NEED FOR MORE URBAN HOUSING IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

by Sarudzayi Zindoga

Southern Africa's efforts toward poverty alleviation will yield minimal results unless immediate measures are taken to address the issue of urban housing that has seen thousands of people flocking municipalities everyday to register for allocation of proper housing.

Low-income earners in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region remain marginalised and in desperate need of adequate housing due to the rising costs and difficulty in securing mortgage finance.

The formation of housing cooperatives in many countries such as Malawi and Zimbabwe has not entirely solved the problem as only a small percentage has benefited. The problem of housing faced mainly by the poor has been fundamentally complicated by lack of access to land.

For instance, the housing demand in Zimbabwe now stands at over one million units from 670, 000 units in 1995 with the greatest shortages being experienced in major cities where the annual population growth rate is between three percent and six percent. The private and public sectors are currently able to produce approximately 18 000 units per year, which is far below the required levels. The dramatic increase in demand for housing is due to the rapid growth in urban population.

"Apart from the high rate of urban growth in Zimbabwe, 70 percent of the home seekers are low-income people earning below Z$18,000 (US$474) per month. The majority of these people are not able to afford a standard four-roomed house, which costs between Z$80,000 (US$2,105), and Z$100,000 (US$2,632),"said David Makuwere of the Zimbabwe Ministry of Housing and Public Construction.

It is estimated that the Malawi urban population would have risen to 1.9 million by the year 2000. The number of housing required to cater for this rising urban population is approximately 16,000 units per annum.

According to a recent case study on municipal development in Sub-Saharan Africa, housing problems in Malawi were not that acute during the early 1990s but as of late, the country's urban population is increasing rapidly due to rural urban migration thus the demand for houses. In Zomba, the colonial capital of Malawi, high and middle income groups have "hijacked" houses meant for the poor, since they could afford the rents.

"The SADC governments have done very little to cater for the urban poor and this means that most low income families would have to find alternatives by building in unplanned areas such as squatter camps where people live in shacks," said a Harare tenant. He went on to say that backyard shanties, a common site in Zimbabwe's high-density surbubs, are a result of housing shortage.

According to Zimbabwe's Ministry of Public Construction and National Housing, housing is much more than just the physical construction of dwelling units. Rather, it constitutes an integral part of the socio-economic development of a nation. It should create employment and act as a vehicle by which people can improve their material and social condition.

The case study on Sub-Saharan Africa states that in 1996 the housing backlog in Zambia was standing at 846,000 units and it is estimated that by 2020, there will be about one million new home seekers. The small number of houses available are on small plots which are difficult to develop.

South Africa has an urban housing deficit which manifests itself in overcrowding and squatter settlements. The deficit is expected to rise as the population increases.

The 1996 SADC Regional Conference on Social Development highlighted that, housing is a basic social need after food and clothing. Adequate housing it said, is a pre-requisite to national socio-economic development.

However, in most countries, the housing problem is perceived entirely as a social welfare problem whose only solution is the transfer of physical or financial resources to people who are unable to adequately accommodate themselves, a report from the conference added.

Adequate housing promotes security, health, wealth and the welfare of the community, say experts. Housing problems can be attributed to lack of priority on the allocation of resources and unavailability of land, energy, finance and manpower.

Affordability of housing has always haunted local authorities in the SADC region with most countries not being able to keep pace with demand for serviced stands and to make the land available at reasonable prices.

The SADC region consists of some of the highly urbanised countries in Africa such as South Africa, Mauritius and Zambia, but has not moved fast enough to match the ever increasing demand for descent housing. (SARDC)