The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

Western Cape Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers has revealed a continuing decline in housing delivery in the province, in a written response to questions raised by GOOD. In his reply, Simmers claims that the department he leads had met its targets by constructing 3046 Breaking New Ground homes and upgrading one informal settlement in the 2024/2025 financial year.

The number of fully subsidised BNG houses delivered in the province has therefore declined 

from 8038 in 2019/2020, 

to 6247 in 2020/2021, 

to 6191 in 2021/2022, 

to 5380 in 2022/2023, 

to 4998 in 2023/2024

 – and now to 3046.

That’s 3046 against the estimated provincial backlog of more than 600,000 units. 

But even in the context of those diminishing returns, nothing speaks more eloquently to the DA-led province’s disdain for its neediest residents than Simmers’ department targeting the upgrade of just one informal settlement in the financial year. Simmers told the NCOP in 2022 that “the province currently has 928 informal settlements with 497 of those falling within the City of Cape Town region”. 

Western Cape’s housing delivery inefficiencies led to the province having to return more than R800m in unspent funds to the national Department of Human Settlements over the past two financial years, and the declining numbers will no doubt lead to the province losing more, much-needed funding. That’s enough money to provide relief to several thousand families who are instead condemned to spending more winters in the cold and wet.

The DA has long proclaimed the Western Cape to be exceptionally well-run in comparison to other provinces, obtaining clean audits, claiming to spend every available cent on service delivery, and winning a Top Employer award. Yet this wondrousness does not translate into better lives for poor citizens, and the province remains among the worst-performing for housing delivery.

Simmers will continue to make excuses. Six months ago, his excuses included everything from Covid to the construction mafia, to a national government he alleged was unwilling to release land.  He will continue to spout jargon such as, “the upgrading of our informal settlements continues to be a priority for us. This is anchored in a transversal and Provincial-wide informal settlement upgrading strategy to enhance, simplify, and accelerate informal settlement upgrading interventions through an innovative, people-centred, and partnership-based approach”.

But no number of excuses or fancy words can hide the truth of the province’s housing crisis, or that, as the politician accountable for housing delivery, Simmers is unfit for purpose.

Issued by Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament