The Department of Human Settlements (formerly the Department of Housing, and often referred to as DHS) is the department under the Ministry of Human Settlements of the South African government, responsible for matters relating to housing and urban development.
Its primary purpose is the implementation of the constitutional mandate that "everyone has the right to have access to adequate housing." It works in co-operation with the provincial governments, each of which has its own Human Settlements department, and with the municipalities.
As of 2025, the Minister of Human Settlements is Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, the Deputy Minister is Pamela Tshwete.
Budget
The department had a budget for the 2024/2025 fiscal year of R33.6 billion/ 96% or R31.6 billion of that budget was allocated towards transfer payments. Transfer payments consist of conditional grant allocations (R30.1 billion), transfers to entities amounting to R1.5 billion, and other transfers that make up about R10 million. The Emergency Housing Fund budget of R496.7 million constitutes 1% of the total budget.
R4.5 billion was allocated to the Informal Settlement Upgrading Partnership Grant, and R8.7 billion to the Urban Settlements Development Grant for South Africa's metropolitan areas. R13.7 billion was allocated to the country's provinces for the Human Settlements Development Grant. The Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant was allocated R3.3 billion, to ensure the fast-tracking of the delivery of sustainable Human Settlements.