DEMOGRAPHICS	ECONOMY	RETAIL IN SMALL TOWNS	TRANSPORT AND PEOPLE	TOURISM
MUNICIPAL ANALYSIS	AIRPORT RESEARCH	REGIONAL ANALYSIS	HOUSING DELIVERY	PERSPECTIVE Of SA

 

Housing Delivery

Compiled by Market Decisions Southern Africa.
HOUSING DELIVERY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Since 1994, the democratic Government has delivered 3,7-million subsidised housing opportunities and services sites for the very poor, giving houses to approximately 12,5-million people (close to a quarter of the population). The following excerpts are taken from reports published by the Department of Human Settlements.

Fifty-six percent of all subsidies allocated have been to women-headed households, engendering housing in South Africa like in no other country. A home is an asset that offers an entry point to social, commercial and work Opportunities, thus offering a sense of being a full citizen. South Africa has now reached a point where, for the first time, blacks outnumber whites for home purchases in suburban areas.
This is an indication of progress in terms of the racial integration of our cities and towns, as well as in terms of the growth of the black middle class. Together, Government and the private sector have delivered 5 677 614 formal houses, increasing the number of people living in formal housing from 64% in 1996 to 77,7% in 2011. This represents a growth of 50% for the period.  The formal housing market has increased 13-fold from R321-billion in 1994, reaching a collective value of about R4,036-trillion by 2014.

According to past Human Settlements minister, Mr Tokyo Sexwale: ‘These human settlements must be places where people can play, stay and pray. They should be green, landscaped communities, pleasant places where people live, learn and spend leisure time.’

Gauteng Department of Human Settlements state that “Despite Government efforts to provide housing for all, informal settlements in the country increased from 800 during Sexwale’s time as Gauteng premier to 2 500 in 2011. Moreover, the housing backlog had grown from 2,1-million to 2,3-million houses since he became Minister of Human Settlements due to a decrease in household size and an increase in household numbers. Mr Sexwale was very concerned about the situation after the global economic recession, saying that the ‘protests of our people are beginning to get more violent every day. It’s worrying. The police are shooting every day. Let’s work together and stem the tide.’ Despite these challenges, it was during Sexwale’s time that the number of housing units for the low-income bracket first reached 3-million in 2013. By 2014, the number was 3,7-million houses and serviced sites.

Population growth and urbanisation continued to put pressure on government to provide houses. It forced government to put together various measures to solve the problem. One of them was ensuring that national, provincial and municipal levels of government worked together and that they collaborated with sister Departments so that amenities such as schools and clinics could be provided in a co-ordinated manner, with housing being the conduit. This was the heart of BNG and still is the preferred method of providing human settlements. Kotsoane, known for his hands-on approach, threw himself admirably to the task. Relationships with the private sector and civil sector were strengthened. He enjoyed a good working relationship with Minister Sisulu. He left behind a solid legacy of a hands-on management and commitment to delivery.

But Adler is optimistic. He sees three key areas as the future focus of the HDA: ‘Land assembly, bulk infrastructure division and planning. If we get those right, I think that we will justify the promise that the first five years have shown.’

One of the lasting legacies of South Africa’s past is people, who earn very little, living far away from the towns and cities where they work. As a result, they have to spend most of their meagre earnings on transport, and never get a chance to sample amenities in their urban space. This greatly affects the quality of life of these people and their families, as most of the time has to be spent commuting to and from home. If they insist on being closer to work, they almost inevitably find themselves dwelling in informal settlements on the outskirts of the city, on the margins of socio-economic life. To help reduce the spread of informal settlements.

To obtain RDP housing is not simple. To get an RDP housing application approved, the applicant may not earn more than a certain amount (R3000 per month) which means that people who earn more than the maximum to qualify for an RDP house but less than the required amount to qualify for a home loan, will have a difficult time in getting financing to buy any sort of house.

An audit of the RDP housing situation in Gauteng has revealed mass irregularities, costing the province billions of Rand. From errant suppliers to evidence of collusion with officials, the housing MEC has vowed to root out the rot. One of the solutions is to rework the housing model that will include mixed developments.  Sisulu said the municipality and provincial Human Settlements Department had erected 28,261 houses between 2011 and 2014.

It was a housing backlog that prompted the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements to create a mega housing development, one that caters not only for low-income earners.”

Considering this, we at market Decisions, looked at the three Census Periods from 1996 to 2011, in terms of Population and Housing to examine the relationship between the formal housing and informal housing and determine if there is growth or decline in housing development. 

