South Africa

The South African Constitution and other South African legislative and policy instruments are often promoted internationally as models for protecting and promoting housing rights. For example, the National Housing Subsidy Scheme has been used to finance the construction of millions of homes across South Africa since between 1994. 

 

However, low-cost housing settlements are generally located on the urban periphery, far from transport routes, access to schools and clinics and livelihood opportunities – often forcing people to choose between a home and an income.

 

Many low-income South Africans have preferred to risk insecure tenure and possible eviction by building shacks in informal settlements that may be closer to livelihood opportunities and may have low or no rental rates and minimal service charges. 

 

Other low-income South Africans pursue an even riskier alternative – occupying abandoned buildings in the inner-city, contending with overcrowded conditions, poor sanitation, and the constant threat of eviction, in order to be close to livelihood opportunities. 

Facing such a housing rights crisis, many human rights defenders in South Africa have taken up housing rights advocacy – some of them have become targets of politically-motivated attacks because of their housing rights work.