Professional Documents
Culture Documents
80
HOUSING STRATEGIES AND THE URBAN POOR
IN SOUTH AFRICA
A Brief Critical Evaluation
Jacobus Johannes Gideon Lombard
July 1996
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the following:
At the University of Natal in Durban: Professors Peter Robinson, Rodney
Harber, Dan Smit and Rob Taylor in the School of Architecture and Allied
Disciplines; Norah Walker of the Built Environment Support Group
(BESG); and Craig Clark, Carey Wilson and Catherine Cross of the
Centre for Social and Development Studies.
Dr. Doug Hindson of the Urban Studies Unit, Institute for Social and Economic
Research at the University of DurbanWestville.
Roger Behrens of the Urban Problems Research Unit at the University of Cape
Town.
Liz Hicks of the Informal Settlements Unit (Natal Region), Urban Foundation,
in Durban.
Philip Harrison of Seneque, Smit and MaughanBrown, planning consultants, in
Durban.
Naas Jordaan of the Informal Housing Unit in the Community Services
Department, Durban City Corporation.
Diane Blades of the Human Sciences Research Council in Johannesburg.
Jay Douwes and Kay Brugge of the National Housing Forum in Johannesburg.
HOUSING STRATEGIES AND THE URBAN POOR IN SOUTH AFRICA
A BRIEF CRITICAL EVALUATION
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Background Information: abbreviations and explanations; financial data
Preface iii
1.0 INTRODUCTION: TOWARDS A GLOBAL PARADIGM FOR
HOUSING THE POOR 1.
6.0 THE INCREMENTAL APPROACH AND STANDARDS: A CRISIS
OF EXPECTATIONS 19.
Appendices 29.
References 34.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE TEXT
ANC African National Congress
BLA Black Local Authority
COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions
CSS Capital Subsidy Scheme
GNU Government of National Unity
GSS Government Subsidy Scheme
IDT Independent Development Trust
MIS Mortgage Indemnity Scheme
NPA Natal Provincial Administration
NGO nongovernment organisation
NHFC National Housing Finance Corporation
NP Nationalist Party
RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme
RSC Regional Services Council
SAHAC South African Housing Advisory Council
SABS South African Bureau of Standards
SAIRR South African Institute of Race Relations
SANCO South African National Civic Organisation
UF Urban Foundation
UN United Nations Organisation
WB World Bank
FINANCIAL DATA RELEVANT TO THE TEXT
The South African currency unit is the Rand. At its inception in 1961 its exchange value was fixed
at ,1.00 = R2.00. From a relative strength of ,1.00 = R1.50 in the early 1980s, it has
markedly declined to a current level of about ,1.00 = R5.80, or $1.00 = R3.63 (July 1995
average.)* The current inflation rate is about 10% (June 1995 average.)* The relative
purchasing power of the Rand currently ranges from ,1.00 = R2.50 to R3.00. The British
convention is used whereby 1 billion = 1 000 000 000 units.
(* Source: South African Business Report, vol.20, no.2, August 1995.)
PREFACE
has been termed a Anegotiated revolution.@ 3
When I left South Africa at the end of 1987 the
country was at a point of crisis. Amidst ever The political will towards resolving the most pressing
increasing levels of violence, a trenchant impasse had issues facing the new government is demonstrated in
been reached between the regime and a determined the Reconstruction and Development Programme
opposition dedicated to removing all vestiges of (RDP) launched at the end of 1994. The RDP aims to
apartheid control. Political change was inevitable. be an integrated, achievable and sustainable socio
Although not having been in South Africa, other than Housing delivery is considered to be an ideal vehicle
intermittently, during the recent past has had its for implementing some key aspects of the initiative,
obvious disadvantages, I have been fortunate in having Asuch as meeting basic needs, developing human
had access to excellent local sources in the supply of resources and building the economy.@ 5 In its draft
topical research material. Being Aon the outside Bill of Rights the ANC also maintains that legislation
looking in@ has also afforded me the opportunity of should be directed at the provision of adequate housing
greater exposure to external sources and criticism, for the whole population through an equitable access
which I trust has informed a more balanced to land. 6 The question as to what constitutes Aadequate
perspective in my understanding of the issues that are housing@, with its implicit level of standards, lies at
examined in this paper. the heart of this paper, and is examined in sections 6.0
and 7.0.
South Africa is currently undergoing the most
farranging transformation in its history as a nation Housing problems in developing countries arise
state, Aperhaps the most anticipated, prolonged, predominantly from rapid population growth which
documented, debated and mediaaccessible invariably accompanies the process of urbanisation.
reconfiguration in history.@ 1 This remarkable process Generally the larger the urban agglomeration, the
flickered into life during the mid1980s, sparked by more complex the housing problem. 7 Most of the
the friction of an intractable confrontation between the population growth in South African urban areas is as a
repressed black majority and the embattled apartheid result of black urbanisation. In 1985 some 53% of
regime, which had been intensifying since the Soweto the black population was urbanised. By 2010 it is
uprising in 1976. estimated that this will increase to 69% (some 33.2
million people), constituting nearly 84% of the total
The realisation that this situation could not be projected urban population of South Africa. 8
maintained indefinitely in the face of internal
opposition, international condemnation and economic For over two decades now South Africa's economic
sanctions, finally precipitated a change in government growth rate has lagged behind its population growth
leadership; the prescient F.W. de Klerk grasped the rate. 9 The resultant decline in GDP per capita has
nettle by unbanning the ANC and releasing its former brought about greater impoverishment, mostly within
leader, Nelson Mandela, in February 1990. Four the black population. It was calculated in 1991 that if
years of protracted negotiations have brought about an poverty were to be eliminated through economic
agreed interim constitution, democratic elections and growth, the economy would have had to have grown at
the installation in May 1994 of a Government of a rate of 5% per annum during the preceding 24
National Unity (GNU) headed by the ANC. 2 A unique years. 10 The current high rate of unemployment
transfer of political power has been achieved in what indicates, however, that the economy will only grow at
i
three to four percent by the end of 1996, declining In sections 1.0 and 2.0 the context of the housing
thereafter; and Anothing in the RDP indicates that issue is considered, both in terms of developments in
government has applied its mind to the issue.@ 11 global strategies and theories during the apartheid era;
and locally in terms of the origins of the housing crisis
There is ample evidence to show that housing deriving from the consequences of land appropriation,
conditions are a reflection of poverty levels, as all rural migration, urbanisation and political control.
indicators of housing quality have been shown to
improve with higher incomes and economic Section 3.0 is a brief analysis of the factors which
development. 12 In 1991 some 67% of black finally dislodged apartheid controls over black housing
households were living in poverty, as compared to and urbanisation, thus revealing the full extent of the
48.9% of all households in South Africa. 13 In addition crisis. Housing and urban issues cannot be isolated
the mean income of the poorest 80% of black from the crucial questions surrounding land tenures
households decreased substantially between 1975 and and rights, and these are critically examined in
1991. In the lower 40% of this group the decline was section 4.0.
almost 40% below an established Aminimum living
level@ (MLL), 14 indicating a serious increase in In section 5.0 the range of housing initiatives
poverty levels over the past two decades. undertaken from about 1980 are assessed within that
period of profound political change. These were
Almost 75% of black rural households in South Africa initiated by the incumbent regime in response to the
are living below the MLL as compared to 28.6% of pressures discussed in section 3.0; then increasingly,
urban households. 15 This imbalance is typical of as state control waned, by private sector and
most developing countries and is considered to be a community sector interests; and latterly by a new and
primary contributory factor to urban migration. With inexperienced Agovernment of national unity.@
an ongoing movement of the poverty locus towards
urban areas, and natural population increase, the Section 6.0 focuses on the current conflict
balance is beginning to change. In 1989 it was surrounding the questions of expectations, standards
estimated that in up to a quarter of the urban areas of and affordability. The danger of the housing issue
developing countries the poor outnumbered their rural once again becoming a political vehicle to the
counterparts, 16 comprising between 30% and 60% of detriment of a sustainable housing process is
their total populations. 17 By 2010 it is estimated that emphasised. Finally in section 7.0 some of the more
some 84% of the population of Gauteng, the most pressing concerns impacting on the effectiveness of
developed and densely populated urban region in housing and urban strategies are summarised, and
South Africa, will fall into the lowincome bracket as certain strategic interventions posited towards
compared to 73% in 1990. 18 For these reasons it is improving the situation of the urban poor.
predicted that Aurban poverty (in South Africa) will
become the most significant and politically explosive
problem in the next century.@ 19
NOTES
ii
12. World Bank 1992, p.12.
13. Whiteford, op.cit.
14.The MLL is defined at a level that provides for the
minimum financial requirements of an urban
household if they are to Amaintain their health
and have acceptable standards of hygiene and
sufficient clothing for their needs.@ (Whiteford
and McGrath 1992, pp.6061.)
15. Whiteford, op.cit., p.66.
16. Hardoy and Satterthwaite 1989, p.6.
17.World Bank op.cit., and UF Research, no.1,
February 1993, p.11.
18. Race Relations Survey 1993/94, p.102.
19. World Bank op.cit.
iii
HOUSING STRATEGIES AND THE URBAN POOR IN SOUTH AFRICA
A BRIEF CRITICAL EVALUATION
1.0 INTRODUCTION be able to meet their own housing needs through
incremental improvements over time. These first
TOWARDS A GLOBAL PARADIGM FOR tenets of an Aenabling@ theory signalled the begin
HOUSING THE POOR nings of a fundamental change in perceptions of, and
approaches to, housing and its attainment by the
During the 1950s and 1960s urban migration and poor. 10
burgeoning informal settlements around the cities of
developing countries generally elicited hostile Initially these ideas contributed to the
responses from governments. The urban poor were Asitesandservices@ approach, 11 first implemented by
considered to be parasites on the formal system, and a the World Bank in terms of its Abasic needs@ policy as
threat to Aorderly urban development@. 1 The a pilot project in Senegal in 1972. 12 Lowincome
destruction of their makeshift structures proved illu households were allocated a plot of land supplied with
sory however, as the perceived Aproblem@ was not basic services and encouraged to undertake the
removed, but simply displaced elsewhere. 2 incremental construction of their own houses, often
within aided selfhelp programmes. Although projects
By the 1960s the concern for controlled urban were driven primarily by technical considerations, the
development and political pressures on governments to objective remained the reduction of housing unit costs
intervene in the housing markets on behalf of the poor and elimination of subsidies. 13 A 1975 World
led to the adoption of public housing programmes. 3 Bank housing sector paper proposed strategies of
These generally failed to meet expectations; inap project intervention as a means towards the alleviation
propriately high standards and increasing of poverty. It was believed that an approach such as
implementation costs required ever higher subsidies Aselfhelp@ in siteandservice projects would increase
that could not be sustained over the longer term. In employment opportunities, and simultaneously resolve
addition designs and locations were invariably the housing crisis in developing countries. 14
illmatched to the needs and affordability levels of the
intended lowincome households, so that higher The project approach to housing delivery was
income groups often ended up as the beneficiaries. 4 supported at the 1976 UN Habitat Conference in
Vancouver where shelter problems were placed on the
The ad hoc exploration of alternative approaches international agenda for the first time. The
subsequently led to the emergence of the Aaided Vancouver Declaration attempted to define a policy
selfhelp@ movement. This embodied an implicit framework for adapting project strategies in
shift away from state housing provision, and developing countries according to their specific needs
represented a first step towards a Asupport approach@ and circumstances. 15 Although focusing on the role
to housing delivery. 5 Although its basis lay in the of the public sector in formulating these strategies, the
reduction of costs by involving the poor in the con importance of the informal sector in project
struction of their own houses, it was argued that this implementation was also recognised. 16
would foster a commitment by them to Atheir@ new
houses, thereby reducing Athe incidence of speculative The sitesandservices approach has however generally
resale to higher income groups.@ 6 In reality not evolved beyond the scale of limited project
however the Aaiders@ tended to dominate the intervention, to that of largescale replicable
initiative, so that the intended beneficiaries often programmes as intended. Projects have experienced
perceived their role as being that of a cheap labour problems similar to those of public housing, and have
resource. They rarely had any more access to basic in fact been described as public housing projects, but
decision making or choice than had the intended Awithout the houses.@ 17 They have proved to be Atoo
beneficiaries of public housing programmes. 7 expensive for poorer groups, in the wrong location and
with plot sizes and layouts which are illmatched to
During the 1960s theorists such as Charles Abrams, 8 the needs and priorities of the intended beneficiaries.@
18
William Mangin and John Turner posited a Major obstacles have also included access to
reconceptualisation of housing supply and delivery. suitable and adequate land, and high costs requiring
They maintained that informal settlements were continued subsidisation:
simply a logical response by the urban poor towards
solving their own accommodation needs. 9 AIt has proved extremely difficult to provide
Furthermore they argued that given access to available sufficient land at prices affordable to the intended
resources, and subject to government support in the users, or to prevent them from capitalising on the
provision of secure tenure and services, the poor would different market values.@ 19
1
the Homeless@ in that year. This programme formed
A growing realisation by some developing country the basis of the AGlobal Strategy for Shelter to the
governments and aid agencies that informal Year 2000,@ which advocates shelter as a basic human
settlements were a potentially efficient method of right, and was adopted by the UN in 1988. 27 The
producing a base housing stock that could then be enabling approach proposes that the role of govern
improved, prompted the introduction of policies of ment be directed towards policy making and
Asettlement upgrading@, primarily through the institutional support of housing delivery mechanisms.
