Dullah Omar Institute discusses advancing the realization of the right to adequate housing in South Africa

Publish Date: 
Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Socio-Economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape hosted a roundtable discussion on meaningful engagement. The roundtable looked at challenges in the realization of the right to adequate housing in South Africa.

The roundtable provided an opportunity for academics, community based organizations, non-governmental organizations, policy makers, and stakeholders to discuss the political dimensions of the constitutional requirement that government “meaningfully engage” with citizens and interested civil society groups affected by social policy changes.

The event was moderated by Dullah Omar Institute’s Prof Ebenezer Durojaye and speakers were as follows: Toni Van Niekerk, the director of City of Cape Town’s TDA Business Enablement unit made a presentation on community profiling as a basis for effectively delivering essential services and meeting the needs of communities in Cape Town; Van Niekerk’s presentation was followed by Makale Ngwenya of the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII). Her presentation looked at indicators for monitoring the right to adequate housing in South Africa, noting that so far about 25 indicators have been developed to monitor the realization of the right to adequate housing in South Africa.

The roundtable closed with Ndifuna Ukwazi’s Julian Snedin, who looked at the Reclaim the City Campaign. The campaign focuses on desegregation and affordable housing development in the inner city. At the end of the meeting, participants agreed that there was need for continued interactions among different stakeholders to ensure the realization of the right to adequate housing in South Africa.