2018 Human Rights Budget - the right to adequate housing.
SERI contributed to the 2018 Human Rights Budget which serves as an alternative to the budget speech issued by the Minister of Finance. SERI specifically contributed the piece on the right to adequate housing. The ‘Alternative Budget’ was written by various civil society organisations and individuals and was coordinated by the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute (SPII). This alternative budget advocates for a human rights lens in the allocation of monies by the state and calls for the government to execute its Constitutional mandate to strive towards the progressive realisation of socio-economic rights.
SERI’s contribution to the budget can be downloaded below. Click here to view the full alternative budget.
In December 2017, the North Gauteng High Court ordered the Ekurhuleni Municipality to build 133 houses for the residents of the Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement near Tembisa.
Judge MmonoaTeffo found that Ekurhuleni had failed to provide the residents (represented by SERI) with houses that were constructed using their government-approved housing subsidies. The houses were instead occupied by other, unknown people, often as a result of corruption in the housing allocation process, which Ekurhuleni controls. This breached the residents’ constitutional and statutory housing rights.
Click here for the full press statement.
Written by: Edward Molopi