Affordable Housing: Urban inequality & Uninhabitable living conditions.
Updated: May 24, 2022
Where are the affordable homes and social houses?
Present issue: A wide range of factors have led to a housing shortage of approximately 3.7 million people, estimated to be growing at 178 000 per year.
With an estimated 20% of urban households residing in informal settlements, South Africa continues to face serious challenges with adequate and affordable housing for much of the low-income population. (CAHF - Housing Finance in South Africa, 2021)
Housing Not Handcuffs
“These by-laws criminalise homelessness by making it a crime for persons living on the street to conduct ordinary life-sustaining activities, like sleeping, camping, resting, bathing, erecting a shelter or keeping personal belongings in public.”
- Ndifuna Ukwazi press statement on Discriminatory by-laws
Open Dialogue
The senselessness of law enforcement being able to fine a person without a home up to R2000.00 for being unhoused is a clear indication of a violent system.
This year in Rondebosch, Cape Town a law enforcement officer allegedly shot and killed DUMISANI JOXO for simply conducting ordinary life as an unhoused person. The officer has since been charged with murder.
"Making it a crime and issuing fines for people to perform ordinary life-sustaining activities such as cooking food is a cruel, inhumane and punitive response to a chronic socio-economic problem." - Ndifuna Ukwazi (press statement, Justice for Dumisani Joxo).