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The state of the nation’s housing is dismal — the State Land Disposal Act offers a partial solution

The state of the nation’s housing is dismal — the State Land Disposal Act offers a partial solution
Law enforcement, Red Ants and staff from Cape Nature evict illegal occupants from Cape Nature land in Khayelitsha on August 18, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is reported that the new informal settlement had been named Covid and Sanitiser. According to reports, while the Red Ants were breaking down structures that were not occupied some people were busy clearing plots and erecting homes. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)
Kenneth Matlawe and Noziphiwo Sigwela
By Kenneth Matlawe and Noziphiwo Sigwela
7 Feb 2024
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In failing to address land and housing with the appropriate level of political will, the past 30 years of urban and rural land reform have had little impact in remedying the spatial injustice caused by colonisation and apartheid.

Covid. That’s the name of a recently occupied portion of land in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Its first informal sod-turning took place in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic in which President Cyril Ramaphosa instructed us all to stay home to be safe, but at the same time saw thousands of poor and working-class families lose their homes due to financial instability and evictions.

Less than 10km away, Bulelani Qolani was denied dignity, and dragged out of his home before it was demolished. Since then and despite this, the President has not addressed land and housing in his State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Now on the eve of the 30th Sona, many are speculating about what the President will set as his priorities. Based on past behaviour, it’s expected that the usual headliners will be mentioned: Inflation, unemployment, poverty and crime. However, what the President and his administration have lost sight of is to answer a question on a significant cause of many of these social ills: When will the land be returned?

Spatial injustice is one of the most significant and continuing injustices that contributes to structural inequality, spawning many of the symptomatic issues we face today.

The planning regime’s incoherent policies and diminishing state funding have only perpetuated landlessness and homelessness.

A recent report from the Harvard Growth Lab, published in November 2023, found that “urban planning regulations and zoning policies prevent dense, affordable housing in desirable locations and consequently limit formal and informal employment”.

The report further stated that “space also plays a large role in explaining low employment rates in urban settings across the country”.

housing Locals erect shacks at Louiesenhof wine farm near Kayamandi in Stellenbosch on 10 August 2018, two days after they were taken down by officials and the Red Ants. A court interdict had been obtained to remove unoccupied structures, and to prevent more people from moving onto a vacant portion of the property. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)



In failing to address land and housing with the appropriate level of political will, the past 30 years of urban and rural land reform have had little impact in remedying the spatial injustice caused by colonisation and apartheid. Rather, the planning regime’s incoherent policies and diminishing state funding have only perpetuated landlessness and homelessness, which were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

Practically what this means is that the homes of the poor and working class of South Africa are typified by little to no security of tenure. This is because of the glacial provision of government-subsidised housing, the low quantity of which is far outstripped by demand. 

Another significant aspect of housing failure in South Africa is the placement of BNG housing (formerly known as RDP) built on the periphery of cities far away from opportunities, essential social amenities and services.

The Kya Sands squatter camp in Johannesburg photographed on 19 July 2018. Across the road is Bloubosrand, a middle-class area with larger houses and swimming pools. South Africa has one of the highest income differences in the world as it struggles with high unemployment and a low growth rate. (Photo: Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images)



Alexandra in Johannesburg is on the banks of the Jukskei River. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla)


Innovative solutions


Many innovative housing solutions have been suggested by affected communities on the ground. One such solution is for the President, the minister of public works and premiers of provinces to use their administrative power and donate or lease land directly to communities under the State Land Disposal Act (SLD Act).

Unfortunately, this act does not extend to municipalities, but the SLD Act is an existing mechanism which, to our knowledge, has never been tried by the state before. By using the provisions of this act, the President (and other relevant powers) would significantly increase access to land on an equitable basis in terms of section 25 (5) and (6) of the Constitution, as well as access to adequate housing in terms of section 26 (1).

In August 2023, we at Ndifuna Ukwazi, together with more than 1,000 residents and partners, marched to the official home of the President in Cape Town to submit applications for the President to donate land directly to communities in line with the SLD Act.

In Johannesburg, movement partners attempted to deliver applications to the President himself at the BRICS Summit in Sandton. A little more than a week later, a horrific fire broke out at a building on Albert Street, Johannesburg, leading to the deaths of nearly 80 poor and working-class people, including 12 children.
It cannot continue to be that after 30 years of a democratic dispensation a majority of those disempowered are still landless.

While the matter is part of an ongoing commission of inquiry, it is evident that the people who lived there were fundamentally made vulnerable by the lack of well-located, affordable housing.

Ramaphosa said the tragedy was a wake-up call for dealing with issues around how people live, particularly in cities, but to date has not responded to any of the applications for donations or leases of state land.

With the priorities of the poor and working class (mostly black communities) having been seemingly ignored, and given the upcoming national elections, will the President address the issue of tenure insecurities in his 2024 Sona? Or even acknowledge receipt of the State Land Disposal Act applications?

Residents of the Empolweni informal settlement in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, were evicted from the area on 19 April 2020. The Western Cape High Court reportedly ruled that they could not be removed from the area during the Covid-19 lockdown. In the interim, Gift of the Givers supplied tents and food to the people on a list who will be allowed to rebuild. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)



Law enforcement, the Red Ants and staff from CapeNature evict illegal occupants from CapeNature land in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on 18 August 2020. The new informal settlement had been named Covid and Sanitiser. According to reports, while the Red Ants were breaking down structures that were not occupied, some people were clearing plots and erecting homes. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)


Overshadowed by populism


Ndifuna Ukwazi, along with other land and housing movements, consider 2024 to be a pivotal moment in South Africa’s democracy, but have serious concerns that the central issue of equitable access to land which must be addressed at a “national disaster level”, is being overshadowed by the opportunism of a populist political agenda.

Spatial injustice in the form of a skewed pattern of land ownership premised on capitalist notions of land, a disregard for tenure security and an acute shortage of well-located, affordable housing, are among the primary drivers of our rampant inequality.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Almost 18,000 soccer fields — that’s how much public land is lying unused in Cape Town

It cannot continue to be that after 30 years of a democratic dispensation a majority of those disempowered are still landless.

The State Land Disposal Act applications sent in August 2023 from communities across the country provide the President with a chance to address, at once, the complex and intersecting questions of urban land reform, access to land and housing opportunities, economic growth through inner-city housing development and the redress of apartheid spatial planning.

The Sona 2024 speech is the perfect platform to respond or comment rather than, God forbid, using the speech and the subsequent debates for party campaigning. DM

Kenneth Matlawe is a political organiser at Ndifuna Ukwazi and has experience in leading a community-based organisation, and specialises in movement building and the realisation of collective community power.

Noziphiwo Sigwela is a researcher at Ndifuna Ukwazi. She holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning and has a special interest in rural and urban planning, feminist planning and a spatially just South Africa.

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