Since 2020, the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS) has released only about 13,000 serviced stands – a figure that falls short of addressing Gauteng’s growing housing demand.
The reality is that the department continues to underperform and that the Rapid Land Release Programme (RLRP) is not working. The release of 13,000 serviced stands barely scratches the surface. At the same time, the intended target of delivering 8644 homes in the current year is inconsequential when over 1 million Gauteng citizens remain on the housing waiting list.
The failure of the RLRP is evident in a reply by the Gauteng Human Settlements MEC, Tasneem Motara, to questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The MEC revealed that the department had acquired 1045,02 hectares of land for R2 billion to develop 10,000 serviced stands, yet only 26 houses had been built on the land as of last year.
See reply here.
This situation raises serious concerns about the effectiveness of the programme and compels us to challenge Premier Lesufi’s statement during the State of the Province Address where he claimed that R100 billion had allocated to human settlements in Gauteng. The Premier should account and explain how these funds have been spent, as there is nothing to show for them on the ground.
The biggest failure and disappointment remain the conceptualisation and implementation of the RLRP. The programme has, since September 2025, been placed on hold “for review and restructuring” after the MEC admitted that the programme was ineffective.
The continued ineffectiveness of the department to complete any of its core programmes in an environment of increased demand highlights the crisis facing the department.
The DA is therefore calling on the Premier and the MEC to urgently outline their vision and concrete plans to overcome these shortfalls and meaningfully address the province’s growing housing challenges.
A DA-led Gauteng Provincial Government would first assess the Human Settlements department’s capacity to implement the Rapid Land Programme and ensure its rollout follows a collaborative approach, involving all spheres of government, the National Treasury, and the private sector, rather than leaving the programme solely in the hands of the Human Settlements department.