By Thapelo Molefe
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lodged a formal complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), accusing the City of Ekurhuleni of failing to address its housing backlog and allowing housing projects to remain incomplete and abandoned.
The complaint follows what the DA says was Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s failure to respond to a memorandum submitted last month calling for urgent provincial intervention.
It also coincides with Gauteng Finance and Economic Development MEC Nkululeko Dunga’s oversight visit to the Clayville Extension 45 Mega Human Settlements Project on Tuesday. Dunga said concerns raised by unpaid service providers had highlighted the stalled development as requiring urgent government intervention and accountability.
According to the DA, Ekurhuleni has a housing backlog of 283,235 households, based on figures provided by the city’s MMC for Human Settlements in response to questions submitted by the party in October 2025. Although the city reported delivering 2,980 houses and handing over 2,890 serviced stands since April 2024, the DA said the pace of delivery remained far below demand.
Speaking outside the SAHRC’s Gauteng offices on Tuesday, DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane said thousands of residents had waited decades for adequate housing while projects remained unfinished.
“We are here today simply because there has been a fight that has been taking place in the City of Ekurhuleni since the housing list from 1996. The people of Ekurhuleni have waited long enough for the dignity, the security and the hope that comes with having a place to call home,” she said.
The DA identified several delayed projects, including Hospital View, Esselen Mega Housing Project, Winnie Mandela Extension 25, Mackenzieville Extension Two and Vosloorus Extension 9, saying many qualifying beneficiaries had been waiting for years.
Rasilingwane argued that poor project management and a lack of accountability, rather than a shortage of funding, were responsible for many of the delays.
“It is not that we have a financial crisis. It is the fact that we have a leadership crisis and project management problems and politicians are failing to hold officials accountable,” she said.
Asked whether Dunga’s oversight visit to the Clayville Extension 45 project was prompted by the DA’s long-running campaign on the issue, Rasilingwane described it as “reactive governance.”
“For the longest time, we have been writing to the City of Ekurhuleni regarding the very same project that he’s visiting today. We wrote when he was the MMC for Finance in the City of Ekurhuleni, we also wrote to the Human Settlements Department together with the MEC responsible for CoGTA in Gauteng. This is just reactive governance,” she said.
She said the provincial government should instead explain whether contractors responsible for failed projects had been blacklisted and whether any officials had been held accountable.
“The only thing the MEC responsible for finance and housing in the province can tell us is: Is that company blacklisted? Have they held any official from the City of Ekurhuleni together with the Human Settlements Department accountable? Those are the responses we want. As they’re doing it, they’re just being reactive and political,” Rasilingwane said.
The DA has asked the SAHRC to investigate Ekurhuleni’s housing delivery, make recommendations to improve accountability and transparency, and help accelerate the completion of stalled housing projects.
DA Ekurhuleni spokesperson Mabekenyane Thamahane said abandoned developments across the metro had left many residents frustrated.
“When you go around the City of Ekurhuleni, we do have a problem. Housing projects are stagnant because of non-payment. Contractors have left projects because they were not being paid,” he said.
Responding after receiving the complaint, an SAHRC official said the commission had noted the concerns and was already involved in separate litigation against the City of Ekurhuleni over another housing matter.
“We acknowledge there seems to be a complaint at the Gauteng Provincial Office of the Human Rights Commission. We acknowledge that the City of Ekurhuleni, together with other municipalities, is failing in its constitutional duties to provide housing,” the official said.
The DA said it would continue pressing for action ahead of the 4 November local government elections, arguing that residents were entitled to access adequate housing as guaranteed under Section 26 of the Constitution.
