Home Loan and Mortgage Disclosure Act, 2000Preamble |
WHEREAS, in terms of section 9 of the Constitution—
| (a) | everyone is equal before the law and haj the right to equal protection and benefit of the law; |
| (b) | equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms; |
| (c) | legislative and other measures, designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination, may be taken to promote the achievement of equality; |
| (d) | the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth; |
| (e) | no person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds listed in paragraph (d); and |
| (f) | discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in paragraph (d) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair; |
AND WHEREAS, in terms of section 26(1) and (2) of the Constitution—
| (a) | everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing; and |
| (b) | the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right; |
AND WHEREAS, in terms of section 32(1) of the Constitution everyone has the right of access to any information—
| (a) | held by the state; and |
| (b) | that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights; |
AND WHEREAS, in terms of section 2(1)(e)(v) and (vi) of the Housing Act, 1997 (Act No. 107 of 1997), national, provincial and local spheres of government must, inter alia, promote—
| (a) | the effective functioning of the housing market while levelling the playing fields and taking steps to achieve equitable access for all to that market; and |
| (b) | measures to prohibit unfair discrimination on the ground of gender and other forms of unfair discrimination by all actors in the housing development process; |
AND WHEREAS in the past there has been discrimination by financial institutions, on one or more grounds set out in section 9(3) of the Constitution, when considering or granting home loans;
AND WHEREAS there is an urgent need to ensure that all financial institutions disclose certain information regarding their business of advancing finance in respect of home loans;
AND WHEREAS it is not the intention of this Act to promote, in any way, unsound lending practices among financial institutions in their business of providing home loans;
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:—