Delivering his second State Of the Nation Address in Parliament, Ramaphosa said government was giving effect to its commitment to build human settlements in well-located areas that bring together economic opportunities and have all the services and amenities that people need. 

"The Housing Development Agency will construct an additional 500,000 housing units in the next five years, and an amount of R30 billion will be provided to municipalities and provinces to enable them to fulfill their respective mandates," Ramaphosa said.

"However, if we are to effectively address the substantial housing backlog in our country, we need to develop different models of financing for human settlements.

"It is for this reason that we are establishing a Human Settlements Development Bank that will leverage both public and private sector financing to aid in housing delivery."

Millions of South Africans live in informal settlements on the outskirts of cities where they seek better opportunities while municipalities and the human settlements department remain with years of backlog in the delivery of housing. 

Ramaphosa said government will also be expanding the People's Housing Programme where households are allocated serviced stands to build their own houses, either individually or through community-led housing cooperatives.

African News Agency (ANA)