It is an honour to table the Budget Vote for the Gauteng Department of Human
Settlements for the 2025/2026 financial year — a year that coincides with the 70th
anniversary of the Freedom Charter, a living document that continues to guide our
struggle for justice, dignity, and inclusive development.
As the Freedom Charter boldly declared in Kliptown in 1955: “There shall be houses,
security and comfort for all.” This clause was not just a dream, it was a demand, a
blueprint for a democratic society built on equality and redress.
Seven decades later, this vision remains urgent. We do so at a time when the clarion
call for inclusive development, accelerated service delivery, and accountable
governance is louder than ever. A growing population and rising demand for housing
but also at a time of renewed momentum, marked by improved governance, focused
delivery, and strategic reform.
Our task is not only to respond but to lead. It is a responsibility that extends beyond
the building of structures, it is about delivering dignity, ownership, and security of
tenure to our people. To shape human settlements policy and delivery that reaffirms
the constitutional promise of Section 26 that “everyone has the right to have access
to adequate housing” — and to act on this promise with urgency, integrity, and
innovation.
As we reflect on our task, I am reminded of the words of Frantz Fanon, who said:
“Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or
betray it.”
Today, our generation must fulfill the promise; the promise of the Freedom Charter,
the Constitution, and the hopes of every South African still waiting for a place to call
home.
The Budget we present today is not just a financial instrument. It is a moral
commitment. It is our blueprint for unlocking the dignity, security, and opportunity that
comes with a home, in a country still scarred by spatial injustice and economic
exclusion.
As a department, our work sits at the intersection of infrastructure and inclusion, of
governance and hope. This budget is firmly anchored in the Gauteng Medium-Term
Development Plan (GMTDP), which outlines three key strategic priorities:
- Inclusive growth and job creation,
- Reducing poverty and the cost of living,
- Building a capable, ethical, and developmental state.
We are not merely delivering houses. We are building integrated, sustainable human
settlements, places where communities can grow, thrive, and participate
meaningfully in the provincial economy.
Section 2. Political Context & Governance Progress
Honourable Members,
As we take stock of our institutional journey, we hold close the words of Joe Slovo,
former Minister of Housing in post-apartheid South Africa:
“The struggle for shelter is not simply the struggle for bricks and mortar — it is the
struggle for dignity, for belonging, for the space in which our people can live lives of
value.”
This philosophy anchors our reform, our turnaround, and our relentless pursuit of a
department that works and works for the people.
In my first full year in office, we have prioritised institutional reform and credible
delivery. The department has maintained an unqualified audit, resolved 74% of prior
findings, ensured 100% of invoices are paid within 30 days, and strengthened
intergovernmental coordination through the District Development Model.
Allow me to take this opportunity to formally congratulate Ms Puleng Gadebe-
Mabaso on her appointment as the Head of Department for Human Settlements in
Gauteng. We wish her well in this critical role, which comes at a pivotal time for the
department. Her appointment brings with it a renewed sense of direction and stability
and we are confident that her experience, integrity, and leadership will go a long way
in providing the much-needed administrative backbone to drive the department’s
service delivery agenda. As we continue to build sustainable, integrated human
settlements, her leadership will be instrumental in aligning operations with policy, and
in restoring public confidence in our work.
Our six-pillar turnaround strategy, covering governance, financial controls,
digitisation, GIS planning, stakeholder engagement, and internal capacity has
enabled us to rebuild trust, accelerate processes, and become a more agile
instrument of development.
Section 3. Budget Overview
The total budget for the 2025/26 financial year is R6.061 billion:
- R1.235 billion from the Provincial Equitable Share
- R4.826 billion from Conditional Grants
An additional R332 million has been allocated — R232 million for sanitation services
in informal settlements, and R100 million to secure land and structures in areas
identified as part of the “Gauteng 13” by the Premier in the State of the Province
Address.
These investments are crucial in tackling illegal land occupation, mitigating service
delivery strain, and affirming our commitment to spatial justice. Over the MTEF, the
budget declines to R5.524 billion a call to sharpen grant absorption, improve
procurement efficiency, and ensure that every rand delivers impact.
