South Africa: Ridiculous Complexity of Housing

21 November 2012

Cape Town — Millions of South Africans at the end of apartheid dreamed of living in a house one day. This was the hope offered by the Reconstruction and Development Programme. Eighteen years later there has been progress. The Department of Housing says that over 3 million houses have been built sheltering over 13 million people. But there is a terribly long way to go.

Census 2011 shows that about 2 million households are shacks. That's about 14% of households. In the Western Cape 18% of households are informal. The province has a backlog of about 500,000 houses according to the Provincial Department of Human Settlements. Many people on waiting lists have no realistic hope of ever getting their promised homes.

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