Housing and living conditions were supported by 20% of companies and received an average of 3% of CSI spend in 2022. This is significantly lower than in 1998 when 31% of companies supported the sector and it received an average of 7% of CSI spend.
This sector has seen a drop in support over the longer term, potentially due to the government’s housing programme replacing the need for the private sector to build houses.
Within the sector, spend on water and sanitation has increased significantly, from an average of 6% of housing spend in 2010 to 51% in 2021 and 42% in 2022. There have also been recent increases in average spend on maintenance and energy efficiency, potentially due to load shedding.
Type of intervention
- Water and sanitation continued to receive the largest share of CSI housing and living conditions spend (42%), though down from 51% in 2021.
- The average CSI spend for three interventions (building houses, maintenance and energy) increased between 2021 and 2022.
The changing housing and living conditions landscape in South Africa
1998 | – The 1997/98 housing budget was approximately R4 billion, or 2% of consolidated government expenditure of R190 million, with a target of building 190 000 houses. – The Housing Act, 1997 (Act No. 107 of 1997) intended to accelerate the development of sustainable housing in South Africa. |
2004 | – ‘Breaking New Ground: A Comprehensive Plan for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements’ was launched. This plan was aimed at redressing apartheid’s spatial planning and development through the delivery of socially, economically and spatially integrated housing. It built on the 1994 White Paper of Housing and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP housing) but shifted focus from providing poor households with houses and basic services to improving the quality of housing and housing environments in integrated settlements. |
2010 | – An estimated 11 million South Africans still did not have access to proper sanitation: they used shared facilities (4 million), bucket toilets (3 million) or practised open defecation (4 million). |
2011 | – According to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, there were more than 2 700 informal settlements nationwide and the number of households in informal settlements had increased since 1995, rising from 1.1 million to 1.3 million in 2011. |
2017 | – 13% of South African households were living in RDP or state-subsidised dwellings. |
2018 | – According to the department of human settlements, 3.3 million houses or “housing units” were built from 1994 to December 2018. These include subsidised houses, rental accommodation, hostel upgrades and council houses where ownership was granted. – There is an estimated backlog of more than two million housing units, with most people still on the waiting list to receive houses after registering with the Department of Housing in 1996 and 1997. |
2021 | – The International Budget Partnership South Africa and its partners found that more than five million South Africans were living in informal settlements, with broken taps and blocked or broken toilets being the norm. – According to Stats SA, the percentage of households with access to improved sanitation increased from 61% in 2002 to 84% in 2021. |
2022 | – In the 2022/23 national budget, R58.7 billion was allocated to human settlements, water and electrification programmes, constituting 2.7% of consolidated government expenditure of R2.1 trillion. |