Wednesday, 19 December 2018
Attention: Editors and Reporters
The South African Human Rights Commission has learnt, with serious concern, about the looming litigation between the Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba and the Gauteng Provincial MEC for Human Settlements, Uhuru Moiloa. South Africa has done a lot to meet its constitutional obligation with regard to housing. Statistics referred to recently indicate that, since independence, the government has built around 4 million housing units towards meeting its constitutional Section 26 obligations. However, the country is still reeling under the challenge of lack of housing, especially for the poorest members of society. The challenge is even worse in big metropolitan cities like, Johannesburg and Cape Town, because of the incessant influx of new people to these areas. This makes it even more critical for provincial and local governments in these provinces to work harder and work co-operatively towards meeting the challenge.