President Cyril Ramaphosa handed permanent houses to families who lost homes in the 2022 floods, at Cornubia in eThekwini on Thursday.
He launched the second phase, where 145 houses are being built, and said 460 permanent homes in total should be complete by mid-2027. Phase I of the wider project is finished: over 2,600 houses are built and in their owners’ hands.
According to the address, the families first went into mass care centres and then temporary emergency accommodation. “Emergency accommodation must never become a permanent way of life,” Ramaphosa said.
What Cornubia covers
The Presidency’s text describes Cornubia as an integrated human settlement of more than 1,300 hectares. On site are a primary school, shops, sports facilities, a hall and a clinic, and plans extend to early childhood centres and transport links.
Ramaphosa said the eThekwini municipality has upgraded wastewater treatment and electricity capacity, built a clinic and a pedestrian bridge over the R102, and that major interchanges nearby are being built. Phase I of the Cornubia Business Park is under construction and has created about 300 jobs. He put the expected total for the wider project at over 2,000 jobs, and said Cornubia should be home to 110,000 or more people within 10 to 15 years.
Source: President Ramaphosa's address at Cornubia, 29 October 2026, citing the Census (1996 and 2022; 2022 given as 'more than 88'). Chart: Rand Desk
The national picture
Ramaphosa said government has provided over 5 million housing opportunities since 1994. He said that, according to the Census, the share of households in formal dwellings rose from 65% in 1996 to more than 88% in 2022. Nearly 4 million individuals remain on the national housing needs register, he said.
He acknowledged that many early houses were built far from jobs and services, a result he tied to apartheid spatial planning. His stated aim is housing near schools, health services and transport. He described a new model in which people receive subsidies for ownership and rental in suitable areas, rather than government building houses for them, along with the release of well-located public land and the unblocking of stalled projects.
Delays and conduct
The president listed problems with construction, beneficiary lists and outstanding title deeds as matters to resolve. He asked that any claim of fraud, queue-jumping, unlawful occupation or tampering with beneficiary lists be reported for investigation, and asked residents not to buy, sell or occupy subsidised houses illegally. “We will not allow corruption, extortion or patronage,” he said.
He added that residents should be told who qualifies, how units are allocated and when relocations happen, so they need not rely on rumours.
The speech came six days before the local government elections. Ramaphosa’s speech to Durban business a day earlier covered the city’s port and jobs. Ramaphosa called on registered voters to vote on Wednesday 4 November and said councillors should treat communities as partners.
The next dated commitment in the address is mid-2027, for the 460 homes.
