IRR on Women’s Month: Property rights are women’s rights

The Institute of Race Relations' #WhatSACanBe initiative is focusing attention this Women's Month on one of the foundations of genuine women's empowerment in South Africa: secure property rights.

No one can credibly claim to support women's empowerment if they fail to support the right of women to own, control, inherit, and defend what is theirs. Secure ownership gives women greater independence, while strengthening their ability to provide for their families. 

South Africa’s failure to resolve its longstanding title-deed backlog has left many of the poorest and most vulnerable women to live in homes they cannot prove they own. They may have paid for, occupied, and maintained these properties for years, but remain exposed to administrative failure.

Over the coming days, the IRR will engage directly with the government, particularly the Department of Human Settlements, to demand clear action to strengthen the property rights of vulnerable women.

Says IRR Research Coordinator and Economic Policy Analyst Anlu Keeve: “A woman who owns her home has something that is legally hers, something she can protect, build on and pass to her children.

"But thousands of South African women still live in homes the ownership of which is uncertain because the state has failed to provide proper title. If the government is serious about improving the position of women, it should start by making sure that the property they own is actually recognised and protected."

The IRR will call on the government to explain what it is doing to provide secure title, and to remove the administrative barriers that prevent women from fully benefiting from their property rights.

Media contact: Anlu Keeve IRR Economic Policy Analyst and Research Coordinator Tel: 071 929 9516 Email: anlu@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris IRR Head of Media Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za