19 May: 20 Years of freedom roundable

CPLO hosted a roundtable discussion entitled 20 Years of freedom, with 3.1 Million Houses built, but South Africa still faces a housing crisis. Why?

The three member panel consisted of Dr Mark Napier, a principal researcher at the at the Built Environment unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. His presentation commended the progress made by government in providing housing but also noted various challenges that face government and perhaps a need for a debate on how to further deal with housing problems.

While, Mncedisi Twalo of the Anti-Eviction Campaign believes the main obstacle to housing provision is lack of access to adequate land; and property rights which effectively exclude the poor from actively participating and owning property.

Gavin Weir of the Sector Task Team for Older Persons noted the challenges faced by social pensioners in accessing housing, which is a characteristic of the broader lack of access to adequate housing.