Providing adequate housing in SA in the twentieth and twenty first century

Abstract

The provision of adequate housing to the people of South Africa is a fundamental human right as entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa. In order to propose a solution to the problem of providing adequate housing, an understanding of the sources of the housing problem in South Africa needs to be explored. The objective of this treatise is to identify the origins of the housing problem in South Africa in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by examining various policy instruments employed by the State that had an effect on housing provision, the current policy instruments employed by government to solve the problem and finally a look at how the problem of housing has been solved in the Netherlands which may be used as a benchmark for policy formulation in South Africa. In addition, the study will also make mention of historical events that shaped the social fabric of South Africa, which had an impact on housing provision for more than a century.