsidy from government, and yet the banks stubbornly refused to give them mortgage bonds.
The challenge now falls squarely on the banks who continue to pass the buck and not take responsibility for providing access to finance for low-cost housing. The banks must come up with models for financing low-cost housing other than their 20 or 30 years bonds with compound interest. They must stop repossessing retrenched workers? houses . They must stop evicting families of breadwinners who cannot keep up bond payments because of HIV/Aids. If this does not happen, then even this new subsidy extension will mean that private banks continue not to provide finance for low-cost housing and other developmental priorities. If this is allowed to happen, then this new housing deal will be tantamount to letting the banks off the hook yet again with all the giving (and risk-taking) being on government's side and the only thing the banks are offering is more finance through the Charter targets, but all on the banks' terms.
We are indeed deeply concerned that since the signing of the NEDLAC Financial Sector Summit Agreement in 2002 and the Growth and Development Summit Agreement in 2003, the banks have not shifted an inch in their boycott and redlining of the workers and the poor and their residential areas. Instead the banks have prioritised high profile transaction deals, without a ?big deal? for the poor. Persisting stubbornness by the banks and prioritisation of share transaction deals over low-cost housing will definitely hamper these very progressive interventions by government.
The housing plan therefore requires of the banks to urgently finalise discussions and reach agreements at NEDLAC on the composition of the Financial Sector Charter Council so that targets for supporting low-cost housing can be finalised. We also wish to dissuade the banks from seeking secret agreements with government on targets for low-cost housing outside of the NEDLAC and Charter Council processes. Such agreements and commitments by the banks must be reached in an open and transparent manner, so that their commitments can be subjected to open scrutiny and monitoring by the millions of South Africans they are supposed to benefit.
It is time now that the banks and insurance industry match these commitments by government in deeds and not in words. Government?s new Housing Plan is a demonstrable commitment by government that housing for the workers and the poor is a basic human right and not a commodity. The SACP, together with the Financial Sector Campaign Coalition it leads,demands of the banks to develop a new model of financing low-cost housing for the workers and the poor, away from compound interest on mortgage bonds for the poor towards a shorter repayment period. This should be the banks? concrete and demonstrable contribution to the new Housing Plan for the nation.
We also expect the financial sector to honour and implement the package of agreements reached at the NEDLAC Summit, including an end to discrimination against those who are HIV positive, an end to redlining and a significant investment into low-cost housing. It is for this reason that we request the Minister of Housing not to take the Community Reinvestment legislation off the agenda. The Community Reinvestment Bill must not be withdrawn but must be part of an overall package of concrete and irreversible commitments by the financial sector to investing in all communities.
As the SACP we commit ourselves to be an active partner, together with government and our people to ensure that housing for the workers and the poor is decommodified, as part of the people?s contract to house the people. To this end we shall intensify our campaign to make banks serve the people.
Contact Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara (surname Jara) Head of the Office of the General Secretary South African Communist Party Tel - 011 339 3621, Fax - 011 339 4244 Cell - 083 651 0271 Email - mazibuko@sacp.org.za and sacpho@wn.apc.org