Rising up for housing: South Africa's youth fights the modern crisis with the spirit of 1976

In South Africa, June marks the commemoration of one of the country’s saddest chapters in the developing nation’s history.

While remembering the unfortunate events that played themselves out 49 years ago, the country is also forced to look at how far it has come with regards to youth enablement, advancement and development.

One thing that defines the country’s young people’s state and abilities is their role in the country’s property ideals. 

The 1913 Natives Land Act and subsequent legislation, such as the 1936 Development Trust and Land Act, represent a chapter in South Africa's history as tragic as June 16, 1976. These acts severely restricted land ownership for Black South Africans during the apartheid era.

These acts, among others, were used to dispossess Black South Africans of their land and confine them to designated areas.

The 1913 Natives Land Act, which is considered a foundational piece of apartheid legislation, prohibited Black South Africans from purchasing or leasing land in 93% of the country, thereby limiting their land ownership to the remaining mere 7% of South Africa. 

The 1936 Development Trust and Land Act further restricted Black South Africans’ land ownership, increasing the designated land for them to just 13%. These laws paved the way for the forced removal of Black families from their land and their relocation to impoverished homelands and townships. 

When South Africa attained democracy over three decades ago, the abovementioned pieces of legislation had effectively crippled the property ideals of the majority of the country’s citizens. 

Work to correct this anomaly would be very difficult, requiring a lot of time, effort and resources, all of which are very limited. However, from the attainment of democracy, the country has seen its young citizens working hard to better their families’ and the country’s housing prospects. 

Just as the youth of ‘76 contributed to a better today through their bravery then, the youth of South Africa’s democratic era continues under a very difficult economic environment to wage a war against the nation’s unfortunate state of housing.

In modern South Africa, not many black South Africans reach retirement age, having bought and paid up property for themselves and their families. Most would have spent their working lives living in dilapidated hostels or informal settlements that are distant from their places of work.

Their salaries would barely cover all family necessities. The men would send what they could to their unemployed wives in the former homelands. This would supplement the little child support grants and other grants that most rural citizens depend on for sustenance.

This life makes it hard for many families in these areas to build decent houses for themselves.   

However, many young people who grew up under these conditions worked hard at matric to obtain university admission through the support of financial aid, and went back to build their parents decent homes upon being employed.

Over the years, rural areas and townships have seen a rapid increase in houses that you would never dream of in these areas. Mud structures and shacks are slowly but surely becoming a fading memory of the defeated apartheid system.

This is made possible by young people as a display of gratitude to their parents, who grew up under an unjust government system that denied them equal education and fair employment opportunities, thereby confining them to underdeveloped hinterlands.

In Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) May publication, South Africa’s Youth in the Labour Market: A Decade in Review, the statistical agency said that according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the first quarter of this year, young people aged 15 to 34 made up roughly 50.2% of South Africa’s working-age population, translating to approximately 20.9 million individuals.

Within this cohort, the 15-24 age group-representing around 10.3 million individuals, was said to face the highest barriers to entering the workforce, with unemployment figures significantly outpacing those of older youth.

In the first quarter of 2015, the official unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 34 was 36.9%. By the first quarter of this year, that figure had climbed to 46.1% - a 9.2 percentage point increase that sorely highlighted deteriorating prospects for millions and the property market prospects.

Last month, the RB Property Group said South Africa is facing a national housing backlog of approximately 2.4 million units, with the highest demand in Gauteng, where the deficit has surpassed 750 000 homes.

This is one area where many people, young and old, go in search of better economic opportunities and living conditions. The group said this national crisis is more than a housing problem.

It added that it is a structural challenge that reflects deep socio-economic inequalities, systemic unemployment, and constrained government capacity.

According to the company, more than 55% of the housing backlog is concentrated among LSM 1 to 3 households-communities largely characterised by unemployment, poverty, and lack of access to basic services such as water, sanitation, and electricity.

These are the most vulnerable South Africans, for whom housing is not just a structure, but the foundation for dignity, health, education, and economic opportunity, it said. 

Supporting young people with the fair education that the youth of ‘76 fought and died for and allowing them accessible tertiary education as sought through the #FeesMustFall movement’s student-led protests against the rising cost of higher education will go a long way in curbing the rising youth unemployment crisis.

When more young people are employed, they will build more decent houses for their families and reverse the legacies of apartheid’s property dispossessions. 

Erstwhile homelands still lack basic services like running water and proper roads, which, to some degree, thwarts young people’s contribution against the local housing crisis. These are matters that local and provincial governments should strive to resolve to make young people’s investments in their homes worthwhile. 

The national government should also come to the aid of such young people who have to contend with expensive financial products when they build decent property in far-flung rural areas and townships.

It must develop policies that aid those who build in such areas. These policies should incentivise them to do so. 

Without the hard work of the young people who have built their parents' decent homes for their families, who otherwise could not afford to do so for themselves, South Africa’s housing crisis would be much worse.

If the country does not act now to capacitate more young people with education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, the crisis will deepen even further.

An exacerbating housing crisis lessens the value of South Africa’s hard-earned democracy. It will, in many ways, thwart the ultimate sacrifices that the youth of 1976 gifted this nation.  

∎ The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.