National context of housing and living conditions in South Africa
- The national budget allocated to human settlement, and water and electrification programmes decreased from R61.7 billion in 2023/24 to R59.2 billion in 2024/25, constituting 2.5% of consolidated government expenditure of R2.37 trillion.
- According to Stats SA’s 2023 General Household Survey, the percentage of households that live in formal dwellings increased from 73% in 2002 to 83% in 2023. The percentage of South African households that were connected to the main electricity supply increased from 76% in 2002 to 89% in 2023. The percentage of households with upgraded sanitation facilities, including flush toilets and pit toilets with ventilation pipes, rose from 61% to 83% in 2023. However, only 45% of households had access to piped water in their dwellings in 2023 (up from 43% in 2002), while 29% accessed water on-site, 11% relied on communal or neighbours’ taps, and 3% of households still had to fetch water from rivers and other sources.
- The Department of Human Settlements (DHS) has delivered 4.9 million housing opportunities since 1994 and has issued a total of 1 450 862 title deeds, according to the DHS annual performance plan for 2022/23. According to the National Housing Finance Corporation, South Africa has a housing backlog of over 2.3 million units, with an estimated 13.6 million people living in inadequate housing.
- The Global Action Plan Framework on Informal Settlements and Slums was launched in October 2022 and aims to accelerate the transformation of informal settlements and slums by 2030. Spearheaded by the South African government and the UN Human Settlements Programme, the framework focuses on ensuring access to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services for all. According to the DHS, there were 4 297 informal settlements, home to more than 2 million households, across South Africa in 2023, most of which are concentrated in the major metropolitan areas of Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini. South Africa has committed to upgrading 1 500 informal settlements by 2026 through the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme (ISUP).
Overview of CSI spend
Housing and living conditions were supported by 16% of companies and received 1% of average CSI expenditure.

Type of intervention
Average % CSI housing and living conditions spend 2024 n=8
31% Building houses
19% Materials supply
14% Energy/ energy efficiency initiatives
13% Non-specific general donations
11% Water and sanitation
12% Other
- Building houses received the largest share of housing CSI spend (31%) in 2024.
- Support for water and sanitation decreased from 29% in 2023 to 11% in 2024.
- Average spending on materials supply increased from 10% in 2023 to 19% in 2024. Support for energy and energy efficiency initiatives also increased from an average of 10% in 2023 to 14% in 2024.
Read more about housing and living conditions:
- Read the case study National partnership strives to quench South Africa’s thirst | Strategic water partners network.
Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2024 (27th edition).