Four million on housing register await councils' delivery

For the four million people on South Africa’s National Housing Needs Register, the question hanging over the country’s 2026 local government elections is a practical one: will the councils that emerge from coalition talks actually be able to deliver water, electricity and sanitation to the homes they are waiting for?

That figure, reported by Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements in June 2026, stands against just 523,483 applicants approved through the Housing Subsidy System. The committee itself raised concerns about duplicate, unverified and ineligible entries. Charles Everitt, group chief executive at Chas Everitt International Property Group, is blunt about what the register represents. In his view it signals need, not a ready market. Reliable water, sanitation, electricity and roads, along with timely municipal approvals, are what give developers the confidence to plan serviced land and affordable housing, and what allow banks to assess and finance viable projects and qualifying buyers.

The election results that will shape those services are fragmented. Of the country’s 213 municipal councils, 127 are hung, meaning no party won an outright majority, while 72 have outright winners. The ANC remained the largest party nationally and the DA won Cape Town outright, but none of the seven metros outside Cape Town has a majority. Coalition negotiations will now decide who governs and how they respond to financial and infrastructure strain.

The seat counts tell the story of the bargaining ahead. In Johannesburg the DA took 91 of 270 seats, ahead of the ANC on 63 and ActionSA on 43. In Tshwane the DA secured 74 of 214, with ActionSA on 48 and the ANC on 44. In Ekurhuleni the DA won 66 of 224, the ANC 59 and ActionSA 40. In eThekwini the MK Party leads with 86 of 223 seats, ahead of the DA on 57, the ANC on 37 and the IFP on 15, and it too will need partners to govern.

For residents, the stakes are visible in the numbers attached to their own cities. David Ingle, a real estate principal, points out that whoever takes charge of Ekurhuleni inherits the same financial reality: as at 31 May 2026 the municipality owed creditors about R7.4bn, with Eskom and Rand Water among those awaiting payment. Dysfunctional billing and unauthorised, irregular and fruitless expenditure have added to the difficulties, and the 2026/27 budget was passed in June only on its fourth attempt. “An election can change the leadership, but it cannot erase the liabilities,” Ingle said. For property owners, he argues, this goes beyond politics. It is about service delivery, infrastructure maintenance and effective management, because infrastructure needs investment, investment needs revenue, and reliable revenue depends on accurate billing and administration. Even a well-intentioned council, he added, cannot deliver without effective support systems.

Johannesburg’s challenges weigh heaviest given its role in the national economy. The city faces a R64bn water infrastructure repair backlog, collecting R11.9bn in water revenue while only R1.3bn is allocated to Joburg Water for capital expenditure. Businesses and property owners there have been spending substantial sums on diesel, water storage and other emergency measures as unreliable municipal services disrupt operations. At a recent farewell breakfast, outgoing Growthpoint chief executive Norbert Sasse argued that getting Johannesburg right would benefit the wider country, including by improving perceptions of Gauteng as an investment and commercial property destination. His successor, Estienne de Klerk, has called for a closer partnership between the city and the private sector. “We hope that the city … works with business as a key stakeholder,” he said.

Meanwhile, the wider financial backdrop is sobering. In his 2026 budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said 63% of municipalities were in financial distress. The construction industry generated total income of R605.6bn in 2024, and small and micro enterprises accounted for 55.3% of construction jobs, meaning municipal dysfunction threatens livelihoods as well as buildings. “Poor maintenance, unreliable services, weak data and unaffordable finance can stall projects and leave residents underserved,” Everitt said. “Efficient services could turn verified housing need into homes, local contracts, responsible lending and stronger municipal revenue.”

Industry voices see cautious reason for hope. Affordable Living Solutions Africa, an affordable housing developer, said the results created cautious optimism that new municipal leadership could help address the structural obstacles holding back Gauteng’s property industry, supporting investor confidence, service delivery and urban renewal. It cautioned, however, that a sustainable recovery would also depend on job creation, since investment in affordable housing must be matched by employment growth to give households the means to become homeowners.

Gerhard Kotze, chief executive and franchisor at RealNet Properties, urges perspective. Elections change far less in property than headlines suggest, he said. “Politics creates noise, but it does not steer the tide.” The true drivers remain interest rates, bank lending criteria, household affordability, and supply and demand, fundamentals that do not change because a ballot was cast. What does change overnight is client psychology. “Everyone who told you they were waiting until after the election is suddenly looking for direction. We cannot let uncertainty become an excuse for inactivity.” He keeps an eye on the United States because global capital flows and rate expectations take their cues from there, and US fiscal policy, Treasury yields and the dollar can influence the rand, inflation and local borrowing costs, in turn affecting mortgage affordability and buyer demand. “At the same time, our own municipal outcomes directly affect the infrastructure and services that underpin our suburbs,” he said.

The final word belongs to the gap between promise and delivery. A successful turnaround could restore investor confidence, encourage commercial and residential development and improve daily life for residents. But that depends on whether incoming administrations can build stable governments and translate commitments into reliable services and effective municipal management. For the four million still on the register, the wait for water, lights and a home of their own now rests on those coalition tables.