This granny lives in a shack right next to her unfinished RDP house

Gogo Qayisa's unfinished RDP home in South Africa highlights three decades of housing policy failures and the struggle for completion.

Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's home is a tiny, leaky shack in South Africa. Every time it rains, her house floods, and her family struggles to find dry spots. For 23 long years, she's been waiting for a real home promised by the government's housing plan. All she has are some old bricks, a sad reminder of a dream that never came true. Her family keeps trying to make the best of a very tough situation.

What is the People's Housing Process in South Africa?

The People's Housing Process (PHP) is a South African housing subsidy program launched in 2000. It aimed to empower families to build their own homes. However, for many like Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa, the promise of self-built housing under PHP has remained unfulfilled for decades.

The Daily Flood

Every July rainstorm turns Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's doorstep into a muddy river. On Cape Town's eastern fringe, where factories give way to wind-sculpted dunes, her corrugated-iron shack fills with the stench of damp wood. The single room - barely fifteen square meters - doubles as bedroom, kitchen, and classroom. A sagging rope holds eight school uniforms dripping through the night. Two grandchildren curl on a refrigerator box; another balances on a broken couch arm; the toddler sleeps against a plastic drum that becomes their table by day. When storms hit, the drum bobs like a tiny boat, nudging sleepers as water rises.

Stacked in one corner, under a faded curtain, sit cement blocks - 90 mm "Maxi" bricks salvaged from building sites. These moss-covered relics are all that remain of a housing subsidy approved in September 2000 under the People's Housing Process. The programme promised families they could "build their own destiny." Twenty-three winters later, crumbling mortar between the blocks looks like stale breadcrumbs. The bricks never became walls; instead they serve as a fragile reminder of a promise that never matured.

The family adapts creatively. A neighbor donates a 2,000-liter JoJo tank; students from

What is Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's current living situation?

Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa lives in a tiny, leaky corrugated-iron shack in South Africa. Her home floods every time it rains, forcing her family to find dry spots within the small, 15-square-meter space that serves as their bedroom, kitchen, and classroom. The shack is on Cape Town's eastern fringe.

How long has Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa been waiting for a proper home?

Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa has been waiting for a real home for 23 years. She was promised housing under a government plan but has yet to receive it.

What is the People's Housing Process (PHP)?

The People's Housing Process (PHP) is a South African housing subsidy program launched in 2000. Its primary goal was to empower families to build their own homes, giving them more agency in the housing development process. However, for many, like Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa, the promise of self-built housing under PHP has not been realized for decades.

What physical evidence remains of Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's housing subsidy?

Stacked in one corner of her shack are cement blocks, specifically 90 mm "Maxi" bricks, which were salvaged from building sites. These moss-covered relics are all that remain of a housing subsidy approved in September 2000 under the People's Housing Process. They were meant to become walls but never did, serving instead as a constant reminder of an unfulfilled promise.

How does Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's family cope with the flooding?

When storms hit, their single room fills with water. They creatively adapt; a plastic drum used as a table by day bobs like a tiny boat, nudging sleepers as the water rises. They try to find dry spots, with grandchildren sleeping on a refrigerator box or a broken couch arm, and school uniforms dripping through the night.

What is the broader impact of unfulfilled housing promises in South Africa?

Cases like Gogo Nobesuthu Qayisa's highlight the significant challenges and disparities in housing provision in South Africa. Despite initiatives like the People's Housing Process, many families continue to live in informal settlements, facing precarious living conditions, lack of basic amenities, and the emotional toll of unfulfilled government promises. This situation contributes to social inequality and perpetuates cycles of poverty, underscoring the urgent need for effective and timely housing solutions.