Simelane says housing demand continues to outstrip supply

By Lebone Rodah Mosima

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane says South Africa’s housing challenge remains significant, with demand for affordable housing continuing to outstrip supply.

The country’s housing backlog is estimated at about 2.6 million people in need of housing.

Simelane was speaking at the National Housing Finance Corporation’s (NHFC) 30th Anniversary Summit at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg on Friday.

She said decades of apartheid spatial planning had deliberately excluded millions of South Africans from property ownership, credit and the basic dignity of a secure home.

“The government of the day recognised a hard truth that the housing crisis could not be solved through public funding alone,” Simelane said.

“We needed an institution capable of mobilising private capital, bridging the gap between what South Africans could afford and what traditional lenders would finance.”

She said the NHFC was established to provide access to housing finance.

Simelane noted that the