The government, rights activists say, has prioritized building private apartments and student accommodations, which are more profitable than public housing. “People are occupying these buildings because there’s nowhere else where they can access the inner city,” said Khululiwe Bhengu, a senior attorney with the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, a nonprofit. The government, rights activists say, has prioritized the building of private rental units and student accommodations, which are more profitable than the public housing for which poor residents fill long waiting lists. These buildings have slowly filled up with those who could not afford to live elsewhere, she said, as poorer residents found makeshift solutions the government was not providing. “There’s a lack of political will to keep poor people in the inner city,” she said.

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Persons: ”, Khululiwe Bhengu, Thami Hukwe, Bhengu Organizations: Economic Rights Institute of Locations: Johannesburg, Economic Rights Institute of South Africa, “, Africa, ”, Gauteng Province