OLIEVENHOUTBOSCH

Taking more than ownership

The benefits of an outcomes-based approach to housing the nation

Housing the nation is a key national priority. It is also at the forefront of Government's drive to create and sustain a better life for its people.At the same time, it is evident that resolving South Africa's high levels of unemployment is integral to finding innovative solutions for the housing crisis, as joblessness impacts directly on the demand for and ability of the populace to invest in housing.

Sustainable human settlements refer to integrated communities where economic growth and social development are balanced with the capacity of the systems on which they depend and result in sustainable development, wealth creation, poverty alleviation and equity.

According to Human Settlements Minister, Tokyo Sexwale, South Africa has "hardly moved in breaking the [housing] backlog at a rate of just ten percent per annum." - This despite the 2,8 million houses built since the advent of democracy, sheltering more than 13,5 million people( 2010).

It also means that 16 years into our new democracy, 12 million people, of which more than 60% live in urban areas, still need better shelter, while the number of informal settlements continue to increase, currently numbering more than 2 700.

"An encouraging and decisive step in the right direction, and one which addresses both the housing backlog and the high levels of unemployment, is Government's new approach to developing integrated human settlements," says Anton Boshoff, director at BIGEN AFRICA, one of the country's leading infrastructure development companies.

According to Boshoff, the paradigm shift from merely providing shelter to creating sustainable integrated communities by actively involving private sector funders will go a long way towards achieving Sexwale's challenging target of delivering 220 000 units a year between 2010 and 2014.

"The impact of public/private sector funding and taking joint responsibility for these multi-mode housing developments enables ownership and encourages investment. It also stimulates the direct and indirect economic multiplier effect of housing construction as a vehicle for job creation by promoting labour intensive/based methods that include employing local labour and small-time contractors.

"The Olievenhoutbosch Ministerial Integrated Human Settlement Project in Tshwane, launched by ABSA DevCo in 2004, is resounding proof of the effectiveness of this approach."

The R450 million Olievenhoutbosch project delivered 5 436 housing products in three years in a single, integrated development as a joint agreement between the three tiers of Government and ABSA Bank. ABSA DevCo appointed BIGEN AFRICA to assist in implementing the project, which included a one-stop project management service as well as financial and engineering services.

The combined public/private sector funding was derived from Gauteng's provincial housing subsidy, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality's services level top-up fund and private sector investment through ABSA DevCo, the Bank's property development division. The mixed-mode housing development included the provision of 3 005 subsidised units, 1 263 rental apartments, 1 168 bonded houses, businesses including a shopping mall and social facilities and amenities, such as schools, clinics, community centres and a cemetery. The project created more than 2 500 job opportunities totalling about 320 000 labour days. This excludes jobs created through related support industries.

"Government's revised approach to subsidies and involving the private sector to co-fund these developments enables not only the financial gearing of public funds, but also deriving significant benefits from a public private partnership that responsibly shares risk and innovatively addresses South Africa's housing backlog."

Efficient project management that strategically integrated the institutional, financial and technical aspects of the project and effectively overcame challenges such as bulk services bottlenecks, as well as community involvement and the significant financial commitment to the project, provided the Olievenhoutbosch community with superior estate aesthetics and improved service levels.

The latter, which included fully serviced roads and associated stormwater drainage, as well as waterborne sanitation, and water and electrical connections to each unit, was made possible by the City of Tshwane's top-up service policy, the only municipality among the country's 283 municipalities with this policy in place and approved for implementation.

This dramatically reduced infrastructure maintenance and lifecycle costs and created a truly integrated society that today enjoys the benefits of communal living and home ownership in a friendly, safe and secure environment.

"BIGEN AFRICA's involvement in the implementation of this project has, once again, convinced us of the significant benefits derived from an integrated approach to housing delivery, which is aligned with BIGEN's smarter business approach of bringing together the key success factors that will attract private sector funders to public sector projects.

"We remain committed to assisting Government to empower disadvantaged individuals and support job creation and the initiatives of the Expanded Public Works Programme by, among others, facilitating accredited skills training during the development and construction of these projects."