ABSTRACT
The chapter assesses South Africa’s National Development Plan’s (NDP) ambition of ensuring that by 2030 South Africa should observe meaningful and measurable progress in reviving rural areas and in creating more functionally integrated, balanced and vibrant urban settlements. In doing so, we implemented a desktop review of various pieces of legalisation, programmes and projects that have emerged out of the broad policy objective of the NDP. We note that while some progress has been made in actualising the ideals of the NDP, there is a real danger that the intended target will be missed. This is more so in the context of a shrinking fiscus, which is projected to continue on a declining path in the coming years. We argue that to truly meet the NDP’s objective of redressing the spatial geography of the apartheid era and providing sustainable housing for all, the government must become more proactive in engaging the private sector in addressing the country’s housing conundrum.