installation of infrastructure and services. 20 A Furthermore, it proposes that the poorest communities
primary objective was to provide security of tenure be at the centre of decisionmaking in a selfsustaining
with the aim of encouraging households to invest their development process, determined by their own criteria
savings in upgrading their own houses. Resultant and priorities. 28
increases in value have however tended to attract
Adownward raiding@ by higher income groups, and Although there is broad agreement on the conceptual
the displacement of lowincome tenants. 21 basis of the enabling approach, and it arguably
remains the touchstone in current thinking towards
Nevertheless, sitesandservices and settlement improving housing strategies globally, disagreements
upgrading schemes have increasingly been have arisen as to the most appropriate vehicles for
successfully linked at project level, as their implementing such strategies. Amidst growing
complementary natures enable existing housing stock controversy, the development of World Bank policy
to be retained whilst displaced households are located recommendations have continued to be informed by a
nearby. Both the lower and lowest income groups marketled approach. This is reinforced in a recent
would thus be enabled to participate in a combined policy paper which advocates private sector
initiative within existing financial constraints. 22 responsibility for lowincome housing provision in
developing countries, and encourages their
Following the generally poor results of direct project governments Ato adopt policies which enable housing
interventions, the World Bank had by the mid1970s markets to work.@ 29
already begun moving its emphasis from project
orientated lending policies towards supporting urban Opponents argue that market forces in developing
structural and institutional capacities in the provision countries are not selfregulating but Athrive under
of lowincome housing finance. 23 This marketled conditions of scarcity@, thus favouring those with
approach was to be carried out within the framework purchasing power in the formal sector. 30 Serious
of an AUrban Management Programme@, as doubts have been expressed as to whether private
elucidated in a 1984 policy document. It emphasised sector interests, operating within a formal sector
the need for urban authorities in developing countries market environment, are compatible with achieving
to Aencourage financial innovation in the provision of affordable housing at the lowest income levels, where
housing finance to households on a financially viable repayments are uncertain, costs relatively high and
basis.@ 24 profit margins tenuous. The informal housing sector,
invariably operating beyond the bounds of strict
These issues were taken up in the agenda of the legality of tenure, arguably remains the only viable
Second International Shelter Conference held in option for the lowest income level group in terms of
Vienna in 1986, which arguably proved to be a major affordable access to shelter.
departure point in the development of future global
housing strategies. The Vienna Recommendations Payne maintains that to Alegalise@ the informal sector,
recognised that strategies directed at public sector thus Aformalising@ it, would tend to increase values,
provision of housing for the poor had generally been a thereby making previously affordable access to shelter
failure, and advocated an enabling role for the state in unaffordable to the poor. 31 Furthermore political
support of private sector housing delivery, particularly obstacles, such as the inequitable distribution of land
in the development of innovative housing finance ownership, can create further demand constraints that
institutions. 25 Furthermore they attempted to define virtually preclude the poor from entering the land and
principles, policies and procedures necessary in any housing markets. Many of the most successful
given context to address housing and urban initiatives have arguably not been marketled, but
development within integrated Anational solutions negotiated with poor communities involving
macroeconomic planning frameworks.@ 26 concessions that have facilitated their access to land
and housing. 32
This Aenabling approach@ informed the new agenda
for human settlement produced at the Habitat session Kuhn postulates that when the idea at the core of a
in Nairobi in 1987. It proposed a programme towards paradigm cannot be further adapted to respond
meeting the global shelter and services needs of the adequately to problems arising within its constituency,
poor as part of the UN initiated AInternational Year of it is seen to be defective, and a new paradigm emerges
2
to replace the old one. 33 According to Hamdi, the apartheid era, and the political transformation of the
Asupport paradigm@ within housing theory, with the country, do however provide a Aclean slate@
enabling approach at its core, has arguably displaced opportunity to benefit from the positive lessons of
the Aprovider paradigm@ as represented by centralised international experience. Although there is clearly no
state control of housing supply. 34 one way to resolve global housing problems, it is the
thesis of this paper that appropriate strategy
Over the past two decades or so, enabling strategies interventions, which enable and empower community
within the support paradigm have been developed and level initiatives towards resolving their own housing
adapted in response to prevailing global concerns, problems, should be at the core of a housing delivery
problems encountered during implementation, and the policy for the urban poor in South Africa. Such an
bias of implementing agencies. Thus a technocratic approach would require a fundamental change in the
emphasis is evident in sitesandservices and way housing issues are perceived, and responded to,
settlement upgrading approaches, an organisational or within a revised economic strategy aimed at
managerial bias in the restructuring of institutions, employment generation, and ultimately the alleviation
and an economic bias in the marketled approach of poverty.
currently favoured by the World Bank.
AThis approach stressed the need to mobilise all the
resources of all the actors in the shelter production
and improvement process. The approach
emphasised that decision making would be left to
the people themselves to determine the priorities,
the pace and extent of the development process.@
36
3
NOTES
4
2.0 HOUSING IN SOUTH AFRICA: controlled occupation) or occupation rights (with
THE SEEDS OF CRISIS controlled ownership). 9 People had no rights to own
or occupy property outside their designated areas,
2.1 Land appropriation and segregation although full ownership rights were denied to blacks
within the areas allocated for their occupation. 10
Land issues tend to be political in nature, often having
deep and emotive historical associations. In the case Land falling outside the group areas and reserves were
of South Africa these originate from the struggle for known as Acontrolled areas@ and comprised mainly
land rights between the black tribes and white settlers agricultural land under white ownership. 11 The
which began during the eighteenth century. The Group Areas Amendment Act of 1955 further
whites, with their superior weapons, ideas of undermined rights of ownership by setting out
individual ownership and introduction of a land procedures for regulating property prices in the open
market, generally gained at the expense of the blacks. 1 market, and for expropriating properties intended for
The growth in hunting, trading, prospecting, and the group area development, largely to the benefit of
establishment of colonies, all contributed to further whites. 12
land dispossession. Large areas were also distributed
by the colonial authorities in lieu of cash payments, or It was not until the 1980s that these restrictions were
used to obtain revenue from the sale of Apublic@ land. 2 relaxed sufficiently to allow blacks stronger rights of
tenure on their land and improvements, including
Title to appropriated land was rapidly introduced for those of full ownership. 13 All restrictions were finally
whites. In the Cape Colony some freehold and removed with the repeal of the Group Areas Acts in
Aquitrent@ 3 titles were granted to small groups of 1991. At that time 87% of the surface area of South
blacks who were mostly employed by whites. Outside Africa Abelonged@ to whites, who comprise less than
the Cape Colony, however, blacks were increasingly 15% of the total population. 14
restricted to Areserves@ on the basis of communal
tenure arrangements. After the Union of South AIn the past few decades 3.5 million people have
Africa was formed in 1910, the new national been dispossessed of land rights because of their
government systematically began segregating blacks race. Before that, millions more were deprived of
and whites, which profoundly affected land rights, land rights by discriminatory statute, not to
access and forms of tenure. mention the earlier dispossession by invasion and
occupation.@ 15
The existing reserves were set aside as Ascheduled
areas@ for black occupation and ownership in terms of 2.2 Rural migration and urbanisation
the 1913 Native Land Act. 4 These areas comprised
7.3% of the country at a time when blacks constituted The rural lifestyles of the seminomadic black
some 67% of the population. In 1936 an additional pastoralists and settler farmers were not conducive to
5.6% was earmarked for allocation; a process that was urban settlement on any scale. The arrival of
yet to be completed some 50 years later. 5 urbanised British settlers from the end of the
eighteenth century however anticipated the
The resultant overcrowding largely precluded any establishment of coastal and later inland settlements,
rights to individual tenure. In any event these were which the whites regarded as their Adomain.@ 16
abandoned in terms of the Native Trust and Land Act With a relatively small white population 17 living
of 1936, and substituted by a form of trust tenure within a largely agrarian economy, urban development
whereby land was purchased on Abehalf@ of blacks for tended to be a slow process. The discovery of
communal use. Unlike quitrent tenure, trust tenure diamonds and gold in the latter half of the nineteenth
was Aprecarious@ and also disliked by those who had century however stimulated the establishment and
come to regard their land holding as an investment. 6 growth of new urban centres such as Johannesburg.
By the 1940s an elaborate legal structure was The necessary importation of capital goods and
dedicated to confining the black majority to rural minerals export also led to further development of the
reserves, although there were exceptions in the port cities. 18
socalled Ablackspots.@ 7
Increasing poverty in the stagnant subsistence
With the implementation of apartheid policies after economies of the overpopulated black reserves
1948, urban residents were further separated into encouraged migration to the emerging urban
racially designated settlement areas with the passing of economies. The Kimberley diamond mines
the Group Areas Acts of 1950 and 1957. 8 Ten kinds introduced the Acompound system@ of temporary
of Agroup area@ were defined for the exclusive occu accommodation in the 1880s to ensure a Areservoir@
pation of each racial group. Each area was to be of labour, and this approach was soon also adopted for
proclaimed in terms of ownership rights (with other workers. 19 Cheap black labour became vital to
5
the economic development of the gold mines, and by
the end of the nineteenth century nearly 100 000
blacks were employed there. 20 2.3 Housing as a political tool
The growing migrant population soon exceeded From the coming to power of the Nationalist
accommodation capacities however, and uncontrolled government in 1948 until the mid1980s, the black
settlements began to appear. The perceived need for housing issue was to play a pivotal role in the
controlled residential areas led to the passing of the attempted implementation of apartheid policies.
Native Reserve Location Act by the Cape colonial Distinct housing strategies were fragmented and
government in 1902. This authorised the allocation subsumed within policies directed at the
of land for black settlement, or Alocations@, outside implementation of an evolving apartheid doctrine.
Awhite@ urban areas, and similar approaches were Comprehensive legislation aimed at controlling black
soon adopted by the other colonial administrations. 21 urbanisation was designed at a national level, and
progressively set in place to Aprescribe the conditions
The urbanisation of the primarily male migrant labour and administration of black urban life, ownership of
proceeded slowly however, and by the early 1920s only land and mobility, and to impose segregation.@ 28
about 13% of the black population was urbanised. Housing supply was to be strictly controlled through
Thereafter a combination of deteriorating conditions in state provision of public rental housing and hostel
the reserves and rapid growth in the urban economies accommodation in dormitory townships. 29
contributed to a dramatic increase in migration. 22
The influx exacerbated the already wretched All forms of informal settlement were to be eliminated
conditions in the locations, which prompted the first from urban areas by providing Ain every town and
black housing schemes near Johannesburg in the early particularly in every industrial area, a potentially
1920s. 23 Growing white concern regarding the comprehensive location site, virtually a native group
perceived threat to white labour, and increasing costs area.@ 30 Housing provision was to be made near
and inability to control the growth of the locations, urban areas for all those black urban residents who
culminated in the passing of the Natives (Urban Areas) qualified in terms of certain state criteria. 31 They
Act of 1923. This arguably established the were often forcibly Aresettled@ in newly developed
framework for future segregationist legislation in Atownships@ of standardised housing units, sometimes
urban areas. 24 with rail access to industrial sites, and separated from
white urban areas by a Acordon sanitaire. @ 32
Urban local authorities were empowered to set aside
land for segregated locations, provide housing for Those urban residents who did not Aqualify@ were
those employed in the urban areas, and make them Arepatriated@ to Asettlement areas@ in the homeland
selffinancing by raising revenues from fines, rentals identified with their supposed tribal affiliation. The
and beer hall profits. Proposals to allow freehold title number of blacks who qualified as urban residents
for blacks in Awhite@ urban areas were denied. were also further reduced by extending homeland
Adoption of the Act was however optional, and most boundaries to include existing townships, such as Kwa
local authorities, fearing excessive financial Mashu near Durban. It is estimated that in excess of
responsibilities, delayed implementation. Growing a million people were moved without consultation
state pressure was later translated into legislation between 1950 and 1990. 33
which compelled compliance and permitted
government intervention in local housing policy. The resettlement policies went hand in hand with the
Thus began a process of erosion of local authority group areas acts. The 1950 Group Areas Act was
autonomy. 25 only made effective after its amendment in 1957; so its
real impact was felt in the 1960s and 70s. 34 Although
During the Second World War housing provision not specifically aimed at urban blacks, the allocation
lagged badly as resources were limited. Rapid of racially zoned urban areas meant that the
industrial growth after the war led to a worsening in relocations would impact on all urban residents, with
the housing situation, and informal settlements the virtual exception of the whites. No less than
proliferated around the urban areas. During the three 99.7% of whites were already resident in what were to
decades from 1921 to 1951 black urbanisation be designated as Awhite group areas@, mainly
quadrupled to nearly 2.4 million, comprising some innercity and suburban areas, whilst the other groups
28% of the black population. 26 Efforts to improve were consigned to the urban periphery. 35
housing provision were largely frustrated by the Implementation was to be carried out by the
growing enormity of the problem, a continuing ACommunity Development Board@ in terms of
reluctance to increase housing subsidies, and Ahousing, development of group areas, resettlement of
uncertainty about the permanence of migrant dislocated persons, slum clearance and urban
settlements. 27 renewal.@ 36
6
AThe energy and resources expended upon housing
At the beginning of the 1960s the government started (were) considerable by any standards; it is only
introducing its policy of territorial apartheid or regrettable that they (were) primarily directed to
Aseparate development@ of the homelands. Industrial the fulfilment of an ideological commitment, at no
decentralisation was proposed as a primary means of small cost to what might have been achieved by
boosting homelands development towards being econ devoting the same resources to the solving of
