Western Cape government, Nedbank partner to protect financially distressed homeowners

The Western Cape government is expanding a pioneering model to protect vulnerable homeowners through a new partnership with Nedbank, building on its strategic housing interventions for residents facing financial distress.

The initiative has already identified 278 Nedbank households facing financial strain, with 48 applications approved to a total value of R6,459,895.64. Overall, the expanded programme is expected to affect 158 bonds and release original title deeds to qualifying homeowners.

The partnership uses two existing provincial housing subsidy programmes: the Individual Housing Subsidy Programme and First Home Finance, formerly known as FLISP. Nedbank screens its customers against the prescribed subsidy criteria, and qualifying homeowners are guided through the application process.

Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers said the government was taking the lead in creating practical, impact-driven solutions. "In my 2026/27 Budget Speech, I issued a clear call to financial institutions to work with us on practical solutions for homeowners experiencing financial distress. Nedbank answered that call," he said.

Nedbank's Managing Executive of Operations, Collections and Recoveries, Nozizwe Tshabuse, said home ownership was about dignity, security and leaving something for the next generation, adding that helping qualifying homeowners secure unencumbered ownership brought the bank's purpose to life.

Simmers said the participation of a second major bank proved the model can be scaled across the province, and renewed the government's call for other financial institutions to join. Assistance is available to qualifying South African citizens in the Western Cape whose mortgaged property is their first and only home, subject to household income criteria.