Centurion: Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane emphasized the importance of aligning planning, infrastructure, financing, regulation, and implementation to ensure effective delivery of human settlements. This statement comes amidst significant budget constraints faced by the Department of Human Settlements, with a reduced allocation of R26.97 billion for the 2026/27 financial year, nearly R7 billion less than the previous year.

According to South African Government News Agency, Minister Simelane, speaking at the Tshwane Human Settlements Symposium in Centurion, highlighted the challenges posed by increasing housing demand, rapid urbanization, infrastructure limitations, and financial pressures. She urged the government and its partners to adopt innovative and coordinated strategies for housing delivery, stressing that budget cuts would impact the department's Medium-Term Development Plan targets, making partnerships and innovation essential.

Minister Simelane outlined the department's ambitious targets for the current financial year, including the delivery of 39,058 housing units, completion of 25,186 serviced sites, approval of 11,358 First Home Finance applications, and disbursement of 9,231 housing subsidies. She emphasized the need to expand the understanding of housing development opportunities beyond traditional structures, incorporating fully subsidized housing, serviced sites, affordable home ownership, rental and social housing, and mixed-use developments.

The First Home Finance Programme's performance was highlighted, having exceeded its target by 200% in the 2025/26 financial year by assisting 8,544 households, demonstrating the effectiveness of partnerships among government, financial institutions, and developers.

Simelane also pointed out infrastructure inadequacies and land release delays as major obstacles to housing delivery, citing a R13 trillion infrastructure financing shortfall in South Africa. She stressed that housing projects need sufficient bulk infrastructure to succeed, and the department has prioritized unblocking stalled projects, successfully delivering 1,136 housing units in the 2025/26 financial year.

Regulatory reforms were also discussed, including a new Human Settlements Act to replace the 1997 Housing Act, a modernized Human Settlements Code, and amendments to the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, aiming to improve policy coherence and unlock development-ready land.

The Minister advocated for greater use of blended finance models, suggesting that public funding alone is insufficient to meet housing needs. She called for government resources to attract investment from commercial banks, development finance institutions, pension funds, and the private sector.

Concluding her remarks, Simelane emphasized the necessity of collaboration among government, municipalities, developers, financiers, researchers, and communities to build sustainable, inclusive, and resilient human settlements that improve lives and contribute to South Africa's long-term development.