Province	1996_Pop	2001_Pop	2011_Pop	1996_Dwellings	2001_Dwellings	2011_Dwellings
Eastern Cape	6,271,373	6,436,619	6,562,054	1,362,724	1,535,292	1,687,385
Free State	2,624,302	2,706,673	2,745,591	641,179	757,875	823,316
Gauteng	7,297,083	8,837,013	12,272,263	2,047,475	2,836,584	3,909,022
KwaZulu-Natal	8,353,054	9,425,824	10,267,300	1,712,035	2,201,275	2,539,429
Limpopo	4,899,323	5,273,489	5,404,868	1,000,473	1,250,289	1,418,102
Mpumalanga	2,786,116	3,122,892	4,039,939	617,555	783,307	1,075,488
North West	3,341,371	3,669,407	3,509,953	736,050	978,756	1,062,015
Northern Cape	829,161	822,730	1,145,861	198,618	220,364	301,405
Western Cape	3,838,154	4,524,119	5,822,734	1,021,143	1,210,456	1,634,000
Totals	40,239,937	44,818,766	51,770,563	9,337,252	11,774,198	14,450,162

The next step is to look at the type of dwelling units:
 The first dwelling unit type is brick dwellings, on a separate stand, which could be regarded as a “formal structure”

Brick Dwellings	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	496,156	624,218	880,683
Free State	337,445	438,094	618,304
Gauteng	1,004,824	1,424,660	2,307,843
KwaZulu-Natal	602,646	915,303	1,518,700
Limpopo	559,083	818,040	1,221,028
Mpumalanga	345,885	473,573	847,708
North West	443,481	621,323	738,782
Northern Cape	132,466	158,606	229,818
Western Cape	555,929	763,749	1,021,163
Total	4,477,915	6,237,566	9,384,029

The next dwelling unit type is townhouses/clusters, also recognised as formal structures:

Townhouse/Cluster	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	80,791	90,077	94,947
Free State	29,085	23,050	27,928
Gauteng	279,049	312,747	503,335
KwaZulu-Natal	234,841	265,419	213,252
Limpopo	16,737	16,181	17,708
Mpumalanga	22,111	19,824	27,091
North West	20,374	16,290	28,074
Northern Cape	14,435	7,173	8,090
Western Cape	219,354	156,260	159,400
Totals	916,777	907,021	1,079,825

The final dwelling unit type refers to traditional structures, which could be formal, or even semi-formal:

Traditional Dwelling	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	552,830	576,535	476,285
Free State	64,738	52,710	19,543
Gauteng	15,245	34,445	13,723
KwaZulu-Natal	538,329	580,953	483,296
Limpopo	315,440	232,471	63,974
Mpumalanga	109,264	94,858	48,286
North West	51,368	49,405	17,531
Northern Cape	7,743	7,119	9,505
Western Cape	9,329	25,655	7,775
Total	1,664,286	1,654,151	1,139,918

A different dwelling unit type which still fall under formal structures refers to someone using a room on a shared property.

Room shared property	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	19,157	23,081	35,694
Free State	9,401	23,941	7,558
Gauteng	38,953	184,884	90,815
KwaZulu-Natal	35,321	114,103	39,194
Limpopo	12,844	70,314	17,669
Mpumalanga	11,706	49,821	12,252
North West	11,345	48,901	13,483
Northern Cape	3,629	13,113	6,666
Western Cape	22,771	35,613	109,213
Total	165,127	563,771	332,544

Now comes the interesting analysis:  Informal Shacks in the backyard and the settlements themselves. If the figure in backyard shacks is increasing, it could be that the overcrowding of the past led to an explosion of new households, or more likely, the foreign inflow who are contributing to the household through rentals. Informal settlements have also sprouted despite the delivery of three million houses and one million serviced sites.

Informal Shacks in BY	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	31,918	30,995	34,408
Free State	50,931	44,075	48,633
Gauteng	154,003	185,533	305,683
KwaZulu-Natal	44,811	48,557	62,658
Limpopo	15,833	21,092	32,278
Mpumalanga	24,711	24,459	38,274
North West	45,414	51,880	76,182
Northern Cape	5,294	5,357	9,558
Western Cape	33,437	46,754	105,282
Total	406,352	458,702	712,956

Informal_Settlement	1996	2001	2011
Eastern Cape	115,423	135,222	95,983
Free State	112,701	147,054	80,355
Gauteng	315,502	448,107	434,075
KwaZulu-Natal	141,582	176,995	148,889
Limpopo	32,440	56,765	41,434
Mpumalanga	69,971	92,804	78,532
North West	114,688	155,501	148,794
Northern Cape	22,487	20,426	30,047
Western Cape	130,906	142,662	191,668
Total	1,055,700	1,375,536	1,249,777

If it is assumed that on average South Africa has a household size of a figure as low as 3.9, then it follows that the country will require about 14,000 to 15,000 houses, if every household lives in a formal structure. There will be people who rent rather than own. Over the past few years, an additional 500,000 houses were provided, so this means that about 2 million houses would be the true shortfall figure for assisted housing.