omically selfsustaining. 37 The political, economic housing problems per se.@ 44
and social containment of urban blacks, influx control,
and limits on the growth of black labour in the urban
areas were supposed to be balanced by decentralised
economic development and settlement. 38 The costs of
urban concentration were advanced by government as
a major reason in support of industrial decentralisation,
although Athere was no empirical evidence to support
this argument.@ 39
It is argued that the real reason was not economic but
political, which created an unresolved Atension
between political goals and economic development
needs.@ 40 Inevitably the economic arguments
prevailed; decentralised development was costly and
generally failed to achieve its objectives. In the face
of increasing rural poverty and unemployment,
urbanisation was the logical solution, and influx
control measures were increasingly ineffectual. In
the Durban area, for example, the proximity and
extent of the KwaZulu homeland boundary made
control measures virtually impossible to enforce. 41
NOTES
7
8. Davenport 1978, p.274. 25. Lemon 1991, p.5.
9. Lemon 1976, pp.7274. 26. Maylam, op.cit.
10. Robertson 1991, pp.119120. 27. Lemon in Lemon (ed.) 1991, p.6.
11. Wolfson,op.cit., p.233. 28. Davies in Lemon (ed.) 1991, p.77.
12. Lemon 1976, pp.72 74. 29. UF Urban Debate 2010, no.9, 1990, p.12.
13. Robertson, op.cit. 30.H.F.Verwoerd, then Minister of Native Affairs,
14. Sachs 1992, p.70. speaking in 1952.
15. Ibid., pp.6869. 31.The Native Laws Amendment Act of 1952 limited
16. Lemon in Lemon (ed.) 1991, p.68. the rights to live permanently in white urban
17.It was not until the midnineteenth century that the areas to those blacks who were born there, those
white population of the country reached 200 000 who had lived there continuously for at least
people. (Lemon 1991, p.3.) fifteen years, and those who had worked for the
18. Lemon, op.cit., p.3. same employer continuously for at least ten years.
19. Fair 1982, pp.4647. They were required to carry Areference books@
20. Ibid., pp.7475. as a means to controlling migration into the
21. Lemon, op.cit., pp.24. urban areas. (Davenport 1978, pp.269270.)
22. Ibid. 32. Davenport 1978, p.269.
23. Lemon 1976, p.70. 33. Lemon, op.cit., p.10.
24. Maylam 1990, cited in Lemon 1991, p.4. 34. Ibid., p.11.
35. Christopher 1989, pp.253267.
36. Lemon, op.cit.
37.Urban Foundation, Urban Debate 2010, no. 3, 1989,
pp.1617.
38. Davies, op.cit., p.83.
39. Urban Foundation, op.cit., p.16.
40. Ibid.
41. Davies, op.cit.
42. Lemon, op.cit., p.19.
43. Davenport 1978, p.270.
44. Lemon 1976, p.74.
8
3.0 THE TURNING OF APARTHEID international economic pressures intensified in
opposition to the intransigence the apartheid regime.
During the 1950s and 1960s political organisation Between 1980 and 1985, South Africa's foreign debt
against oppressive policies affecting migration and increased by 34%, or by 293% in rand currency
urbanisation were largely contained by the state. terms. 8 The rand value also fell heavily relative to
There appeared to be a coexistence between political other currencies. The growing effectiveness of
and economic objectives as the needs of capital were sanctions, disinvestment and finally the withdrawal of
more or less able to accommodate and adapt to the international credit facilities in 1985, severely
apartheid system, although economic growth was not
fostered. 1 Despite the vigorous pursuit of apartheid
policies, by the 1970s they were under increasing
strain as Athe realities of a modernising, urbanising
and industrialising society railed at the bounds of the
ideological straitjacket designed to limit these
developments.@ 2
9
constrained economic growth and development. authorities. The government attempted to
Gross domestic fixed investment collapsed from an reintroduce the principle of economic selfsufficiency
average of 24% of GDP in the 1960s and 1970s to at local level, whilst maintaining control in critical
below 15% in the 1980s. By the second half of the areas such as financial and urban planning policies.
1980s capital growth was down to 1.5% per annum. 9 As a result Amunicipal subsidies were lost, as was the
Declining international investment was also virtually professional expertise, to be replaced by a regime
starving the economy of foreign capital. characterised by corruption and technical
incompetence.@ 19
With the means to capital creation being thus
undermined, it was becoming increasingly evident that With increasing urbanisation, the new BLAs were
economic recovery was inextricably linked to political placed under severe pressure to improve the level of
change. 10 The inevitable acceptance by government infrastructure and services. Without government
of blacks as permanent residents outside Atheir home assistance they could only do this by increasing the
lands@ marked the beginnings of a reversal in rental and services charges of government supplied
apartheid policies that was to impact directly on future housing, their single remaining source of income.
housing and urbanisation strategies: However, increasing unemployment, poverty and
hardship meant that residents could ill afford these
AThe nature of housing provision for lowincome increases. Growing anger and opposition eventually
people in South Africa changed permanently in led to a mass boycott that was to provide Aan ideal
April 1986. It was from that month that influx focus for internal opposition to apartheid...and the
control was abolished. Until then, with freedom of growth of a powerful urban mass movement.@ 20
movement from rural to urban areas severely
restricted, the authorities were able to regulate the The rent boycotts were organised at grassroots level by
demand for housing artificially.@ 11 highly effective local civic associations, which had
evolved from their origins in representing township
The President's Council Report on Urbanisation in community issues to a national level in support of
1985, followed by the White Paper on Urbanisation in political imperatives. 21 The transformation of the
1986, exhibited a more flexible and incorporative Acivics@ into a mass movement 22 empowered the
political approach, but emphasised strategies of town ship communities Ato lead campaigns which
deregulation, privatisation and, in particular, Aorderly played a critical role in transforming the course of
urbanisation@, 12 which was to be implemented in South African politics in the 1980s.@ 23
terms of Adirect control measures, mainly through Campaigns to make the country Aungovernable@ got
existing legislation.@ 13 underway in the mid1980s. The government
responded by imposing a series of states of emergency
Despite its apparent acceptance of black urbanisation, over a period of five years. 24
government was attempting to Aorder@ the process by
substituting its failed policy of Adecentralisation@ of These desperate measures were a tacit admission by
industries and related residential areas to the government that its policies had been eclipsed by
homelands, with one of Adeconcentration@ to the political and economic forces. Strategic alternatives
urban peripheries. 14 The government also introduced
the 1988 Group Areas Amendment Bill in an attempt
to prevent Agreying@ 15 by imposing more severe
strictures on those who contravened group areas
legislation, but met with such resistance that it was
abandoned. 16
10
were exhausted and Areform attempts outdated even
before they could be implemented.@ 25 These combined
pressures left the government with little option but to
turn from the apartheid policies it had so long
perpetrated. The abolition of influx control measures
in 1986 Acould, with a little hindsight, be taken as the
start of the removal of the major features of apart
heid.@ 26
NOTES
11
4.0 THE LAND ISSUE AND HOUSING removals during the apartheid era; and the role of the
market in the reallocation of land. 7
4.1 Access to land
Farreaching proposals have included the total
It is universally accepted that land and housing issues nationalisation of land, with citizens being regarded as
are inextricably linked, to the extent that access to tenants of the state. The ANC Freedom Charter
land is a vital prerequisite to any form of housing purported that the land belongs to those who live and
process. Thus it can be argued that without an initial work on it; a position that is redolent of traditional
understanding of land issues limited progress in tribal forms of communal tenure, but also elicited an
housing delivery can be expected, and any strategies alarmed response from the private sector: AThis is a
towards housing the poor would have little chance of direct statement of the socialist principle in land
success. 1 Despite the many differences between cities apportionment. It has a deep emotional resonance for
in developing countries, constraints on the supply of the dispossessed and is reflected in land invasion,
land and housing are rarely due to an absolute disrespect for private property, rents and services
shortage of basic resources so much as to political, boycotts and, more simply, envy.@ 8
social and institutional constraints; Amainly to the
structures of authority, to the law and its A less radical proposal favoured state ownership of all
administration and the exchange system, usually land as a necessary prerequisite to an equitable
finance.@ 2 A common factor which thus invariably distribution among legitimate claimants. The De
emerges is the exclusion of the poor from the formal Loor Commission 9 in its report of April 1992
land and housing markets. 3 recommended that land acquisition for housing
development be left to the private sector, except in the
In South Africa the Ahousing crisis historically has case of Athe very poor@, when in view of its
been rooted in the land question, and remains to this Anoncommercial nature@ government was to assume
day a political issue and one therefore which may not responsibility. De Loor furthermore recommended
be resolvable solely through the removal of state that, should Apublic sector@ land be made available
intervention.@ 4 The issue of land access, availability for development, it not be utilised Ato the detriment of
and ownership lies at the heart of the political struggle the private sector,@ but that a full cost recovery should
in South Africa, and is a central concern within the be aimed at before disposal. 10
Anew dispensation@. The Land and Group Areas
Acts regulated the use of land in favour of whites at Prior to the general election of April 1994, the
national and local levels. A relatively sophisticated Nationalist government position was to remove all
market economy and a plethora of political, legal and racial impediments from a process of normalisation
institutional controls also ensured that land holdings within a Afree market economy.@ 11 The inherently
outside the homelands were more rigorously defended unequal distribution of resources within the land and
against informal settlement than in most developing housing markets, however, largely precludes the
countries. majority of the population from participating in such
markets due to their deprived economic status and
The inexorable erosion of land rights by successive white class interests. In any event, urban land
white regimes meant that at the end of the apartheid markets in most countries do not operate freely due to
era the black population was confined to 13% of the numerous controls over land use, regulations, and
area of the country, the remainder being primarily development rights. 12
under white ownership. This proportion was also
reflected in urban areas, where whites were allocated In South Africa sophisticated property markets and
an average 87% of the area constituting the designated landuse measures established during the period of
Agroup areas@. Control over land resources, their white political control still favour white property
ownership, use, and distribution was regarded as interests; speculation and artificially induced
critical to retaining Apolitical power and relations of shortages have led to exorbitant land prices. 13
dominance by the minority white group over the Ironically, the abolition of apartheid controls and
majority.@ 5 promotion of a marketled approach, has released land
previously designated for black settlement to
Although the abolition of the Land and Group Areas white speculators. 14
Acts in 1991 was a major step towards a more
equitable distribution of land, the existing pattern, According to Turner, land as a commercial commodity
reflecting previous policies of separate racial and class is inflationary, both in monetary and spatial terms;
development, is well entrenched. Primary difficulties speculation reduces the supply artificially and expands
have thus emerged with respect to establishing builtup areas unnecessarily. 15 If the free market is to
appropriate levels of compensation, or reparation, 6 for remain the prime determinant over the way urban land
past expropriations of land effected through forced is used, speculation and sprawling lowdensity land
12
use will inevitably force the poor out of areas provincial (regional) authorities and formal
amenable to higher income groups. 16 The prime recognition of the settlement, some two years before
urban land has mostly been usurped for white the ANC assumed power as the leading partner in the
settlement, and Awhat is left are either developed areas GNU. The MCA met the requirements of the Apoorest,
that are too costly for the poor to penetrate, or homeless and landless@ inhabitants of Mangaung,
undeveloped land that is itself either too expensive if it which neither the state, local authorities or private
is strategically located, or, if it is located far from developers were able to do. Some 3000 structures were
centres of employment, is also effectively too erected in three months. 23
expensive if transport costs are calculated (sic) into the
equation.@ 17 In recent research the Urban Foundation found that
invaded land had often been earmarked for residential
Much of the land allocated for Alowcost@ housing development; poorer residents in overcrowded
remains unaffordable to the urban poor; that which is townships moved to gain control of housing
affordable is subsidised by the state, but is invariably developments believed to have been targeted at higher
located on urban peripheries at inordinate distances income groups. 24 The invasion of innerurban areas
from employment opportunities. The identification, has lately also become more apparent. Informal
acquisition, and ownership of land have thus emerged structures have appeared in public open space in
as key factors in resolving urban and housing issues. central Johannesburg, and vacant apartment buildings
State intervention is required to regulate and protect have been occupied by the Ahomeless and poor in
the supply of adequate and suitable residential land for raiding parties@ under the leadership of the
the urban poor, as market forces alone are unable to Johannesburg Tenants Association (Jota), Aan activist
address the ever diminishing availability of such land. splinter group formed after the April (1994) Election.@
It is vital that lowincome groups have housing sites 25
13
invasions may yet develop at a scale large enough to land by the poor. Questions as to what land should be
be considered as an alternative form of land delivery. 27 expropriated, how much compensation should be paid,
or restitution made, and who should be placed in
4.2 Land rights and tenures possession, 35 pose a challenge which extends beyond
legal procedures to the deeper issue of human rights.
