Calibrating the promises of constitutional right to access to housing in South Africa: Hurdles and prospects

Abstract

Admittedly, by virtue of Section 26 of the South African Constitution, everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing which includes development of socially inclusive housing projects, an informal settlement upgrading program, and provision of infrastructure and services especially for the previously disadvantaged population. However, the majority of South Africans continue to live in defective and badly constructed houses without access to basic services such as water and sanitation because delivery of adequate housing is failing to keep pace with the demand despite the fact that the right is firmly embedded in the Constitution. It is against this background that this article examines how and whether the State is fulfilling its constitutional obligations to deliver adequate housing to the citizens. The article highlights that sub-standard State-led housing delivery is usually plagued by corrupt practices such that over the last few years, many communities have shown their growing dissent over the government’s perceived poor levels in service delivery in housing due mainly to the use of emerging contractors resulting to various degrees of corruption, poor planning and monitoring on the part of the government. The article points out that, failing to deliver has constantly resulted to an increasingly antagonistic relationship between the State and communities and the growing dissonance between expectations and public service at the local level, as well as the heavy-handed way in which law enforcement is used to silence dissent and protest about the capacity of public officials to deliver services in these areas. The article also highlights the importance of housing delivery in safeguarding social liability and concludes that the government stance on service level agreements should be strictly implemented in order to remove non-performing officials based on delivery against the agreed targets. Key words: Right to have access to adequate housing, previously disadvantaged population, defective and badly constructed houses, lack of access to basic amenities, violent protests, failure of public servants to deliver services.