Minister of Human Settlements Mmamoloko Kubayi says despite challenges including the mounting backlog, government remains “unshaken” in its determination to provide decent housing for the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable.

Kubayi was delivering her speech at the debate of the State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on Wednesday.

“Our guiding principle is our belief that all of us regardless of race, gender and creed, deserve a decent shelter and comfort. It is this principle, together with the constitutional injunction on Section 26 that informs the housing policies of the ANC-led government.

“The poor, the elderly and the vulnerable are the priority target of our subsidized housing programme. The housing backlog is huge and the pace of provision of new houses can be greatly improved. However, our determination to provide decent houses remains unshaken,” she said.

Kubayi said one of the “serious” challenges the department is facing is the housing for the missing middle who “earn too much to qualify for fully subsidised homes” but also do not qualify for financing.

“A revised First-Home-Finance scheme, formerly known as the Help-Me-Buy-A-Home program was revised in this financial year, amongst others, to allow for the funding of households who hold “Permission-To-Occupy” certificates in communal land.

“This is particularly important in relation to the extension of credit and funding to households in rural areas. It will allow the ‘missing middle’ to start acquiring economic assets without which they struggle to meaningfully participate in the economy,” she said.

The Minister emphasised that added to this, the department has acquired buildings in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kimberley for social housing with sites in the latter two having a potential of at least 1200 units.

Other social housing projects that are expected to be launched in the coming weeks include:

The Tshwane-Marabastad project which has a total of 1200 units.

The Mohlakeng Project with a total of 1020 units in Gauteng’s West Rand.

The Hope City Project which has 114 units located in Mpumalanga’s Nkangala Municipality.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality based John Street Project with 385 units.

The Maitland Project Cape Town with a total of 204 units that will be completed by the end of March 2023.

Furthermore, she said the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has already earmarked some 14 000 hectares (ha) of land and 32 land parcels measuring some 10 350ha for human settlements.

The land parcels are expected to bring some 64 000 housing opportunities.

Kubayi highlighted that government’s efforts to bring housing to those who are in need are being undermined by “serious pushback and resistance”.

“I am speaking here of a group in the urban rich that we can call ‘not-in-my-neighbourhood’. These are well-resourced groups whose sole purpose is to ensure that the poor and the working class families remain in the outskirts of our cities. This group is motivated by a mixture of racism and a disdain for the poor and the working class.

“They utilise all sorts of tricks to resist, including the courts causing long delays for these families to receive shelter. All freedom loving South Africans irrespective of race and class need to stand up to these bullies.

“Ours is a determination and commitment to ensure that there is housing, security and comfort for all. We shall not fail our people,” she said.

Source: South African Government News Agency