Following the imposition of the 1913 Land Act, and To this end, the bill of rights in the interim consti
increasingly during the apartheid era, blacks were tution allows for the creation of a Aland claims court@
deprived of land ownership outside the homelands. A that would be accessible to Athe poorest in society@: 36
turning point came in 1975 when some restrictions on
black home ownership in urban townships were APersons who historically have been dispossessed by
removed, largely as a result of pressure from homeland discriminatory statutes have to be given access to
leaders. Although ownership of improvements were affordable land. Everyone should be guaranteed
permitted under a thirtyyear leasehold occupation of land or other space on which to have a home and
the land, 28 freehold rights were not introduced until enjoy personal privacy.@ 37
1986 Aas the culmination of a tortuous decadelong
process of progressively lengthened leasehold systems The Restitution of Land Rights Act passed at the end
and legal semantics.@ 29 of 1994 was the first measure by the new government
towards redressing the imbalance in land ownership. 38
The first proposals towards unrestricted access to land The act provides for a Commission on the Restitution
ownership were contained in the government White of Land Rights that would attempt to mediate disputes.
Paper on Land Reform in early 1991, which included a Claims that could not be settled by the Commission
bill for Aupgrading@ certain tenure rights which were would go to a Land Claims Court which could award
Aless than full ownership@ to Afull title@ rights, and compensation in cases where land was not returned. 39
furthermore proposed steps towards simplifying the As current land legislation carries the imprint of the
complex system of land registration. 30 In response apartheid era, a new unified legislative system is being
the UF advocated a single form of individual tenure initiated, but will take some years to resolve and
based on ownership or freehold. However, communal implement. 40
forms of tenure were also recommended as an option
in urban and particularly rural areas, as it was argued As an interim measure, the Development Facilitation
that freehold tenure could disrupt Along standing Act (DFA) was also passed at the end of 1994 in
social structures,@ and increase the pressures towards support of the rapid implementation of RDP projects.
urban migration. The DFA attempts to set out principles for dealing
with land issues on an equitable basis, and Awill make
There are currently at least ten types of title or land it possible for communities to challenge decisions
tenure systems, and varied forms of land and title taken by government about land.@ 41
registration in the country. 31 Much of it is derived
from a mix of outdated administrative systems, Government strategies in terms of land reform have
political control measures, and traditional forms of yet to unfold, and Wolfson maintains that this may be
landholding that are not clearly defined or understood. a
A thorough investigation is required, involving
participation by all sectors of the communities
concerned, Ain the formulation of an acceptable and
appropriate land policy based on secure and
transferable forms of tenure.@ 32 In the South African
context there are claims that the often >tainted' legal
right to land should be superseded by a >moral= right,
inclusive of concepts such as Abirth rights, inheritance
rights, and rights based on occupation and productive
use of land.@ 33
14
propitious time to act in the remarkable Anew spirit of
reconciliation politics@ that has emerged in the
country. 42 In anticipation of a new White Paper on
Land Reform to be released in October 1995, the ANC
Minister of Land Affairs recently announced that the
expropriation of land to achieve the government's land
reform initiative would only occur when there was Ano
land available on the free market.@ 43
In future, the state as well as the urban poor
themselves will of necessity be required to intervene in
the allocation and management of land, so as to ensure
an affordable delivery of land and services, and
optimal use of their potential. 45
NOTES
15
19. UF Urban Debate 2010, no.10, 1991, p.50. 5.0HOUSING STRATEGIES WITHIN THE NEW
20. Mabin in Swilling et al. (eds.) 1991, p.43. DISPENSATION
21. Krige in Lemon (ed.) 1991, p.114.
22. Collinge, cited in Lemon (ed.) 1991, pp.1519. 5.1 Introduction: The changing role of the state
23. Krige op.cit.
24. UF Research, no.7, 1994, p.13. As apartheid controls receded during the 1980s, the
25. The Financial Mail, 9 December 1994, p.39. critical nature of emerging housing and urban issues
26. UF Research op.cit., p.15. could no longer be ignored. A major policy shift
27. Wolfson op.cit., p.238. became apparent in a 1983 government circular which
28. Lemon 1976, p.79. advocated greater private sector responsibility for
29. Simon in Swilling et al. (eds.) 1991, p.179. lowincome housing delivery and community
30.UF Urban Debate 2010, (unnumbered), May 1991, Aselfhelp initiatives@ facilitated by government. 1
pp.1314.
31. Ibid. These principles were endorsed and developed in the
32. UF Urban Debate 2010, no.2, 1990, p.40. 1986 White Paper on Urbanisation, which also focused
33. UF Research, no.6, 1993, p.2. on the financing of land acquisition and bulk
34. Ibid. infrastructure. In contrast to earlier policy positions,
35. Robertson 1991, p.122. the government now promoted its primary role as that
36. UF Research, no.6, 1991, pp.910. of Afacilitator in the creation of favourable conditions
37. Sachs 1992, p.70. and opportunities for private sector participation,
38.Guardian Newspapers (Associated Press) particularly in financing the acquisition of land and
8 November 1994. urban development for lowincome groups.@ 2
39. Ibid.
40. NHF News, December 1994, p.6. Lemon comments that having exacerbated the
41. Ibid. shortage in housing through misdirected policies and
42. Wolfson op.cit., p.240. resources in previous years, the government withdrew
43. SA Times, 31 May 1995, p.4. from the direct supply of black housing in the 1980s,
44. Ibid. apparently to concentrate on the supply of land and
45. Wolfson op.cit., p.241. bulk infrastructure (and leaving the provision of
lowcost housing to the private sector). 3 The
government had also embarked on the sale of state
rental housing in 1983 in the hope of stimulating the
emergence of a black housing market to replace the
state rental sector. However, until freehold rights
were finally sanctioned in 1987, occupancy rights were
restricted to a 99 year leasehold.
* Social stratification within residential areas.
16
*Industrial and residential Adeconcentration areas@ prohibitive.@ 11
within and between developed areas.
Government strategies in selling off rental housing,
*Increasing privatisation of the means of granting freehold tenure rights and promoting black
production. home ownership as an asset against which capital
could be raised, were arguably also bringing about the
*The devolution of municipal services and urban Acommodification@ of land, housing and services,
management to local authorities. 6 Aand their exchange on the market has little regard for
the social consequences of the transaction.@ 12 State
strategies of deregulating the housing market only
Housing was to be the primary vehicle for privatisation resulted in an increase in the supply of land and
within the process of orderly urbanisation. Vesting housing for the black minority who could afford
the responsibility for housing delivery in the private marketrelated prices. 13
sector brought about a convenient convergence of
government attempts towards greater social stability The repeal of the Group Areas Acts also enabled the
through the creation of a Apropertyowning class@, black middleclass to move into equivalent Awhite@
and private sector interests in entering a potentially residential areas; but the growing lowincome majority
lucrative market with government backing. were effectively confined to what had been the
Ablack@ group areas, namely the townships. Although
As a result housing delivery catered largely for the the Afalse@ scarcity of land created by the Group
relatively small middle and upper income groups, and Areas Acts was to be ameliorated by a 1989 Act, 14
elite residential areas were developed adjacent to, conflicting state departments Acould easily act to block
although separated from, the squalor of the older development, especially of lowcost housing, through
townships. High interest rates, escalating building manipulating the orderly release of state land.@ 15
costs, and growing poverty and unemployment further
denied the majority of the population access to private With the state no longer providing housing stock for
sector housing. Hendler remarks that as the number rental, the lowincome group, excluded from the
of houses provided by the private sector increased, the housing market, have had to pursue Aalternative@ and
number of people able to afford them decreased. 7 Aillegal@ means of land and housing delivery, mostly
in the form of land invasions and the building of
The state simultaneously embarked on additional Abackyard shacks@ in formal townships. (Refer to
strategies in an ongoing attempt to control the section 4.0 ) Wolfson maintains that the development
urbanisation process. AResettlement@ programmes strategies, deregulation and privatisation advocated by
incorporated siteandservice schemes within policies Aorderly urbanisation@ did not address primary issues
of Adeconcentration and decentralisation@, partly to such as Aaffordability, supply or the underutilization
Amaintain a hold over the poor and retain their value of existing and/or future residential land@; and has
as a source of cheap labour.@ 8 However, as has thus arguably been a failure. 16
generally been experienced internationally, these
schemes were constrained by land shortages, and By the end of the 1980s government housing strategies
remained beyond the financial reach of Athose were in a state of confusion. The removal of most
excluded from the conventional housing market.@ 9 apartheid constraints to housing was accompanied by a
growing Apolicy vacuum@ at national level, and an
Township upgrading schemes were also initiated in an increasing proliferation in public sector housing
endeavour to Aplacate@ the majority, whilst isolating agencies with a variety of responsibilities, policies and
the more radical elements, and were later also used as subsidy schemes. 17 There was no single housing policy
a means towards facilitating negotiations between document or proposal; and what there was, was
popular movements and the state. 10 The upgrading described by the World Bank in 1991 as ranking along
was undertaken on a cost recovery basis by mainly with the worst in the world. 18 Policy options were
private sector contractors as part of the state increasingly being debated and promoted beyond the
privatisation initiative. Swilling argues that, as with orbit of the public sector.
private sector housing delivery, this approach to
upgrading had Athe effect....of creating a middleclass 5.2Private sector initiatives: The Urban Foundation
environment which effectively evicts those who cannot and the Independent Development Trust
pay for the new goods and services provided@; and
adds that the strategy failed in the end Abecause the During the 1980s the Urban Foundation (UF) had
tradeoff between political citizenship and urban emerged as the principal private sector organisation
upgrading was roundly rejected by the majority. It concerned with housing and urbanisation issues. 19
was also rejected because the state=s recession induced The UF argued that Ashortages@ and Ahigh costs@
fiscal crisis made the costs of buying off the majority
17
persisted due to the Aabsence of clearly defined goals, regarding the level and mix of services, site layouts
objectives, and roles in current government housing and allocations, and the construction process, making
plans@, 20 and proposed a Anational housing goal@ to Amaximum use@ of local labour and skills. A
ensure a Asustainable housing process in South Africa Aflexible approach@ was intended, with the level of
which would enable all people to secure housing service being negotiated between Athe developer, the
within a safe and healthy environment and within community and the local authority.@ 30 The IDT's
viable communities.@ 21 Furthermore the UF original intention in the design of the CSS was Ato
advocated that Athe informal housing delivery process provide a builtin incentive to the community....to
be positively embraced and promoted in South Africa argue for lower levels of service in order to
as a significant component of a national urban housing reduce....the cost and thereby increase the residual
policy.@ 22 available to them for a top structure.@ 31
The IDT decided to direct the funding resources at AResiduals did not prove an effective mechanism of
housing, education, health and job creation. Based on keeping costs down, or of reducing levels of
UF research findings, over a third of the fund (R750 services. Beneficiaries general lack of access to
million, or approximately US$206 million) was to be information and inability to engage around
used Ato act proactively to facilitate a vigorous and standards prevented this....Incentives will have to
effective housing process; to focus on the poor; and to be found in future schemes to encourage
work for the political, social and economic competitive innovations for substantially ....
reintegration of our cities and towns, thus lowering the costs of delivering services.@ 33
normalising settlement patterns and creating positive
living environments which are economically viable.@
26
The CSS was designed as a Adeveloperdriven@ model
in which the IDT Areplaced government as >enabler=,
To give effect to these objectives, the IDT launched its setting the parameters within which all the role
Capital Subsidy Scheme (CSS) in March 1991. players would operate.@ 34 The objective of
Informed by current World Bank housing strategies, encouraging a rapid developerled supply of completed
the CCS was structured towards focusing on serviced sites, together with meaningful community
Aimproving housing finance institutions, land markets consultation and participation, was largely
and other aspects relevant to housing policy.@ 27 The unsuccessful. It could be argued that these objectives
intention was that the CSS be Aconfined to the poorest were attempting to reconcile inherently conflicting
segment of the urban market@, defined in terms of elements of Asupply@ and Aenabling@ approaches to
Aheads of household@ earning less than R1 000 housing delivery. In their assessment of the CSS,
(approximately US$275) per month. 28 The aim was to Robinson et al. recognise the need to involve
disburse the fund over a two year period by providing Anonprofit, communitybased developers@; and to
security of tenure on a site supplied with Aessential@ nurture Acommunity structures acting as developers.@
35
services and infrastructure by means of a single R7500
(approximately US$2060) capital subsidy to
Aendusers.@ 29 Despite these shortcomings, the CSS initiative did
encourage the participation of a much wider range of
A principle of the CSS was that beneficiaries would be sectors and organisations in Avery lowincome@
involved at community level in decisionmaking housing delivery than had previously been the case. 36
18
As a result Afar more consultation and community corporation with responsibility for the optimal
participation took place around the CSS than had ever allocation of available funding.
