SA Affordable Housing September / October 2017 // Issue: 66 | Page 14

EVENTS
Affordable Housing
Africa conference starts
the conversation
The fourth annual Affordable Housing Africa conference, which
saw key industry role players from across the continent converge
in the Mother City, raised many crucial issues facing this sector.
By Ilana Koegelenberg and Ntsako Khosa
T
he three-day Affordable Housing Africa conference,
held from 17 to 19 July at the African Pride Hotel in
Cape Town, brought together the public and private
sector, global professionals and industry leaders involved
with the growth and development of affordable housing.
Organised by Marcus Evans, the event attracted about
80 delegates.
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM
During the first plenary of the conference, Willem
Steenkamp, executive head: strategic initiatives at the
Housing Development Agency (HDA), looked at locking in
partnerships for the smooth and effective delivery of
sustainable and integrated developments. He said that
there are too few private players in terms of the financial
aspect and – although there is huge potential – this will
remain a challenge until this sector expands.
“If we don’t get more players into the market, our
dreams for affordable housing, will remain just that – a
dream,” he said.
Next up was the Minister of Human Settlements for the
Western Cape Government, Bonginkosi Madikizela, who
delivered the keynote address. He spoke about the
challenges and pressures the government currently face
in terms of alleviating the housing crisis. He highlighted
the core problem with the apartheid provision of
affordable housing projects that was the ‘40-40-40’ rule
(providing 40m 2 houses which are 40km from work and
cost 40% of income for transport).
According to Madikizela, 22 years after apartheid, the
government has provided more than four million homes,
but the backlog still sits at 2.3 million. “We cannot
sustain the matter in which we provide housing in
South Africa currently,” he said. “We need to go from
just building houses to providing sustainable
human settlements.”
Claudio Acioly, head of capacity development unit and
housing and urban management expert of the United
Nations Human Settlements Programme in Kenya, chaired
the first day of the conference. He also presented the
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SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
Willem Steenkamp, executive head: strategic initiatives at the
Housing Development Agency (HDA).
Minister of Human Settlements for the Western Cape Government,
Bonginkosi Madikizela.