Number of Low Cost Housing delivered per annum:

YEAR	# of Houses Built	Serviced Site	Total Opportunities
1994/95	60,820		60,820
1995/96	74,409		74,409
1996/97	129,193		129,193
1997/98	209,000		209,000
1998/99	235,635	12,756	248,391
1999/2000	161,572		161,572
2000/01	170,932	19,711	190,643
2001/02	143,281		143,281
2002/03	131,784	82,286	214,070
2003/04	150,773	42,842	193,615
2004/05	148,253	87,284	235,537
2005/06	134,023	109,666	243,689
2006/07	153,374	117,845	271,219
2007/08	146,465	82,298	228,763
2008/09	160,403	68,469	228,872
2009/10	161,854	64,362	226,216
2010/11	121,879	63,546	185,425
2011/12	120,610	58,587	179,197
2012/13	115,079	45,698	160,777
2013/14	105,936	48,193	154,129
2014/15	94,566	49,345	143,911
2015/2016	99,534	52411	151,945
	3,029,375	1,005,299	4,034,674

We tried to call the Human Settlements Ministry but there is no response. The latest report cannot be downloaded, and the link takes one to “2017 gma co za APP 2018” which is Gautrain Management Agency.
To summarise on housing delivery, the following are key issues, which to be fair, the Human Settlements are very aware of, and are delivering on their mandate:

• The most important issues remain the Housing Registry Database. There are people who have been on the waiting list for twenty years, but somehow always miss the opportunity to own a house.
• There is no communication between Government, NGO’s and the Community. This must change.
• Many people living in low-income housing have access to employment. Some even rent rooms within the house, thus earning an income. No one has monitored this.
• There are households who live/have access to more than one house, albeit in separate extensions.
• There is an urgent need to educate recipients of the free units. They will have to contribute a small fee for maintenance and would need to pay for the services received. After all, many pay for Satellite TV.
• The Ministry should geographically code each unit and allocate it to an owner, who can then have the option to purchase it and use it as a collateral for future loans.
• The areas which have low-income housing falls short on community or recreational facilities, including education. This has led to a growth in drug use amongst the poorest of the poor.
• A huge opportunity has been lost in the training of residents in the housing developments to develop adequate skills in trade. These could have been two years of technical training and two years of apprenticeship. Many have six months training and this is evident in the inferior workmanship.
• There are dual household ownerships who wish to own a second home in the urban areas where affordability is a factor, but there is money for rental housing below R3,500.00 per month. This group makes up the largest residents of formal or RDP houses. Title deeds should be afforded to all RDP household owners.

THE WAY FORWARD, ACCORDING TO THE HUMAN SETTLEMENTS DEPARTMENT
Given the state’s constraints and the recent budget cuts on the Human Settlements Grants, delivering at scale will be a challenge for the state. As a result, the department will be strengthening the existing partnerships with private sector.

During the 2016/2017 financial year the department will focus on the following:
a) Scaling up the informal settlement-upgrading programme
b) Accelerating housing for Military Veterans
c) Transferring the title deeds and eradicating the backlog
d) Revision of the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme
e) Strengthening partnerships with public and private sector to improve delivery

The human settlements trajectory proposes that, ‘by 2050 visible results from effectively coordinated spatial planning systems shall have transformed human settlements in South Africa into equitable and efficient spaces with citizens living near work with access to social facilities and necessary infrastructure’.

By 2030 we strive to achieve measurable progress towards breaking apartheid spatial patterns with significant advances made towards retrofitting existing settlements offering the majority of South Africans access to adequate housing, affordable services in better living environments, within a more equitable and functional residential property market.

To achieve this vision, the National Development Plan directed the following actions be taken:

• Respond systematically, to entrenched spatial patterns across all geographic scales that exacerbate social inequality and economic inefficiency
• Review housing policies to better realise constitutional housing rights, ensure that the delivery of housing is used to restructure towns and cities and strengthen the livelihood prospects of households
• Develop a more coherent and inclusive approach to land i.e. develop overarching principles for spatial development • Revise the regulations and incentives for housing and land use management
• Radically revise the housing finance regime
• Build capabilities for transforming human settlements
• Develop bolder measures to develop sustainable human settlements

The department is partnering with the Banking Association South Africa to intervene in the housing markets through the implementation of the housing programmes catering for various households. The department also has formed strategic partnership with the Development Bank of Southern Africa in the implementation of infrastructure projects that contribute to the achievement of the human settlements mandate.

Finally, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment (MEIA) Policy and Implementation Framework for the Human Settlements Sector, focuses to set the basis for monitoring and evaluation in the sector, establish principles to guide the sector, to monitor and evaluate National Human Settlements Policies, Programmes and Projects (NHSPPPs), and provide monitoring and evaluation Human Settlements practitioners with the tools to undertake their tasks. This enables the Human Settlements Sector to focus on priority Human Settlement Sector areas and ensure a culture of continuous improvement in Human Settlements Sector service delivery.