Infrastructure
Question by:
Hon Dirk Wessels
Answered by:
Hon Tertuis Simmers
Question Number:
6
Question Body:
(a) What are the current challenges that have an impact on the Province’s ability to address the housing backlog, (b) how is his Department responding to these challenges and (c) what outcomes have these interventions achieved in delivering housing opportunities?
Answer Body:
- The human settlements sector continues to face significant challenges that slow the delivery of housing opportunities in the Western Cape. These include construction mafia activities, limited well-located land, poor contractor performance, insufficient municipal capacity, land invasions, bulk infrastructure constraints, and inadequate or misaligned funding mechanisms. These challenges are compounded by rapid urbanisation, population growth, the expansion of informal settlements, rising construction costs, delays in approvals, and community disruptions at project sites, all of which place increasing pressure on housing delivery.
- The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure is implementing various interventions to accelerate housing delivery and improve sector resilience. These include pursuing alternative funding mechanisms through the Western Cape Infrastructure Framework, strengthening partnerships with municipalities and the private sector, and prioritising catalytic and integrated human settlements projects. The Department is also identifying and releasing suitable land for development, upgrading informal settlements, strengthening contractor oversight, improving infrastructure coordination and working with law enforcement agencies to address unlawful site disruptions and construction mafia activities.
- These interventions have supported the continued delivery of subsidised housing units, serviced sites, social housing, and informal settlement upgrading initiatives across the Province. Progress has also been made in improving access to basic services, advancing catalytic developments and promoting better spatial integration for maximum impact. In addition, improved coordination with municipalities has strengthened project implementation and infrastructure planning, while affordable housing programmes and title deed interventions have expanded access to housing opportunities, tenure security and asset ownership for beneficiaries.
Date:
Thursday, May 14, 2026
