Housing backlog in South African Housing rhetoric, which refers to the persistent shortfall in housing
delivery, seems to have come to stay despite various government interventions to overcome its
occurrence. As a targeting tool the subsidy criteria is falling ahort in reaching the intended poorest f the
poor as spelt out in the Housing White Paper. The initial Reconstruction and Development Program
(RDP) of 1994, the Breaking New Ground (BNG) initiative of 2003, have
The paper argues that the current housing subsidy criteria is falling to efficiently reach the poorest of the
poor and more alarmingly creating an exponential growth in the housing backlog. The paper starts out by
review the intention of South African Housing Policy. It then outlines a theoretical framework based on
Beckerman’s targeting scheme, household life cycle, and structure. Within this framework the housing
subsidy selection criteria is discussed, and argues that the selection criteria, while careful not to subsidies
individuals more than once, has loop holes which allows for ‘beneficiaries’ to become primary applicants
over time. An empirical survey is carried out in the Umhlathuze Village North of Kwazulu Natal using the
questionnaire, interviews with municipal housing officials.
The paper concludes by calling for a review of the selection criteria by clearly defining target group, and
developmental vision for the state funded human settlements.