The true scale of South Africa's housing backlog revealed
More than 3.4 million households are registered on the national housing needs database, according to Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane.
Image: Ministry of Human Settlements
South Africa's housing crisis is more alarming than data suggests, with over 3.4 million households currently registered as waiting for a place to live.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane revealed the scale of demand during a tense question session in the National Council of Provinces, where she faced scrutiny over the country’s mounting backlog and the spread of informal settlements.
The government’s own National Housing Needs Register shows millions of families have already come forward to seek assistance. “Currently, we stand at about 3.4 million households that have registered their needs on our database,” Simelane said.
But that figure may only tell part of the story.
Officials are forced to cross-check the register against census data to gauge the true scale of demand, a process Simelane admitted is complicated by rapid population growth and migration that quickly outdate static estimates.
The latest census paints a stark picture. In 2022, about 17.8 million households were recorded in areas assessed with the Housing Development Agency, with between 12% and 13% living in informal dwellings.
That translates into millions of people living in precarious conditions, often in settlements that continue to expand faster than the state can respond.
Simelane told MPs there are now more than 4,000 informal settlements nationwide, ranging from small clusters of shacks to vast, densely packed communities.
The department is attempting to map and categorise these areas to plan interventions and predict where growth will surge next. Yet the pace of expansion suggests the crisis is accelerating, raising fresh questions about whether the state can keep up with demand.
Simelane said government continues to implement informal settlement upgrading programmes through dedicated grants aimed at improving living conditions and providing basic services.
However, she acknowledged challenges highlighted in Auditor-General reports, including concerns around the continued use of temporary sanitation measures such as tankering and chemical toilets instead of permanent infrastructure.
She explained that controls are in place to regulate the use of grant funding, stating that expenditure on temporary services should not exceed 10% of the allocated grant, unless special approval is granted.
She added that the department works with National Treasury to ensure compliance with these financial limits and oversight requirements.
Simelane said Census 2022 does not provide a direct figure, but is used as a baseline for sector-wide calculations.
“While Census 2022 does not state a backlog figure directly, the most recent, widely cited and sector accepted backlog estimate is between 2,1 and 2,4 million housing units, derived using Census 2022 household data as the baseline,” she said.
She added that planned interventions are guided by government’s medium-term priorities, with the department targeting the delivery of 230 000 fully subsidised housing units and 314 000 serviced sites over a five-year period, while existing programmes such as the upgrading of informal settlements remain central to these efforts.
Addressing concerns about corruption, mismanagement and the publication of a list of underperforming contractors, Simelane said the responsibility for blacklisting companies in the built environment lies with the Department of Public Works.
She clarified that the Department of Human Settlements does not have the authority to publish such a list, but does report failed projects and works with entities such as the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) to assess the causes of project failures, including poor workmanship and non-compliance with standards.
“The responsibility we all carry in the built environment is to report such projects,” she said.
Simelane acknowledged that coordination between departments requires improvement, stating that reporting from her department to Public Works has not always been consistent.
She added that interdepartmental cooperation is ongoing, and that the possibility of further discussions on publishing information related to non-performing contractors could be explored, while reiterating that the formal mandate to blacklist companies lies with the Department of Public Works, led by Dean Macpherson.
Simelane also confirmed that government has completed an impact assessment of recent floods, particularly in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal but said the situation remains under review as conditions continue to evolve.
She added that interventions are being guided by the findings of these assessments, including support for affected households and further evaluations of damaged structures, with the National Home Builders Registration Council and Temporary Residential Units playing a role in assessing housing damage.