Anna Majavu – South Africa: The Non-Existent Affordable Housing Programme (Opinion)

afrika.no  December 2012. South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS), by Anna Majavu

Johannesburg (South Africa) – The government’s recent demolition of houses in Lenasia, apart from anything else, has exposed how inadequate the state is at providing housing for those who neither qualify for bank mortgages, nor for RDP houses.

The Lenasia families seem to fall into the category of those who qualify for so-called “gap housing” on the basis that they earn between R2200 and about R7500 per month and can therefore afford to pay for their homes. However, gap housing is being rolled out at a snail’s pace.
There is much fanfare in a city when a “gap” social housing project of 100 or 200 units is unveiled. But these projects only happen about once a year. Many are not built close to the city and some look little better than the national government’s upgraded RDP houses, or “Breaking New Ground” dwellings, even though they are much more expensive to buy or rent.

Read more: http://www.afrika.no/

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