The Western Cape MEC for Infrastructure blames national government for housing delivery failures while overlooking the province's own R821m funding forfeiture. Brett Herron delves into the hypocrisy behind the claims and the pressing housing crisis affecting thousands.
In a propaganda piece seeking to explain declining housing delivery numbers, published by an online news site on May 18, 2026, Western Cape MEC for Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers blamed national government under-funding.
He also, profoundly, pointed out that it costs more to build a two-bedroom 40 square metre home in 2026 than it did to build a one-bedroom 27 square metre home 22 years ago.
In order to sustain these arguments Simmers didn’t mention that the province recently forfeited R821.5m in funding specifically allocated for housing due to not being willing or able to spend it.
That’s R664.3m earmarked for the construction of free basic houses plus R157.2m earmarked for informal settlements upgrading in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.