occurred before in a South African low income
housing initiative.@ 37 In addition, the potential *The flexible deployment of oneoff capital subsidy
substantially to expand capacities was enhanced allocations to the lowest income level groups to
through the emergence of many NGOs as Amajor provide a minimum of essential services and
players@ in housing delivery. 38 security of tenure. 44
*The establishment of a national finance A....the housing assistance scheme should be aimed
19
at alleviating the housing shortage, increasing the and the proceeds used towards monthly rental
supply of affordable housing, stimulating the payments. 56
delivery process of especially lowcost sites,
promoting homeownership and encouraging The intention was that Categories 1 and 2 were
selfhelp.@ 48 designed for Aless formal housing@, whereas Category
3 would be a Atransitional phase between less formal
The scheme provided for four categories of and more formal housing@, and Category 4 would
Aassistance@ to beneficiaries (allowing for some cater Amainly for formal needs.@ 57 Only in Category
degree of overlapping and choice), graduated 1 was the state seen as the sole provider, whereas the
according to income levels. It started with the private sector was encouraged to participate in the
provision of a site with basic services, and progressed remaining three categories in two ways. In the
to more sophisticated alternatives with decreasing Aproject approach@ the developer would initiate the
subsidy amounts linked to increasing income levels, as undertaking by assembling suitable beneficiaries and
follows: applying for the appropriate subsidies. In the second
Aindividual approach@ beneficiaries would apply
Category 1: Lowest income level households directly for subsidies. It was anticipated that private
(earning up to R1 000, or approximately US$275 per sector developers Awould respond to the market
month) were to be provided with a nominal site with demand created.@ 58
basic services on a Anonownership@ 49 basis, but with
security of tenure. Full site ownership could be The creation of a new Housing Finance Corporation
acquired Aat a later stage.@ 50 was fundamental to the implementation of the policy
proposals. The primary function of the corporation
Category 2: Households earning from R500 to R3 would be to raise funds for housing in the private
000 (approximately US$140 to US$825) per month, sector by issuing securities and providing collateral
who could contribute 10% of their annual income as a warranties. The corporation would provide or facilitate
deposit, were to be provided with the Category 1 loans for land acquisition, and the development of
package, together with a five year loan facility of up to bulk infrastructure and serviced sites. Financial
R5000 (approximately US$1375) for Atechnical support would also be given for project preparation,
assistance and the erection of a house.@ 51 Monthly technical assistance to beneficiaries, the upgrading of
loan repayments were not to exceed 10% of monthly informal settlements and Aurban renewal.@ 59
household income, the balance of the repayment up to
the market interest rate being subsidised by the state In line with World Bank thinking De Loor argues that
through the AHousing Finance Corporation@. The production and allocation decisions should be left to
unsubsidised portion of the loan would be financed market forces, with government playing an enabling
within the private sector. 52 Freehold tenure could be role in the mobilisation of private sector resources for
obtained after the five year repayment period. The housing. Furthermore he argues that in order to
initial deposit amount would contribute to a bring this about, the housing sector be integrated into
community development fund to finance the provision the market economy through increased spending on
of community facilities. 53 housing which would facilitate Achanges in demand
leading to a redistribution of income which would
Category 3: Households in the same income range stimulate growth and job creation.@ 60 The World
as Category 2, but who could contribute 15% of their Bank agreed that the De Loor policy proposals were
annual income as a deposit, were to be provided with Ain line with current international approaches to
access to a oneoff capital subsidy of up to R7 000 housing provision.@ 61
(approximately US$1925) towards acquiring a
Ahousing structure@ on a freehold basis. The Despite recognising the role of Ainformal housing@ in
combined downpayment, backed by a government loan future housing policy, the De Loor Commission
guarantee fund and secure tenure, was considered nevertheless arguably regarded it as a preliminary
sufficient to access private sector mortgage financing stage to entry into the formal housing market. There
to make up the balance of the purchase price of a is no implicit recognition of the capacity of the
Amore formal@ housing unit. 54 informal sector in contributing towards a permanent
means of affordable housing delivery; or any attempt
Category 4: Households having an income of to bring about an appropriate interface between the
between R500 and R3 000 (between approximately formal and informal market sectors.
US$140 and US$825) also had the option of rental
accommodation Ain the formal housing sector.@ 55 A The UF maintained that implementation of the De
deposit of 20% of their annual income was required to Loor proposals would Aundermine progress in
qualify for a government capital subsidy of up to resolving South Africa=s housing crisis.@ 62 The
R6000 (approximately US$1650) to be jointly invested, proposed approach to the poor was regarded as
20
paternalistic, and implementation Awould fail to Initial policy proposals by the NHF advocated housing
stimulate upward socioeconomic mobility or to provision at three levels of affordability:
protect the interests of poor communities.@
Consequently the public sector would become the *The poorest people who could not afford a house
dominant party in housing provision, rather than being Aeven with a subsidy@, were to be provided with
the Aregulator and leader.@ 63 The UF argued for rental accommodation Aat low cost@.
private sector (nongovernment and nonprofit) and
communitybased organisations to be the central * People who could afford housing with a subsidy.
providers of housing, with government providing Akey
interventions@ such as subsidies, which the UF saw as *People who could afford housing loans from
crucial to securing access to housing by the urban institutions and did not need a subsidy. 74
poor. 64
The NHF advocated a capital subsidy as an interim
5.4Exploring the alternatives: The National measure in the provision of a serviced site and
Housing Forum structure, although the subsidy could be used for
alternative rental or purchase options with
The National Housing Forum was established in concomitant forms of secure tenure. In addition, state
August 1992 Ain an attempt to bring a wider range of interventions underpinned by Aprivate sector NGOs@
role players into the debate and to determine the were proposed to promote access to Awell located land,
broader housing requirements of the community and to housing credit, to a range of types of housing, and
elements of a unitary housing policy.@ 65 It was to local government services.@ 75
constituted from government, political, community
and private sector groups Arepresenting the most In developing these ideas, the NHF put together the
inclusive process of policy development ever following Apackage of....new initiatives@ at the
undertaken in South Africa in respect of housing.@ 66 beginning of 1994 aimed at Amaking homes affordable
The longterm aim of the NHF was to develop a new to millions more people@. 76
strategy and policy through an extensive negotiating
process which would "redress the imbalances in the *Three Alump sum subsidy@ amounts were
supply of houses and meet future needs for shelter.@ 67 proposed, with the lowest household monthly
income level, set at up to R1500 (approximately
Several issues were identified in the first phase as US$415), qualifying for the highest amount of
priorities for government action. These included R12500 (approximately US$3440). This subsidy
access to land by the poor, emergency provision of was targeted at the Amost poor@, and was
services, and the inadequacy of community considered sufficient to Acover the cost of a
participation in policy formulation and housing serviced site and some building materials, but not
delivery. The second phase involved the creation of Aa a home.@ 77 A homeloan was advised as a
single housing....structure in South Africa through supplement to Abuy a home@.
which all housing funds could be channelled,@ 68
leading in the final phase to Arecommendations for a *A Mortgage Indemnity Scheme (MIS) to encourage
housing strategy.@ 69 formal sector financial institutions in lending to
lower income groups.
The NHF maintained a close relationship with the
interim government, ensuring that Apolicy positions *Alternative credit sources, Abecause the banks are
were developed through a process of bilateral unable to supply loans to everyone in the
negotiations between the Department of Housing and lowtomiddle income group@, the NHF was
the NHF.@ 70 By August 1993 the Interim Alooking into how specialised lending institutions
Arrangement for Housing agreed between the NHF can access the money they need to lend to more
and the government 71 (and included in the Housing homebuyers@, whilst also developing financial
Arrangements Act of 1993), provided for the mechanisms at local and community levels. 78
establishment of a National Housing Board to advise
government on national policy issues, and four *Rental accommodation, subsidised Afor the very
Regional Housing Boards Ato adjudicate the allocation poor@ who cannot afford any form of loan, as
of fiscal resources to projects at the provincial well as for Apeople who don't want to buy a
level.@ 72 These four Boards were later replaced by house.@ 79
nine Provincial Housing Boards in terms of the agreed
regional structure proscribed in the Housing It was only towards the end of 1993 with the
Amendment Act of 1994. 73 establishment of National and Regional Housing
Boards, which included the NHF and other housing
21
sector groups, and the imminent coordination of all country.@ 84
housing budgets under a Minister of National Housing,
that housing policy started becoming more cohesive. 80 In a recent meeting with the People=s Dialogue, a
A World Bank assessment at the time considered that countrywide federation of some 250 affiliated groups
three primary trends had emerged in the housing pol of Asquatters and homeless people@, the NHF agreed
icy debate: that Ain general the problems of homeless people are
not being adequately dealt with.@ A second meeting
*Massive government intervention in the provision was described by the NHF as being Aprimarily....for
of housing. them to get an idea of what the NHF is doing, and to
think about how they can participate in the NHF's
*Enabling strategies with the state as facilitator of work.@ 85 (my italics). The NHF then advocated a
largely private sector and communitybased Atwo pronged approach@; on the one hand this would
approaches to housing delivery. be a Aformal approach to build enough normal
houses@, whilst on the other an Ainformal approach@
*Enabling strategies based on a programme of would be Aaimed at giving homeless people what they
subsidies aimed at the lowincome sector.
need right now serviced land where they can build
their shacks.@ 86
The World Bank commented that enabling strategies
did not imply a passive public sector role, but active
intervention on both the demand and the supply sides
5.5New policy directions: The Botshabelo Accord,
of housing. On the demand side this would be to
The Housing White Paper and the RDP
increase the availability of housing finance, securing
appropriate forms of tenure and Adesigning effective
The recently appointed National Housing Minister, Joe
subsidies@. On the supply side this would include
Slovo, admitted during an address to the NHF plenary
adequate infrastructure, servicing, and rationalisation in August 1994, that: AWe are talking about a
of legal and regulatory frameworks. Approaches
minority if we focus on people who are able to get
combining Aenabling strategies with welldesigned
homeloans. Millions of South Africans estimates
subsidy schemes have the greatest potential of meeting say perhaps 65% are so poor that they have no hope
the housing challenge of the urban sector in South of getting credit to supplement their subsidies. These
Africa.@ 81 The World Bank recommended that the are people who earn between R1500 (approximately
administration of subsidies be Atransparent@ to ensure US$415) month and absolutely nothing.@ 87 (my
that the poor were Atargeted@, and that housing italics). In attempting to meet this need, Slovo
strategies ensured a Aselfsustainable flow of funding announced the introduction of a fourth subsidy amount
through....an accessible network of financial institu of R15000 (approximately US$4130) for households
tions.@ 82 earning below R800 (approximately US$220) a
month. 88
22
their goal should be Ato see housing's share of the total The involvement of foreign donor agencies is
state budget increased to 5% and to increase housing increasingly being considered as Acrucial@ to
delivery on a sustainable basis to a peak level of 350 resolving the country's housing problems. The World
000 units per annum within a five year period....in Bank had undertaken to allocate some R2.1 billion
order to reach the government....target of one million (approximately US$580 million) per annum for
houses within five years.@ 91 The Botshabelo Accord housing loans once a Acoherent national housing
committed housing stakeholders to a policy of policy@ had been formulated, and had received support
incrementalism, as well as a mortgage indemnity from Athe main role players.@ 99 On a visit to South
scheme to safeguard the banks, the establishment of a Africa at the end of June 1995, the president of the
National Housing Finance Corporation, and the World Bank confirmed that Athe provision of aid and
release of land for housing. 92 >soft loans=....would be seriously considered.@ 100
The Housing White Paper, released in December 1994,
acknowledged that Athere is no single formula@ for
solving the housing dilemma, and advocated a
Amultifaceted approach serving all segments of the
market,@ 93 but emphasised that Ait is government's
first and foremost priority to deal with the problem of
housing for the poor.@ 94 Surprisingly, however, the
question of rental accommodation was not addressed. 95
The housing challenge would be pursued by means of
seven key strategies through Amobilising and
harnessing the combined resources, efforts and
initiatives of communities, the commercial sector and
the State,@ as follows:
*Rationalising institutional capacities in the housing
sector.
23
The successful implementation of the new housing
policy, as encapsulated in the 1994 Housing White
Paper, is considered to be crucial to the overall success
of the RDP. 101 Almost half the RDP budget of R6
billion (approximately US$1.65 billion) has been
allocated to the Aprovision of housing and
infrastructure.@ 102 As part of a coordinated
initiative, the new Ministry of Housing has been
committed to fulfilling certain Aprogramme targets@
towards Aadvancing the RDP.@ 103 A summary of
this Programme is included at Appendix A.
NOTES
24
66. Housing White Paper 1994, p.18. 93. Financial Mail, Johannesburg, 4 November
67. SAIRR Survey 1993/94, p.325. 1994.
68. Ibid., pp.325326. 94. Housing White Paper 1994, pp.2728.
69. Ibid., p.325. 95.Financial Mail, Johannesburg, 16 December 1994.
70. Housing White Paper op.cit. 96. Housing White Paper op.cit.
71. NHF News, no.10, December 1994. 97. Ibid., p.24.
72. Housing White Paper, op.cit. 98. Financial Mail op.cit.
73. Ibid. 99.Dr. J.H. de Loor, chairman of SAHAC, quoted
74. NHF News, no.5, November 1993. speaking in May 1993.
75. Ibid. 100.SA Times, London, 5 July 1995.
76. NHF News, no.7, March 1994. 101. Housing White Paper, December 1994, p.26.
77. Ibid. 102.The Financial Mail, 7 April 1995, p.27.
78. Ibid. 103. RDP White Paper, November 1994, p.67.
79. Ibid.
80. Robinson op.cit.
81. World Bank, October 1993, p.39.
82.Business Day newspaper, 26 March 1993, cited in
SAIRR Survey 1993/94, p.324.
