Speech Excerpts from Minister Madikizela's Address at the Provincial Youth in Human Settlements Summit

Western Cape Government Human Settlements Minister Bonginkosi Madikizela made the opening remarks at the Provincial Youth in Human Settlements Summit at the Cape Town International Conference Centre in Cape Town.

"Let me share the reason we are taking our strategic direction. We are faced with a national backlog of 2.1 million and a Western Cape backlog of 500 000. If you look at the current budget allocation to Human Settlements, it will take about 30 years to provide houses for everyone at the current rate of delivery, and that's assuming the backlog doesn't grow."

"Many people are waiting for houses under difficult conditions without basic services of clean water and sanitation. Because we have a limited budget, we have to choose how to spend the money in the best way to help the most people. Our strategic direction is to ensure that at least everyone in the Western Cape has access to basic services by March 2014, so at least they can wait for houses under better conditions."

"We want to empower people so they become contributors to our economy in the future. We want to encourage people to become entrepreneurs, rather than tenderpreneurs. In this way, they will be able to add value to our society."

"As government, we don't claim to know everything. We have a strategy, but we want to get input from young people to help us improve our strategy. After this summit, we want to have clear programs in place that will benefit young people going forward. This summit is not just a talk show. We want to have a plan for meaningful partnership going forward with the young people."

The Provincial Youth in Human Settlements Summit aims at achieving the following objectives:

• To encourage private sector and social partners to sign a declaration of intent committing towards dedicated skills development and economic opportunities for young people.
• To highlight current Department of Human Settlements programmes that affect young people's livelihoods.
• Development of a Youth in Human Settlements Programme of Action.
• To sensitise youth on the National Human Settlement's 2030 vision and the Western Cape Provincial Strategy.
• To mobilise youth to participate in an integrated Human Settlements Build.