A right ignored
THE right to adequate housing is undeniable, enshrined in South Africa’s constitution. Chapter Two of the Bill of Rights says: “Everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing. (And) the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of this right..”
As the nation marked Human Rights Day this week, we remembered the sacrifices made and the lives that were lost during the Sharpeville massacre and the anti-pass laws march in Langa.
While those tragedies will never be forgotten, the human right millions of South Africans are being denied is the right to proper housing. Testimony to this is the thousands of informal settlements across the country.
It has been reported that there are more than 3 000 informal settlements in South Africa. Robbed of their dignity, millions of people live in squalor with little or no access to running water and still having to use the bucket system.
How are we to prosper as a nation when young people – our leaders of tomorrow have to endure such conditions. Sadly only a few do, but against significant odds. For too long have we accepted living in shacks or in shoddily built houses as the new normal. It is not normal. It is not OK. In fact it is a scandal, given the billions spent on state- owned enterprises.
Government readily invests in SOEs but look at how dysfunctional most of them are. Why pump money down a black hole when a housing crisis stares you in the face.
Since the advent of democracy housing ministers have come and gone, but we have yet to see a significant reduction in the housing backlog.
The authorities have to ask themselves why there has been a surge in land invasions recently. People are fed up. Many still wait 10, 20, even up to 30 years for a house. This says one thing – the state has failed them.
People want to see real change and want a government that puts their needs first. They need a government that upholds the Constitution and delivers a better life for all citizens. They need a government that can demonstrate it is able to restore their dignity.