83. Financial Mail, 26 May 1995.
84. Housing White Paper 1994, p.26.
85. NHF News, no.9, August 1994.
86. Ibid.
87. NHF News, no.9, August 1994, News Feature.
88. Ibid.
89. Ibid.
90. The Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 16 July 1995.
91.Extract from the Declaration of Commitment
signed at the Botshabelo Housing Summit, 27
October 1994.
92.The Weekly Mail and Guardian, Johannesburg,
914 December 1994.
25
communities, particularly as it came at the beginning black people 51/9s (fourroomed houses) in the 1950s,
of a new era in South African politics, and against the and the ANC opposed this. Now we find ourselves
background of virtually no significant public sector offering far less.@ 18 (my italics).
delivery of housing for the poor in many years. As a
result Apeople wanted more than the CSS had to offer Ironically the state provision of subsidised rental
they wanted top structures, and they wanted a far housing, and exclusion of black communities from the
bigger say in the development process.@ 9 housing market prior to the mass sale of rental
housing during the 1980s, may have contributed to a
These expectations were arguably fuelled during the form of dependency on the state which has been
apartheid era by the growing discrepancy between termed Athe culture of entitlement.@ 19 This was
white affluence and black poverty, as reflected in their arguably a contributory factor to the ten year boycott of
respective built environments, and the aspirations of rent and services in the townships which intensified
the deprived majority. The idealised Ahousing after the election of the new government. 20 Rent and
model@ in South Africa, both in white suburbia and services payment boycotts, once aimed at specific dis
black townships Ahas come to be seen as a fully satisfactions, have Ataken on a life of their own,
serviced detached house on a plot.@ 10 In considering giving way to a situation in which people felt
the importance of changing expectations, Mitchell encouraged not to pay for housing and services. The
points out that Athe problem of housing provision and response of many sectors was in turn to boycott those
the meeting of housing need is not only the result of most in need of housing assistance.@ 21
increasing demand for the number of housing
units....but also that any rise in sociallydetermined Since winning the elections, and starting the
housing standards which make each unit more implementation of the RDP, the government has
expensive (in terms of time and resources) to construct attempted to temper expectations Aby fiscal and
and maintain also adds to the size of the task.@ 11 practical realism, if this is not to become a major
constraint to housing development@, but adds,
The apartheid government is considered to have been significantly, that Awhile the nation=s expectations
responsible for Athe inadequate provision of shelter in may be deemed in certain quarters to be high, they are
South Africa, and it was assumed that a new, also eminently reasonable. The manner in which such
nonracial, and democratic state would soon remedy expectations are to be achieved becomes the critical
the problem.@ 12 The adversarial nature of the politi policy question.@ 22
cal process leading up to the first open elections in
1994 inevitably also generated high expectations. However the means towards reconciling these
Posters promised AHomes for All@, and the delivery of expectations with available resources is not articulated
a million houses in five years. 13 Payne has in current housing policy. In a recent policy paper,
commented that Afor people encouraged in the belief the World Bank warns that developingcountry
that government should and could provide governments seeking to meet urban housing needs
highquality housing for all can hardly be blamed for cannot command the resources necessary to Aprovide
demanding it.@ 14 The danger is that most decent housing for everyone@ by proclaiming housing
governments are committed to meeting the political to be Aa welfare good or a basic human need.@ 23
promises that put them in office, and will respond to Harber sees Athe greatest danger@ as being that of Aa
the need for housing Aby building houses, which we passive audience....lining up for handouts,@ 24 a view
later find the poor cannot afford to pay for.@ 15 echoed in the RDP White Paper: AGovernment cannot
operate the RDP on the basis of >handouts= there are
Unfortunately the Aincremental approach@ has come not sufficient resources and such a process would
to be identified with Asites and services@ which have effectively disempower the people it has been designed
Afrom the outset met with strong resistance from to help.@ 25
community groups@, having been perceived during the
apartheid era as being part of a Astate strategy to shift The availability of sustainable resources is vital to the
the burden of housing provision from the state to end current policy approach of subsidising the poor in their
users.@ 16 Sites and Services have been Aassociated quest for shelter. The current debate involves optimal
with attempts to remove squatter settlements and to use of subsidies so as to provide not only access to
control where and how people, especially black people, serviced land, but also an acceptable top structure. If
live....Furthermore many communities have argued substantial subsidies are to be applied in providing
that the provision of a serviced site is not a sufficient houses or delivering a set of services at a particular
level of housing provision.@ 17 This view is echoed by level, government must feel confident that these
Vax Mayekiso in his statement that Apeople are subsidies can be maintained over time. If not,
demanding houses, and they won't accept anything housing policy must be designed to reduce the subsidy
less than four rooms. The Verwoerd regime gave requirement. 26 The current housing directorgeneral
has said that the government will not increase
26
subsidies, and that Athe only way government can As with the previous IDT capital subsidy scheme, the
meet the needs of lowincome earners is to encourage GSS is channelled through developers and is not
selfhelp schemes and innovation.@ 27 directly accessible to the Abeneficiaries@. They thus
have no control over the manner in which Atheir@
With the implementation of the government's capital subsidy amount is allocated and, as serviced site costs
subsidy scheme (GSS) from the beginning of June tend Ato gobble up most of the subsidy@, 36 it may be
1995, certain variations in the form of Aindividual even further reduced in the event of poor site
consolidation or topup subsidies@ have been proposed conditions. A developer recently complained that
towards making the current subsidy rules more flexible. Athe biggest problem....is to make people understand
These refer to separating serviced site costs from the that though they may be entitled to a R15000
subsidised top structure, so that the entire subsidy (approximately US$4130) subsidy, serviced site costs
amount could be Adevoted to the purchase of a could take as much as R8000 (approximately
house@, 28 or used towards Abuilding a structure of US$2200), leaving them with only R7000
around 42 square metres.@ 29 (approximately US$1925) at the end of the day.@ 37
The cost of the serviced site would then be funded by a The result is that developers are competing with one
loan at marketrelated rates extended by a local another in using the subsidy residuals towards
authority over a twenty year period to Athose who can maximising house sizes, but have yet to achieve the 40
prove they have the ability to pay.@ 30 This approach square metre area threshold. 38 Consequently no houses
is advocated as a means to solving Aan embarrassing have been approved or built in the Free State for those
political problem@; namely the contradiction between with household incomes of R1500 (approximately
central government incremental housing policy US$415) per month or less. 39 The danger remains
proposals, and a policy of supplying fully serviced, that the pressures to deliver the 300 000 housing units
completed houses as insisted on by some provincial committed for each year over the fiveyear period of
housing ministers. 31 the RDP programme, 40 will encourage the subversion
of any agreed minimum construction and services
At the launch of the GSS, Nkondo said that those with standards, simply in order to achieve larger houses.
lower incomes would be able to do the same as the Alternatively the imposition of too many restrictions
higher income groups: A....go out, find a house or a may also seriously jeopardise the intended rate of
plot and a builder, apply for a subsidy and rapidly be delivery.
on the way to a home.@ 32 However, the proposed
changes to government subsidy approaches in an A recent report reveals that by the end of February
attempt to target the poorest communities, will 1995 only some 900 houses had been built, although
arguably not benefit these intended beneficiaries. there was Ano shortage@ of subsidy applications and
Should they even qualify for the lowest income subsidy almost 200 000 had been approved. 41 Several reasons
amount of R15000 (approximately US$4130), it would are advanced for the poor rate of delivery, including
be most unlikely that they would meet the relatively the enormity of the task, the Along lead times
stringent requirements for an additional housing loan. necessary to get projects off the ground,....the
mandatory use of local labour,@ 42 and the absence of
The mortgage indemnity scheme (MIS) was launched local government infrastructure. 43
simultaneously with the GSS with the aim of granting
mortgage loans for the first time to those households Prior to the introduction of a housing policy, various
earning less than R3500 (approximately US$960) per organisations and political groupings close to the ANC
44
month. 33 A recent report indicates that banks are had argued that housing provision per se was less
reviewing their lending criteria in respect of important than a Asettlement policy@ which was
lowincome households, and at a time when average directed at providing people with access to urban
lending rates are about 17%, have increased interest resources, and thus very closely tied to overall urban
rates to as much as 22.5% Ain the lowest market development policy: AThe emphasis in such an
segment.@ 34 Ironically Slovo had described the approach falls on structures for ensuring that poor
agreement signed with the banks at the Botshabelo people have access to welllocated land within the
Housing Summit as Aa good agreement made better by cities, have good transportation linking them to work
the reporting mechanisms built into it@, and Acrowned and other opportunities and ensuring that housing
by its >spirit= which entails an implicit commitment policy is part of an integrated overall development
to help the working poor, and to increase year by year strategy.@ 45 Such a position advocated encouraging
the additional resources to be made available by the and facilitating initiatives at local community levels
banks to people with housing subsidies.@ 35 (my towards securing their own housing.
italics).
An alternative position was that the creation of a
Ahousingspecific@ policy should Anot preclude its
27
integration into broader development strategy@, but often at the centre of housing policy and its
cautioned against taking too comprehensive an implementation; and its proponents would argue that
approach as this would Acondemn housing policy to a future growth projections measured in terms of
morass of complexity that will mitigate against the Abacklogs@ are such that Asupply must receive
formulation of any housing programme.@ 46 Smit emphasis.@ 47 As a result Acommunity development@
maintains that such an implicit supply orientation is through participation would be regarded as a
Aspinoff@ which Ashould be taken advantage of
provided that this does not unduly delay supply.@ 48
This argument is supported by Robinson et al. in their
assessment of the IDT capital subsidy scheme (CSS).
They note that the CSS was a multifaceted approach
that included Ahitherto unusual elements,@ such as
community participation and labourbased
construction, Abut fell short of treating housing as an
integrated process.@ (my italics). As a result the
initiative tended to be productdriven, with other
aspects being Aencouraged@ wherever possible, but not
to an extent that would seriously jeopardise the rapid
delivery of the serviced site Aproduct@. Robinson et al.
recommend that Afuture schemes would do well to
adopt a more fully integrated approach.@ 49
AThe concept of housing as a process and not an end
product is paramount....there is simply not enough
money to deliver an estimated 330 000 houses
needed every year for ten years....Upgrading,
supported selfhelp, incremental growth, and other
delivery systems....will come to the fore.@ 51
NOTES
28
1. Financial Mail, 26 May 1995, p.76. 34. The Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 16 July 1995.
2. The Sunday Times, Johannesburg, 16 July 1995. 35. Financial Mail, 4 November 1994.
3. Ibid. 36. Financial Mail, 26 May 1995, p.55.
4. Ibid. 37. Ibid., p. 74.
5.The Weekly Mail and Guardian, 1420 October 38. Ibid., pp.7276.
1994. 39. Ibid., p.72.
6. Financial Mail op.cit. 40. RDP policy framework document 1994, p.22.
7. Ibid., p.64. 41. Financial Mail, 26 May 1995, p.55.
8. Ibid. 42. Ibid.
9. Robinson et al. 1994, p.(x). 43. The Sunday Times op.cit.
10.The Architectural Review, March 1995, pp.7 and 44.Such as the Confederation of South African Trades
47. Union (COSATU), and the Urban Sector
11. Mitchell 1992, p.4. Network.
12. Hendler in Swilling et al. (eds.) 1991, p.205. 45. Smit 1991.
13. Harber 1995, p.46. 46. Ibid.
14. Payne in Payne (ed.) 1984, Introduction, p.6. 47. Ibid.
15. Hamdi 1991, p.148. 48. Ibid.
16. Walker 1992, p.21. 49. Robinson et al. 1994, p.(xii).
17. Ibid. 50. The Sunday Times op.cit.
18. The Weekly Mail and Guardian op.cit. 51. Harber 1994, pp.1112.
19.The Independent on Sunday, 23 October 1994, and
NHF News, August 1994.
20. The Independent on Sunday, 23 October 1994.
21.Preamble to the Housing Accord, Botshabelo, 27
October 1994.
22. Housing White Paper, December 1994, pp.1516.
23. World Bank policy paper, 1992, p. 30.
24. Harber 1995, p.47.
25. RDP White Paper, November 1994, p.42.
26. Smit 1991.
27. Financial Mail, 19 May 1995, p.100.
28. Financial Mail op.cit.
29. Financial Mail, 26 May 1995, p.64.
30. Ibid., p.55.
31. Financial Mail, 19 May 1995, p.100.
32. The Natal Witness, 25 May 1995.
33. Ibid.
increasingly coming to be regarded as a measure of
7.0CONCLUSION: TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE improvement in the state of the human condition, as is
HOUSING PROCESS evident in the 1975 UN Coyococ Declaration:
In economic development theories housing is viewed AOur first concern is to redefine the whole purpose
as a consumption good by some, whilst others argue of development. This should not be to develop
that it is an investment good due to its high capital things, but to develop man. Human beings have
cost relative to its contribution to GDP. An basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, health and
alternative view is that an improvement in the state of education. Any process of growth that does not
human wellbeing should be the raison d'etre of any lead to their fulfilment or, even worse, disrupts
form of development, and that measures of economic them is a travesty of the idea of development.@ 3
Awellbeing@ do not necessarily reflect this. Economic
development is measured in terms of aggregate Although economic considerations should not be the
indicators such as the GNP, which regards market only measure of the Avalue@ of housing in
transactions as positive, irrespective of whether they development, it is arguably selfevident that
have Aproductive or unproductive implications.@ 1 facilitating access to housing on a sustainable basis
would contribute to social stability and wellbeing, as
MaxNeef argues that development indicators should well as to economic growth. Housing development
be capable of distinguishing between positive and would have an indirectly Apositive@ impact on the
negative factors in a Apeoplecentred@ process of economy through stimulating demand, such as for
development which ensures the conservation of natural building materials, constructionrelated services, and
resources. 2 The concept of Adevelopment@ is consumer goods in general, which in turn
29
stimulate employment development challenges faced by South Africa.@ 13
Urban land policies thus lie at the heart of any future
housing strategies; and state intervention in land
opportunities. 4 Investing in housing development markets is vital to securing access by the urban poor to
should thus be regarded as essential to providing a affordable, welllocated land.
