GOOD Statement by Suzette Little, GOOD Deputy Secretary-General & City of Cape Town Caucus Chairperson:
The written responses received from Western Cape MEC for Infrastructure, Tertuis Simmers, offer a troubling window into a housing system paralysed by inefficiency, poor communication, and bureaucratic bluster. In reply to parliamentary questions posed by GOOD Secretary-General and MPL, Brett Herron, it was confirmed that the City of Cape Town’s housing waiting list remains at a staggering 431,902 people.
Communities across the metro continue to cry out, saying they’ve been waiting for years, often decades, for a housing opportunity. The situation is made worse by growing concerns over how vacant units are allocated. In some areas, families are occupying more than one unit, while others claim people from outside their communities receive allocations without any transparency.
According to the MEC, the person at the top of Cape Town’s housing list has been waiting for 44 years, since March 1981. Yet there is no indication that any of the top 10 applicants are even aware of their current status.
And what is the provincial government’s excuse? That the list is “not accurate.” That people “haven’t updated their details”. This scapegoating of the poor to cover up systemic failure is not only insulting, it is cruel.
The Western Cape Housing Demand Database (WCHDDB) is recognised as the official waiting list but while most municipalities update this list directly, the City of Cape Town submits its data via a delayed monthly transfer, limiting responsiveness and transparency.
We must urgently ensure those at the top of the list are prioritised for housing as promised. As GOOD, we are making a public call to anyone who first applied for housing in 1981, 1982, or 1983 to contact us. We will do everything we can to assist in updating their information and holding the City accountable to its own database.
Nobody should wait 44 years for a basic human right. Housing delayed is dignity denied.
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