The ambivalent link between globalisation and socio-economic rights in post-apartheid South Africa: Making a case for the right to adequate houses

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the extent to which globalisation has affected the post-apartheid state’s ability to fulfil the right to adequate houses enshrined in the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996). Underpinned by the rights-based approach to development (RBAD) which provides a mechanism to promote, protect, and fulfil various rights, the study employed a quantitative methodology. A survey was the preferred data collection method and a questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The probability sampling technique of random cluster sample was used in the study and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse questionnaires focusing primarily on descriptive statistics. The sample size consisted of 500 survey respondents selected from two towns in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. We used an alpha level of .05 for all statistical tests. The study was premised on the following null hypothesis (H₀): the right to housing is equally distributed among the population. The findings indicate that the right to houses is not equally distributed among the population, X² (2, N = 500) = 56.37, p < .05. Therefore, the null hypothesis (H₀) is rejected. We can conclude, therefore, that there is a statistically significant difference amongst the groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Globalisation
• socioeconomic rights
• post-apartheid South Africa
• Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality
• right to houses

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This article is extracted from a PhD thesis submitted at the University of Fort Hare, Republic of South Africa in 2017.

2 Amongst these include: the Reconstruction and Development Programme (1994), the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 106 of 1996), the Housing Act (107 of 1997), Housing Consumer Protection Measures Act (95 of 1998), Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (19 of 1999), National Housing Code, Breaking New Ground (2004), Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Act 16 of 2013), Financed Linked Individual Subsidy Programs (2012 and 2018).

3 This articles is extracted from a PhD thesis conducted between 2014 and December 2017 submitted at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa.

4 These Units start from Unit 1 until Unit 18.

5 These include Minningburg, Soweto, Pola Park, Tembisa, Khayelitsha, Time housing and the rest are named after numbers (e.g. ko 8, ko 9, … .ko 19 etc.).

6 The total of 90 questions was for the entire doctoral study which focused on fulfilment of various socio-economic rights such as education, housing, water, sanitation, food, electricity, and employment. Conversely, there were only seven sub-questions on the right to housing.

7 The sliding doors have been used in the new RDP houses principally designed for the physically disabled occupants.

8 The government prohibits RDP house beneficiaries from selling their houses during the first eight years of occupation. However, many beneficiaries sell their houses due to lack of employment and go back to live in informal settlements or backyard rooms or make new demand from the government by settling in a new territory.