Aframework@ for social and economic development in
a Aqualitative@ approach towards overall economic Most urban areas in developing countries have
growth. 5 This view is reflected in the observation by sufficient unused or underutilized land sites within
former World Bank president, Robert McNamara: their Abuiltup@ areas to accommodate lowincome
housing. 14 South African cities are no exception,
A....the Bank's experience clearly being characterised by lowdensity urban sprawl,
demonstrates....that investment in the absolute fragmentation and the apartheid legacy of fractured
poor's human development is not merely more and duplicated land usage. Policies should be directed
equitable social policy, but very sound economics towards locating and releasing suitable land,
as well.@ 6 particularly by means of strategic interventions that
will promote the compaction and densification of
According to Turner, the normal order of the housing urban settlement patterns. 15 Various innovative
development process, in its simplest form, consists of strategies towards securing land for the urban poor
the authorisation of the land to be used, the allocation have been developed and implemented with some
or selfselection of land to be used, and the carrying success in developing countries, particularly in Asia.
out of improvements, inclusive of infrastructure,
building, and landscaping. He argues that this ALand banking@ 16 has proved to be successful in
Anormal order@ has been distorted in recent times by Thailand, and has been advocated by the UF on the
speculative developers and public housing agencies basis that Athe identification of land ahead of need is
who carry out the improvements before the individual the most important variable in limiting the rising price
users are known,A....with consequent economic and of undeveloped land and the scope for speculation in
social losses to the city and nation, though not land.@ 17 A Aland sharing@ 18 option would be
necessarily to the developers themselves.@ 7 tenable in South African cities, where comparatively
large underdeveloped sites lend themselves to
The ongoing deregulation of the urban land market in subdivision and mixed uses, and thus increased
South Africa has in fact encouraged speculation in densities. This approach could also provide realistic
land previously reserved for black settlement, 8 which alternatives for private sector participation towards
has exacerbated the tendency towards lowdensity land reducing or even eliminating external housing
use, thus further excluding the poor from access to subsidies.
welllocated land, as previously discussed in section
4.1. Lowdensity land use seems to be unavoidable if As with land sharing, Aland pooling@ 19 would
the free market in land and housing is allowed to have contribute to urban densification. Although more
unregulated control over the way land is used. complex to implement than the foregoing two
Wolfson argues that Aa more regulated rather than approaches, land pooling arguably has the greatest
deregulated residential land structure is required to potential for predetermining and securing relatively
counter the material constraints that privatised land large areas of land in suitable locations. It is also
delivery imposes on people=s access to land.@ 9 suited to situations where private rights to land and
registration systems are well established, as in South
In market economies the speculative commodification Africa, and may be the least controversial option, as
of land is inherently incompatible with its needbased the state would be enabled to share in the wealth
use value. Sarin argues that if both the rich and the producing aspects of urbanisation, whilst the rights to
poor obtained as much land as required for their own private ownership of property would not be denied. 20
use, there would be no land problem for the poor. 10 Land pooling strategies have been proposed in the
Doebele also notes that land, particularly urban land, development of the Greater Cato Manor area near
is uniquely public, in that its value is created to a large Durban, and are considered as crucial to achieving
extent by the social phenomenon of urbanisation. 11 Aa holistic development.@ 21
AThe issue is that every citizen should have an Wolfson proposes an approach for South African cities
inalienable right to secure tenure to land in a which includes elements of land pooling, banking and
location enabling him access to income and sharing. Suitably located land would be identified by
employment.@ 12 the state in a process of Aofficial mapping@, prior to
the implementation of a land pooling scheme. The
The provision of land to manage the urbanisation land thus acquired would then be Abanked@, but with
process is, however, regarded as Aone of the greatest the longterm objective of securing optimum locations
30
for lowincome housing as opposed to the Ainvestment tenants who abide by an unwritten form of tenure
potential@ of the land. Some of the land gained known as Atenancyatwill.@ The tenants are
through pooling and banking could also be subdivided considered to be the owners of any improvements on
for mixeduse development, and sold or leased to the land, but not of the land itself. Although such a
commerce or industry as a means to crosssubsidising system is open to abuse, particularly by unscrupulous
community housing developments in a land share Ashacklords@ practising Ashack farming@, the basis
approach. With this Adualsector@ structure, land for the development of an equitable shortterm form of
could be removed from the speculative market and tenure arrangement arguably does exist. 31
managed as a Apublic resource by Community Land
Trusts (CLTs).@ 22 Turnbull also proposes a Aduplex tenure@ system for a
community, whereby the ownership of any structures
Access to urban land by the poor must be accompanied and improvements on the land are separated from the
by a basic, easily understood undertaking that tenures ownership of the land itself. The land would be
will be secure, as insecurity of tenure is recognised as collectively owned by a community as a whole by
being Aundoubtedly one of the salient features and proportional shareholding in a cooperative land bank.
causes of the housing crisis in South Africa.@ 23 Householders would be free to sell their houses on the
Simpler tenure arrangements, such as occupancy open market, but would first be obliged to sell their
licences to structures, can provide ample opportunity shareholding to the bank, which would then sell it on
to improve registration of more specific rights in to the new householder at an agreed higher price.
future years. 24 De Loor suggests that land Thus the householders would benefit from increasing
registration procedures could also be simplified by house prices, and the community would benefit from
only including Areal rights@ in title deeds, and increasing land values. Financial gains could be
removing all other Afringe conditions.@ 25 The 1991 utilised towards infrastructural development and other
White Paper on Land Reform proposed a more improvements. Additional revenues could also be
uniform system and Aupgrading of inferior titles@ to generated by leasing some of the land to commercial
full ownership status, as well as providing for undertakings on the basis of a Atemporary@ land share
communal occupation and registration. 26 arrangement. 32
The form of tenure should however be appropriate to As mentioned in section 1.0, obtaining security of
each situation, and informed by the needs and cultures tenure inevitably leads to increased land values, with a
of the communities involved. One of the most concomitant risk that the poor, particularly tenants,
significant shortterm interventions by government may be displaced by higher income groups. Some
would be to provide the widest possible range of countries have introduced measures to prevent this
options for the rapid attainment of security of tenure. 27 from happening. In Botswana, for example, a
Sachs argues that rigid categories of absolute Acertificate of ownership@ (COR) is granted to
ownership should be Aloosened up@ to permit occupants immediately following the upgrading of
appropriate forms of shared interest in the same land: informal settlements. The COR can be converted into
full title rights once a series of development conditions
AIf concepts of timesharing and sectional title, 28 have been satisfied. 33
overturning centuries of tight property concepts,
could be introduced at the behest of developers A specific concern is the neglect by government of
eager to make urban land more profitable, it should forms of tenure that would be appropriate to the large
not be beyond the wit of a new nonracial lowincome rental sector. Many migrants in particular
Parliament to adopt legislation providing for more only require temporary accommodation, as they
equitable and flexible access to....land.@ 29 periodically return to their rural bases, or (as has been
established), move between urban centres in search of
In countries where much of the land is under public employment opportunities. 34 The UF has proposed that
ownership, such as in Zambia, Tanzania and Sudan, the development of a Ashortterm rental market@
governments were among the first to accept the right should be encouraged in tandem with other forms of
of the urban poor to residential land. Hardoy and tenure. 35 Informal tenancy arrangements do exist
Satterthwaite comment that this approach may have that could form the basis for the development of secure
been influenced by traditional attitudes to land, which shortterm forms of tenure.
are more attuned to community needs than individual
rights. 30 The question of access to land and security of tenure
considered in section 4.0, is not one of absolute
So too in South Africa traditional attitudes have shortages, but essentially one of political control.
brought about more equitable forms of informal tenure. Doebele points out furthermore that land availability is
In the Durban region, for example, it has been found controlled through operational policies, structures, and
that most inhabitants of informal settlements are organisations which are expressions of the political
31
power of the Adominant groups in society.@ 36 negotiating institutional arrangements at local levels; 42
and World Bank funding is increasingly being targeted
The actual implementation of any changes to existing directly at community initiatives through
forms of tenure will no doubt be complex, and would Aappropriate@ locally developed institutional
require changes in entrenched attitudes, methods and structures. 43 De Loor also recommends that
institutions. Progressive structures and institutions government institutions should be as close as possible
are indispensable to the implementation of progressive to the communities they are to serve, if the principle of
strategies. Before establishing new institutions, Acommunity participation@ is to be facilitated through
however, governments should be convinced that there Aa decentralised institutional system.@ 44
is a clear need that cannot be met by adapting or
extending existing capacities, so as to avoid To this end a new institutional framework was
duplication and confusion. To be effective, new proposed with a single national housing ministry and
institutions Arequire a clear mandate, access to financing corporation at its core. (Refer to Appendix
adequate funding, and must be invested with adequate B). Its primary functions would include the drafting
authority which is respected by other institutions....@ 37 of enabling legislation and a regulatory framework to
ensure an efficient utilisation of all available
In South Africa there is currently a plethora of resources. 45 Despite criticism of many of the
institutions and structures, including many that are a recommendations in the De Loor Report, these
legacy of the apartheid obsession with controls, and institutional proposals have largely been adopted in
interim structures that have fulfilled a perceived need the 1994 Housing White Paper.
in lieu of ongoing rationalisation under the new
government. The 1994 Housing White Paper affirms With poor populations, and no industrial or
that effective interventions in the housing sector commercial infrastructure, black local authorities have
should be Aperformed by institutions structured, always lacked an adequate tax base. 46 The reluctance
funded and targeted through unambiguous mandates of wealthy white local authorities to crosssubsidise
to fulfil facilitative functions@, thereby enhancing neighbouring black townships and settlements, was
Aoverall cost effectiveness, efficiency and sustained partially addressed in 1991 by a new act 47 which
delivery in the sector.@ 38 encouraged the formation of new forms of urban local
government within the framework of a unified
A primary concern is the lack of local level structures, metropolitan structure. As a result De Loor also
particularly those relating to local authority functions recommended the establishment of metropolitan
and the financing of lowincome housing. During the authorities through the amalgamation of black and
apartheid era, public sector functions were white urban local authorities.
increasingly centralised in the interests of greater
control. The ongoing reform of national structures In determining the extent of the metropolitan authority
towards increasing regional decentralisation has yet to boundaries, the report also advocated that Athe
impact at local levels. Local authorities are thus in a principle of a onecityonetaxbase be generally
transitional phase amidst confusion and lack of clarity accepted.@ The Aonecityonetaxbase@ slogan is a
about responsibilities for different functions by central call for uniting residential areas with the economic
and local government structures. There is still no and fiscal base to which they contribute. The use of a
direct accountability between many existing local metropolitan structure to facilitate a redistribution of
authorities and their constituent communities. 39 fiscal flows to finance the growth of infrastructure in
black townships and settlements, will inform local
The development of new local government structures government fiscal policies and organisational
with strong community support is recognised as structures. 48
fundamental to facilitating a sustainable housing
process. 40 The government is hoping to start Hardoy and Satterthwaite argue that if the rich were to
remedying this problem with the first open local be charged the full costs of all the public investments
government elections proposed for November 1995. from which they benefit, the revenue base Awould
The opportunity would thus present itself for the increase enormously.@ 49 On a recent visit to South
development of local authority structures that are Africa, a senior World Bank official commented that
communitydriven in their responsiveness to local some of the Aconsiderable resources@ being spent on
needs. These structures are crucial to the creation of white residential areas could be diverted to servicing
an enabling framework that would facilitate the new and existing black townships. 50 The integration
functioning of Asocial compacts@ 41 in which the of local authorities, bringing about a mix of income
restructured local authorities would need to play a vital levels in contributing to a single tax base, would allow
part. possibilities of crosssubsidisation to the benefit of the
urban poor, and thus a reduction, or even elimination,
Internationally there is an unmistakeable shift towards of external government subsidies. 51
32
does not benefit the urban poor, so arguably neither do
Subsidies Awithin the fiscal abilities of the state@ are financial institutions in the formal sector. 56
considered central to the government=s approach to
the Aprovision of housing to....the poorest of the Mortgage financing instruments are simply
poor.@ 52 The World Bank argues that subsidies are inappropriate to a majority of lowincome households
generally Aregressive and inequitable....(they) benefit who, with at best irregular incomes, are unable to
the few at the expense of the many, are sometimes a make regular payments, and have no insurance against
heavy fiscal burden on governments, and can lead to unemployment or health risks, even with adequate
under investment in the housing sector as well as collateral. 57 Credit and finance are available in
disruption of the housing finance system. 53 Although developing countries to the relative few who have
subsidy schemes may be necessary, it is important that secure jobs, with reasonable and relatively secure
a means be devised of establishing a realistic threshold incomes, and who want to purchase or build a house
at which subsidy support should start being withdrawn, Awith recognisable >western= specifications.@ 58 The
so as to avert a growing cycle of dependency and mortgage indemnity scheme (MIS) could come to be
institutionalism which would not be sustainable in the viewed simply as a form of future subsidy to cover
longer term. 54 these relatively higher income recipients of mortgages.
