Gauteng’s bubbling housing crisis

As housing continues to be a major problem in Gauteng, the urban settlement development grant (USDG) and the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) component have highlighted under-performing cities.

According to the 2020-2021 state of human rights report released by the Gauteng Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), 25% of households in Gauteng informal settlements were earmarked for upgrading in 2019/20 but this did not happen.

Yesterday, the commission’s Dalli Weyers released the Towards Ensuring the Right to Adequate Housing through the Upgrading of Informal Settlements report and said it focused specifically on the projects that the three metros in Gauteng committed themselves to in the 2020/2021 financial year under the UISP.

Based on Statistics SA’s most recent General Household survey, 16.8% of households in the country’s metros are living informally, with limited access to water, sanitation and electricity.

“The failure of Tshwane to meet the requirements about the USDG, and specifically about its UISP component, is indicative of poor planning, poor budgeting and poor reporting.

“It clearly shows a lack of commitment to ensuring the right to adequate housing,” Weyers added.

Weyers also said in Gauteng’s three metros, the percentage of households living in informality stands at 18.4% for Ekurhuleni, 19.1% for Johannesburg and 16.4% for Tshwane.

“These percentages highlight the households that remain susceptible to Covid-19 because their informality and their limited access to basic services limits their ability to practise physical distancing,” he said.

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