The housing problem in Cape Town is becoming an increasingly serious economic and labor issue, as working families cannot afford to live in areas close to their workplaces. This forces them to spend a significant portion of their income and time on daily commutes between home and work.
A housing rights advocacy organization, Ndifuna Ukwazi, states that the city's affordability crisis has reached a critical point. A large part of the population can no longer realistically afford to live near jobs, educational institutions, medical facilities, and reliable public transport.
Yusrah Bardien, a communications and engagement officer at Ndifuna Ukwazi, described Cape Town as a city facing an 'extreme, escalating urban housing crisis.' She emphasized that decades of market-driven development and the underutilization of well-located public land for social housing have exacerbated existing spatial inequality.
According to the organization, 76% of Cape Town residents earn less than R22,000 per month, 58% earn less than R10,000, and 25% earn less than R3,500. Using standard affordability metrics, where housing costs should not exceed one-third of a household's income, Ndifuna Ukwazi noted that over half of Cape Town's population cannot afford rent or mortgage payments exceeding approximately R3,333 per month.
Housing costs push workers to the city outskirts
Bardien explained that this leads low- and middle-income families to increasingly be excluded from the city's affluent areas and move into overcrowded informal settlements or peripheral zones far from economic opportunities.
Ndifuna Ukwazi refers to the so-called '40x40x40 syndrome': households living in homes of about 40 square meters, located 40 kilometers from work, while spending up to 40% of their income on transport.
David Ryudt, Chief Economist at Efficient Group, believes that the affordability issue is inextricably linked to South Africa's weak economic growth. He stated that the South African economy is growing too slowly, and if growth were more intense, it would lead to increased employment and wage growth, making other problems insignificant.
Ryudt also noted that the incomes of low-income households are not keeping pace with the rising cost of rent and housing. He suggested that Cape Town could alleviate pressure by accelerating and making housing construction less costly, reducing bureaucratic hurdles, and freeing up more land for housing development.
Long commutes become a burden on the workplace
However, for employees who already undertake long commutes, the housing crisis directly impacts the workplace. Labor lawyer Wendell Bloom of Wendel Bloem Attorneys reported that workers usually expect to organize their own travel to work unless their employment contracts provide for travel expense compensation or housing provision.