close
close
Chapter 11
Related Sections
1
INTRODUCTION
2
LAND
3
What is the government’s land policy?
4
Laws and court cases that apply to the land reform programme
5
Municipal governments and their role in land, land tenure and evictions
6
Land restitution
7
Land redistribution and land grants
8
Other land reform initiatives
9
Land tenure reform
10
Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) (No 62 of 1997) and the Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Act (No 2 of 2018)
11
Land Rights Management Board and Committees
12
Possible repeal of ESTA and the Land Tenure Security Bill
13
Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) (No 19 of 1998)
14
Dealing with land claims and other land reform disputes – the Land Claims Court
15
Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (No 16 of 2013) (SPLUMA)
16
HOUSING
17
What is the government’s housing policy?
18
Laws passed to ensure access to quality housing
19
The housing subsidy
20
Types of housing subsidies
21
The role of development workers in helping people to access housing subsidies
22
The role of local government and housing
23
BUYING A HOUSE
24
The offer to purchase
25
Transfer
26
Defects in a house
27
RENTING A HOUSE
28
Tenants, landlords and leases
29
The Rental Housing Act (No 50 of 1999)
30
Rental Housing Amendment Act (No 35 of 2014)
31
EVICTIONS FROM RENTED PROPERTY
32
Trespassing
33
PROBLEMS
34
Problem 1: A landlord applies for a civil eviction order
35
Problem 2: Being arrested and charged with trespassing
36
Problem 3: Protecting dismissed farmworkers against eviction
37
Problem 4: Protecting labour tenants against losing land
38
Problem 5: Provision of land, housing and services for homeless people
39
Problem 6: Negotiating to upgrade an informal settlement
40
Problem 7: Applying for an individual housing subsidy
41
Problem 8: Common problems in renting a house or flat
42
Problem 9: Falling behind on rent, rates and service payments to the local council
43
Problem 10: The hidden costs of buying a house
44
Problem 11: Falling behind on bond payments
45
Problem 12: Problems with a house you bought
46
Problem 13: Getting money from the Land Bank for farming
47
CHECKLISTS
48
Checklist: General Land and Housing
49
Checklist: Paying off a house that you have bought

The role of development workers in helping people to access housing subsidies

Development workers can help communities to build better quality houses.

Some ways to do this include:

  • Organising unemployed people, especially women to form people’s housing organisations and contacting non-governmental organisations that can help the community with a people’s housing process
  • Members can contribute their labour free of charge and help each other to build bigger and better houses
  • Organising collective ways to buy building materials so that they are cheaper
  • Setting up savings schemes so that banks can lend the community extra money to build better houses. This can be done by opening a group account at a bank. The group will have to get a name, and a constitution, and select a chairperson and treasurer

Organisations and development workers can also help with problems in housing projects. For example, there have been some instances where communities have reported corruption in housing projects such as:

  • Corrupt officials who take bribes to move people higher up the housing waiting list
  • Corrupt developers who take the housing subsidy but do not complete building the houses or build houses that do not comply with building standards
  • Community members who illegally occupy new houses before a development is completed so that the people for whom the houses were built cannot move in
  • People who lie about their income and get subsidies to which they are not entitled

Here are some things you can do to assist in solving these problems:

  • Use the housing hotline to report the matter to the Department of Human Settlements on their Call centre line: 0800 146 873 or their Fraud and Corruption line: 0800 701 701.
  • Report the matter to the MEC for housing or the mayor
  • Monitor the construction of local housing projects and make sure that all contractors are registered with the National Home-Builders Registration Council and all new houses are enrolled under the Defect Warranty Scheme
  • Make sure that all new houses built by developers are at least 30 square meters
  • If houses have defects within the first year of construction, the construction company can claim from the Defect Warranty Scheme and fix these defects