Parliament, Saturday, 5 November 2022 – The Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements held successful public hearings on Housing Consumer Protection Bill yesterday at Hangberg Sport and Recreation Centre in Hout Bay in the City of Cape Town.
Hout Bay session was the first of the three public hearings sessions which the committee is going to hold in the Western Cape. Some of the challenges that the Bill seeks to address include inadequate inspection, poorly built houses which put home owners under risk of structural defects and builders who are not registered with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC).
Participant after another supported the Bill in Hout Bay. They told the committee that they hoped that the Bill is going to end the painful reality of the two unequal communities in Hout Bay, community of the poorest of the poor who live in shacks and poor RDP houses and the community of the rich and the richest who live in mansions. Those who own RDP houses told the committee that they do not have title deeds.
The residents called for the national Department of Human Settlements and the City of Cape Town to work together on housing developments and planning for the Hout Bay residents. They said the wording of the Bill is confusing as it refers to them as consumers instead of referring to them as beneficiaries.
Participants at Hout Bay requested that local offices of the NHBRC must verify the registration of home builders as it is difficult for home owners to verify builders themselves. Furthermore, they pointed out that local offices of the NHBRC were too far and the regulatory body is not visible in the community.
The committee will today, 5 November hold a public hearing in the Cape Winelands District at the Indoor Sports Centre in Worcester at 10:00
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, MS MACHWENE SEMENYA
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Jabulani Majozi (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 083 358 5224
E-mail: jamajozi@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour