Parliament, Saturday, 04 June 2022 – Richards Bay residents have urged the Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements to ensure that the Housing Consumer Protection Bill is considerate of small construction businesses, especially in rural areas where many builders don’t have the required industry qualification. The committee concluded the first leg of the KwaZulu-Natal public hearings at eNseleni Community Hall in Richards Bay.
The residents of uMhlathuze Local Municipality highlighted that while they generally supported the Bill their main worry was that the unintended consequence will be that untrained builders will be prevented from building. This, according to the residents will add to the already high unemployment rate in the country. Participants were of the view that many home builders in rural areas have acquired building skills through on-job skill acquisition and not through formal education which will make it impossible for them to register with the National Home Builders Registration Council.
To remedy this concern, there was a call for the NHBRC to focus training initiatives on rural areas to ensure that home builders and consumers are capacitated with knowledge about the Bill. Furthermore, this training should include sessions on provisions of the Bill such as enrolment of homes to enable consumers to claim against the warranty fund. Participants also raised concerns about the inaccessibility of the NHBRC in rural areas.
The proliferation of poor building materials was raised as a serious concern and impediment to the full implementation of the Bill. There was a general concern that because of poverty, homeowners in rural areas resorted to purchasing cheap materials which compromised the quality of the houses putting the lives of consumers at risk. The committee was tasked to ensure that the Bil regulates against the usage of poor and compromised building materials.
Residents also highlighted their concern regarding building inspectors particularly in rural areas, with many highlighting the lack of capacity as well as inspectors’ inability to do their work properly. A call was made to strengthen the capacity of building inspectors at both provincial and local levels and to heighten cooperation as a tool to ensure compliance with the Bill. Furthermore, a strong view was made that inspectors must have home building experience themselves to enable them to do their work properly.
Regarding Section 79 of the Bill, there was a concern that despite its good intentions, the R1,5 million was too steep a penalty, especially for small and emerging construction companies. Residents called for a regime that will differentiate between small and established businesses with differentiated penalties.
The committee appreciated all the meaningful inputs made on the Bill and assured residents that their concerns will be considered when the committee deliberates on the Bill upon conclusion of the public participation process. “The inputs made here will qualitatively serve to improve the Bill. Your contributions have further capacitated Members of Parliament with information that will be used to strengthen the Bill to produce a law that is responsive to lived experiences and will ensure improved building standards in South Africa,” said Ms Machwene Semenya, the Chairperson of the Committee.
The committee will hold the second of three hearings in KZN at the Msunduzi Town Hall in Pietermaritzburg.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HUMAN SETTLEMENTS, MS MACHWENE SEMENYA
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