Housing in Southern Africa January 2015

Cement & Concrete

Aspasa pledges to assist with 1,5m houses Industry stakeholders, developers and the private sector have thrown their weight behind Minister of Human Settlements, by signing a number of pledges on behalf of members.

M inister Sisulu has called on all involved in the sector to work together to build 1,5 million houses within the next five years. In order to do this, the Department has committed to addressing a number of key issues, which have stood in the way of closer cooperation in the past and has taken various steps to unite the industry. These includeworkingmore closely with financial institutions to obtain loans for home owners, to procure land, establish a dedicated unit to ensure payments are made on time, establish an office of an Ombudsman to deal with disputes, create forums to deal with bottlenecks, use the Cuban model of a youth brigades to train young people to build houses and partake in the economy, and speed up the issue of granting title deeds. In response, the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of South- ern Africa (Aspasa) and the Southern Africa Readymix Association (Sarma), representing companies that supply sand, stone and readymixed concrete, produced a combined list of pledges on behalf of members. According to Nico Pienaar, a director on the boards of both associations, they support the initiative of the Minister of Human Settlements to let all South Africans have a home of their own and uplift the dignity of the entire population. “While Aspasa quarries are regu- lated by the Department of Mineral

and advise on plans that are drafted to build more houses. To work with the National Home Builders Regula- tory Council (NHBRC), thereby ensur- ing that quality, professionalism and standards are met; to involve local communities where individuals or non-profit organisationswant to assist individuals to build their own homes with quality materials and to serve on an advisory group to achieve the 1,5 million housing goal. Sarma and related organisations could assist with training related to concrete, while engineers, developers, planning professionals and others in the industry could be offered train- ing in the use of readymix concrete, thereby ensuring that sustainable, quality projects would be completed in future. “As suppliers of key building ma- terials our members are committed to working with government and to meet the needs of the population. We also wish to deliver quality materials so that our people, many of who have waited so long for houses, can have houses they are proud,” concluded Pi- enaar. For further information contact Aspasa on 011 791 3327 or go to www. aspasa.co.za ■

Resources, there is no such oversight on the side of Sarma members. That is why the association plays such an important role in self-regulating the industry and ensuring that we uplift the standards and quality of readymix concrete delivered in South Africa. “Already our members are sub- jected to annual audits for safety, health, road transport, environment and quality. Thismeans that they have their eye on quality and high levels of service delivery. As a result the pledges that we are making are not a distant aspiration, rather they can (and will) be achieved with the cooperation of the Government and other role play- ers,” Pienaar said. The association has made a num- ber of pledges and some of these include striving toward supplying quality aggregate, sand and readymix concrete to Human Settlements Proj- ects and to work with the provincial Departments of Human Settlements to reduce payment delays for mate- rial supplied to the industry to ensure companies are paid within 60 days. Once payment and issues of trans- parency within the Department have been resolved, the association has pledged to support and lead issues

January 2015