Gumtree supports equality of access to housing. We encourage users of our site to follow appropriate guidelines to comply with the human rights legislation that is in place in all of South Africa’s provinces, as well as any applicable local regulations.

These laws prohibit denying a person housing, or discriminating in a tenancy agreement, based on the following prohibited grounds:

• Race

• Gender

• Sex

• Pregnancy

• Marital status

• Ethnic or social origin

• Colour

• Sexual orientation

• Age

• Disability

• Religion

• Conscience

• Belief

• Culture

• Language and birth; or

• Any other ground where discrimination based on that other ground –
  • Causes or perpetuates systemic disadvantage
  • Undermines human dignity; or
  • Adversely affects the equal enjoyment of a person’s rights and freedoms in a serious manner that is comparable to discrimination on one of the grounds mentioned above
     

Property Owner's & Manager's Responsibilities

As a property owner or manager you have a responsibility not to discriminate in the rental of property on the basis of the prohibited grounds of discrimination. Similarly, persons acting on your behalf in a rental transaction have a responsibility not to discriminate on the basis of the prohibited grounds of discrimination. It is not allowed to obey a request from a property owner or manager to act in a discriminatory manner in a lease or rental. Moreover, a property owner or manager cannot establish discriminatory terms or conditions in the purchase or rental of a residential dwelling, deny that housing is available, or advertise that the property is available only to persons of a certain gender, age, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, disability, familial status, national origin, or any other prohibited ground of discrimination.
 

Renter's Rights

As someone seeking to rent an apartment, house or condo, you have the right to expect that housing will be available to you without discrimination or other limitations based on the prohibited grounds of discrimination. This includes the right to expect equal professional service, the opportunity to consider a broad range of housing choices, no discriminatory limitations on communities or locations of housing, no discrimination in the pricing or financing of housing, reasonable accommodations in rules, practices and procedures for persons with disabilities, and to be free from harassment or intimidation for exercising your rights.
 

Roomshares & Gender

If you are looking to find a room to share or someone to share a room with, we understand that you might prefer to share with someone of the same gender. We don't mind if in your ad you specify the gender of the person you want to share with. 
 

Provincial Law

Please inform yourself about the human rights legislation applicable in your location. If you come across an ad that you believe is discriminatory and you believe that it violates the Gumtree Housing Equality Policy, please flag the ad as prohibited. Gumtree reserves the right to remove an ad if it is flagged on any of our sites, or if we believe it causes problems or violates any law, policy, these terms, or of any party’s rights.