'Policies skewed against women'

UN report finds discrimination against women in land and housing programmes

- Umamah Bakharia

A report submitted to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that South Africa is failing to uphold women’s rights to land and housing, despite constitutional protections and international legal commitments.

The 52-page shadow report, compiled by the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (Seri) and the Women and ESCR Working Group of the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, outlines widespread discrimination against women regarding access to housing and security.

The report paints a bleak picture of women facing entrenched patriarchal norms, unequal treatment under customary law and weak enforcement of legal safeguards.

“We are not illegal occupiers. We are mothers, workers, survivors — this land is the only place we have,” said Thoko, a resident of an informal settlement outside Durban, who did not want to give her real name.

She has faced constant eviction threats for more than 10 years, despite calling the settlement home.

The Constitution guarantees gender equality and the right to housing, while laws such as the Extension of Security of Tenure Act and the Prevention of Illegal Eviction Act aim to protect the vulnerable from being removed without legal process.

But the report outlines that land and housing policies often prioritise married, male-headed households. Women living in informal settlements, farming areas and urban townships find themselves sidelined by a system that continues to see them as dependants, rather than rights-holders.