Section 4. Programme Allocations
Honourable Members, to give practical effect to our developmental agenda and the
constitutional mandate of adequate housing for all, the Department’s budget is
implemented through four strategic programmes each with distinct objectives, budget
allocations, and performance targets designed to drive delivery, improve
governance, and transform the spatial landscape of Gauteng.
Programme 1: Administration
R646.9 million (2025/26)
Focuses on enabling systems, compliance, financial controls, and procurement that
favours township businesses, women, youth, military veterans, and persons with
disabilities.
Programme 2: Housing Needs, Research & Planning
R134.6 million (2025/26)
Supports the Rapid Land Release Programme (R50 million), updated project
pipelines, two research reports, and 33% investment in Priority Development Areas.
Programme 3: Housing Development
R5.050 billion (2025/26)
Delivers 7,503 BNG housing units, 31 serviced sites, 4,982 engineering services,
200 hectares of land, hostel upgrades, and informal settlement upgrades. It also
creates 2,579 EPWP work opportunities and 750 skilled jobs.
Programme 4: Housing Assets & Property Management
R228.7 million (2025/26)
Drives the registration of 8,623 title deeds, transfer of flats to municipalities, and 70%
resolution of rental housing disputes.
Section 5. Key Priorities and Service Impact
Let us be clear; housing delivery is not a numbers game. It is about lives, hopes, and
the restoration of dignity.
Let me take you to Droogeheuwel, where a grandmother named Mama Maria, who
waited over 15 years for a house, finally received the keys to a dignified home. As
she stepped into her new living room, tears in her eyes, she said, “Thank you… I
now live in my own house with my grandson. I no longer fear water leaks.”
This is not merely a story of shelter. It is a story of dignity restored; a reminder that
behind every unit delivered is a human being whose life has been transformed.
In informal settlements, we’ve relocated 518 households and serviced 9 settlements.
In Bekkersdal, we exceeded our sewer upgrade target, laying 14.1km and
connecting 900 homes to water.
Our hostel redevelopment programme now includes upgrades at George Goch,
Denver, Jeppe, MBA, Murray & Roberts, and LTA Rethabile, an intervention that
speaks to the dignity of communal living. The Department has also prioritised five
municipal owned hostels, that being; Mamelodi Hostel in Tshwane, Sethokga hostel
in Ekurhuleni, Jabulani hostel in JHB, Ratanda Hostel in Lesedi and Kagiso hostel in
Mogale City.
Section 6. Land, Title and Transformation
We’ve allocated R39 million to register 8,623 title deeds. But this remains one of our
toughest battles, impeded by illegal occupation, municipal delays, and pre-1994
disputes. Still, we persist. Because a title deed is a declaration: “This land belongs to
you.”
We are transferring flats and serviced stands to municipalities including 5 complexes
and 703 stands to Johannesburg. With urgency, we call on municipalities to finalise
their acceptance of these devolved assets.
Section 7. Jobs, Inclusion and Equity
Our programmes have created nearly 30,000 work opportunities through EPWP, and
we continue to prioritise women, youth, military veterans, and persons with
disabilities, not as afterthoughts, but as integral partners in human settlements
delivery.
We draw from the wisdom of Prof. Thuli Madonsela, who once said:
“Justice is not an abstract ideal. It is what love looks like in public.”
Through fair land allocation, accessible services, and transparent subsidy enrolment,
we show love. We advance justice.
Conclusion: The Work Ahead
Let me close by affirming that Africa has always been a continent of builders,
thinkers, and visionaries. As Cheikh Anta Diop once wrote:
“When we say that the ancestors of the Blacks… were the first to invent
mathematics, astronomy, the calendar, sciences in general… that they built the
immense temple of Karnak… and sculpted the first colossal statues… we are merely
expressing the plain unvarnished truth that no one today can refute.”
This is our inheritance — not just the pyramids or temples, but the audacity to build
the future. Let us honour it not with nostalgia, but with work. Let us not falter in the
face of difficulty, nor seek comfort in empty rhetoric.
This budget is a declaration that we are not claiming easy victories, we are building
hard-won progress, one brick, one title deed, one dignified home at a time.
In Gauteng, dignity is not postponed, housing is not negotiable, and hope is not an
illusion.
I hereby table the 2025/26 Budget Vote for the Department of Human Settlements.