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A crisis in the making: budget cuts threaten South Africans’ right to housing

As South Africa commemorated Human Rights Day last week, experts highlighted that budget cuts are significantly delaying the delivery of housing, which is regarded as a constitutional right.“Our department has not been spared from the budget cuts,” said Tsekiso Machike, spokesperson for the Minister of Human Settlements (DHS), Thembi Simelane. “We have had no choice but to do more with less. We continue to advocate for public-private partnerships to accelerate housing delivery and address the spatial planning issues that date back to before 1994.”Machike also pointed out that another factor contributing to the delays is the abandonment of projects by implementing agents, or contractors. “We have prioritised unblocking stalled projects, and progress is being made as several projects have been revitalised,” he added.Land invasions remain a significant challenge to housing delivery. “When informal settlements are established, they compel the government to provide basic services, diverting…