Although the World Bank also advocates mortgage
As argued in section 5.4, a significant proportion of type financing of lowincome housing, it admits that
the poor do not qualify for any form of subsidy, or if Aat the lowest levels of economic development
they do, the complexities involved in applying longterm loans through the formal financial system
effectively preclude many eligible applicants. The are rare, as is any form of mortgage finance.@ 59 The
attempted introduction of mortgage financing is government also admits that the Aextremely low
unlikely to meet the needs of the urban poor, or the (almost insignificant) level of end user finance
requirements of the financial institutions. As provision to people in the income categories below
ventured by the spokesman of an informal sector credit R3500 (approximately US$960) is cause for great
scheme, the reason may simply be that A...the housing concern.@ 60 (my italics).
market as defined by government is way out of reach
of blacks.@ 55 Just as the land market, if left to itself, Encouraging private investment of savings in housing
is now being recognised as a way of decreasing
subsidisation by the state. 61 This is evident in the
1994 Housing White Paper, as the functions of the
newly established National Housing Finance
Corporation (NHFC) are to include A....the
identification, encouragement and support of viable,
peopledriven, innovative approaches to the
mobilisation of savings and credit.@ 62
Structures for financing lowincome housing should be
informed by the specific needs, cultures, and financial
capacities of the urban poor. Communitybased
financing structures have achieved success in
providing housing finance to poorer households who
could not obtain formal sector financing. 63 Various
types of group credit scheme have evolved in the
informal sectors of developing countries. In South
Africa many lowincome communities rely on an
informal network of credit and lending, including a
form of revolving credit association known as
Astokvels.@ 64 Group solidarity and peer pressures in
close knit communities have been shown to be an
excellent alternative form of Acollateral@ as compared
to conventional forms such as title to land. 65
33
households in poor communities, and reports the rate particular country.@ 76 (my italics).
of credit defaults at less than 5%. 67 Similarly, the UF
initiated Group Credit Company, which provides loans This begs the question as to whether there are
to Asavings clubs@, has found that lending to the poor perceived Abacklogs@ in informal settlements, in a
is Anot an additional risk, as defaults are very rare.@ 68 situation where people can define their housing needs
If loans are kept small, shortterm and frequent, the according to choice in optimising the scarce resources
question of collateral becomes less important, and available to them. It can be argued that backlogs are
Athere is a builtin incentive to pay.@ 69 a function of legal and institutional constraints
imposed through an explicit or implicit level of
For developments to be affordable, both to the state standards, which would inevitably be beyond the reach
and to the urban poor, the capacities of the poor to of the poor. Turner argues that:
Apay their own way@ must be reflected in the
application of realistic standards. In the 1994 AHousing problems stated as Adeficits@ defined by
Housing White Paper these are further advocated as standards that the majority cannot afford, and
being flexible, according to the needs and technical which government cannot provide in significant
abilities of different communities. 70 The question of quantities, is a recipe for despair.@ 77
standards in housing is, however, complex and
pervasive, affecting virtually every aspect of the This does not mean that standards should be
process, from conceptual definitions of purpose and Aabolished@, but that they be approached from the
adequacy, to technical considerations in construction informed point of view of those for whom they are
and servicing. As a result, there are invariably intended if they are to be enforceable. If they are not,
differences of perception and disagreements as to what they will either be ignored, or their implementation
criteria should constitute an acceptable Aminimum will fail to meet the needs of any targeted lowincome
level@ of standards. One of the primary causes of community. Rather than having a situation where
delay to the RDP housing delivery programme, is standards are unenforceable, it would be better to have
attributed to A....the debate over minimum standards negotiated standards that provide the minimum
in housing construction.@ 71 conditions for a liveable environment. 78 As such,
standards should also be upgradeable, to be capable of
The extent of the Ahousing crisis@ is usually indicated reevaluation and adjustment as the community
by reference to an alarming and increasing Ahousing develops and conditions improve. 79
deficit@ or Abacklog@. In 1992 Kleynhans noted that
estimates in south Africa ranged from 1.5 to 4 million As Hardoy and Satterthwaite point out, the issue is not
housing units. 72 This wide range is arguably necessarily always one of Alowering@ standards, but of
indicative of a difference in perceptions as to what the reaching consensus as to what can be achieved in a
minimum standards of a housing unit are, or indeed, particular community according to their needs and
what a housing unit is comprised of. Without a clear preferences within resource constraints. 80 In fact,
idea of these parameters, any ensuing reasoning is Ahigher@ technical standards may be agreed as being
open to question. appropriate in a situation, for example, where a
community decides that lower levels of maintenance
The De Loor Commission maintained that Aif no and ongoing cost savings would be more beneficial to
minimum standard is set, it can be assumed that there them over the longer term. 81
is no backlog, and that housing demand becomes a
direct derivative of the affordability profile of newly Consultation and participation around standards
formed households.@ 73 On the basis of an established requires a deliberate attempt to build the capacity,
Aminimum standard@ , 74 De Loor estimated a housing particularly of community leaders, to evaluate
backlog of at least 1.3 million housing units in 1990, technical and financial options from a more informed
which Acoincided exactly with the number of informal position. 82 In the provision of services, for example,
houses and shacks.@ 75 a Abenchmark level of service@ should be agreed with
the community as a standard against which the cost
Thus no informal housing Aqualified@ in terms of the effectiveness and other agreed criteria of alternative
De Loor minimum standard. According to this options can easily be evaluated. 83 In this respect the
reasoning, De Loor advocated government World Health Organisation has developed a Minimum
intervention to bridge the perceived gap between Evaluation Procedure (MEP) 84 for water supply and
standards which represented an affordable reality, and sanitation installations which could be modified to
those which are Aaccepted as a sociopolitical meet the wider needs of all services provision. 85
minimum standard@, and concluded that the
There are, however, certain immutable minimum
Aaffordability of housing is directly related to
standards relating to lifethreatening aspects, such as
minimum standards set by the Government of a
fire and disease, which should be considered, clearly
34
explained and rigorously implemented, so as to avoid sites which should comply with the levels of the LOS
the occurrence of settlements designated, according to Matrix and the Red Book amalgamated guidelines@,
Harber, as ZEBRAS (Zero Based Building Regulation no formal standards should be set for informal
Areas). 86 The South African Bureau of Standards structures to be constructed in recognised informal
(SABS) strongly advocates the preservation of settlements. 94 In view of the preceding arguments,
minimum requirements for health and safety, but is such a recommendation would still be regarded as
amenable to greater flexibility in other areas. 87 Most being too prescriptive in nature.
building standards tend to be prescriptive norms
informed by technical considerations developed in
urban industrialised nations and, as previously argued
with respect to mortgage instruments, are
inappropriate to the needs and affordability constraints
of the urban poor in developing countries. Standards
embodied in building regulations should inform and
not penalise:
This approach is also reflected in the recent release by
the Department of National Housing of Guidelines for
the installation of services. Prescriptive standards are
avoided in acknowledgement that Astandards and
levels of service must accord with the community=s
priorities.@ 92 As resources and needs vary from
community to community, it is considered
inappropriate to specify a Astandard set of norms@ for
application in all circumstances. These Guidelines,
known as the ARed Book@, are thus intended to
provide an Aindication as to how the design
parameters for a particular development may be
derived.@ 93 The parameters relate to up to five Alevels
of service@ (LOS) for each type of services installation,
and are summarised with cost implications in a ALOS
Matrix.@ (Refer to Appendix C).
35
The homes and neighbourhoods developed by the
urban poor often contain the seeds of an urban
development far more appropriate to local climate,
culture and resources. 95 The 1994 Housing White
Paper acknowledges that housing, particularly
informal housing Aon sites with basic services and
community facilities@, forms the basis of a continuing
process of rapid urbanisation. 96 One of the greatest
challenges of the decade is to employ housing
strategies in the reconstruction and improvement of
the economic viability of the South African city, so
that it will yield the true qualities of a city, as opposed
to those of Atownships or housing estates.@ 97 A
primary means would be through strategies of
Acompaction@ and Adensification@, whereby growth
would be Aimploded within the boundaries of the
existing cities, as opposed to constantly pushing the
urban edge further outwards.@ 98
The housing crisis will have to be resolved within the
framework of a comprehensive urbanisation strategy
that is balanced in its response to urban and rural
concerns and focused on the management of urban
areas. 99 It is however vital that sufficient consensus
be reached regarding perceptions of standards within
realistic affordability and resource constraints, so as to
ensure a sustainable housing process that will meet the
basic needs of the urban poor.
NOTES
36
22.Wolfson in Swilling et al. (eds.) 1991, pp.247251. 56. McAuslan 1985, p.43.
23.Housing White Paper 1994, p.12. 57. Turner 1992, p.15.
24. Angel in Angel et al. (eds.) 1983, p.544. 58. McAuslan op.cit.
25. De Loor 1992, p.201. 59. World Bank 1992, p.62.
26. Ibid. 60. Housing White Paper 1994, p.40.
27. Housing White Paper op.cit. 61. Hardoy and Satterthwaite 1989, p.117.
28.In South Africa, Asectional title@ is a form of 62. Housing White Paper 1994, p.49.
shared freehold tenure incorporating elements of 63. Hardoy op.cit., p.123.
private and shared ownership rights. 64.AStokvels@ are informal community based
29. Sachs 1992, p.71. financing structures, popular amongst
30. Hardoy and Satterthwaite 1989, p.93. lowerincome black communities, used for
31. Boaden 1986, p.69. generating small loans, usually for the payment of
32. Turnbull in Angel et al. (eds.) 1983, pp.512523. deposits on the piecemeal procurement of
33. NPA 1992, p.52. materials for building a house in stages. (De Loor
34.These migration patterns have been identified in 1992, p.188.)
research by Cross et al. as Aoscillatory
migration@, in terms of which rural to urban
migrants are unable to acquire security of tenure
in urban areas, and so Aoscillate@ between an
urban and rural base; and Acirculatory
migration@, in terms of which migrants continue
to be based in an urban area, but constantly
migrate between urban centres. (Cross et al. in
Hindson and McCarthy (eds.) 1994, pp.8485.)
35. UF Urban Debate 2010, no.10, 1991, pp.2122.
36. Doebele op.cit., p.354.
37.Proceedings of the 8th Interschools Conference on
Appropriate Technologies etc., 1991, p.19.
38. Housing White Paper 1994, p.38.
39. Robinson et al. 1994, p.137.
40. De Loor 1992, p.195
41.AA social compact is an agreement amongst a
number of parties over commitments to undertake
development in accordance with an agreed
development vision, starting with a specific
project(s). The social compact includes the
institutional mechanisms whereby the
stakeholders involved in the compact negotiate,
resolve conflict and reach binding agreements.@
(Appleton, Hindson and Swilling, ASocial com
pacts and the project cycle: A proposed approach
for the NHF.@)
42. UF Research, no.2, March 1993, p.2.
43. World Bank 1992, p.31.
44. De Loor 1992, p.333.
45. Ibid., pp.335336.
46. Robinson op.cit., p.137.
47.The Interim Measures for Local Government Act of
1991.
48. De Loor 1992, p.352.
49. Hardoy and Satterthwaite 1989, p.293.
50.Dr. Stephen Mayo, executive member of the World
Bank: Urban Development Division, reported in
Business Day, 11 May 1993.
51. World Bank (Monitor) October 1993.
52. Housing White Paper 1994, p.41.
53. World Bank 1992, p.76.
54. UF Urban Debate 2010, no.9, 1990, p.41.
55. The Sunday Tribune, Durban, 5 January 1992.
37
65. McAuslan 1985, p.45. 97. De Loor 1992, p.215.
66. Ibid. 98. Dewar 1990.
67. BBC 1 Television news report, 7 September 1995. 99. Gilson 1990, p.2.
68. NPA 1992, p.54. 100.Van Niekerk (Weekly Mail and Guardian) 914
69. McAuslan 1985, p.46. December 1994.
70. Housing White Paper 1994, pp. 3739.
71. Financial Mail special report, 26 May 1995, p.62.
72. Kleynhans 1992.
73. De Loor 1992, p.85.
74.The Aminimum standard@ advocated by the De
Loor commission in the quantification of
Abacklogs@ is given, inter alia, as Aa formal
house providing separate living quarters for
parents and children and separate living quarters
for children of the different sexes once this
becomes necessary.@ Furthermore it must
provide Aprivate ablution facilities and facilities
for the preparation of food@, and the household
must Ahave access to potable water, sanitary
facilities, energy and refuse disposal.@ The
structure Amust provide adequate protection
against the elements, protect the privacy of the
inhabitants, provide for security of tenure and
allow for integration into a system of housing
which in fact relates to the evolution and develop
ment of viable communities.@ (De Loor 1992,
p.80.)
75. De Loor 1992, p.82.
76. Ibid., pp.8485.
77. Turner 1992, p.2.
78. NPA 1992, p.53.
79. Ibid.
80. Hardoy op.cit., pp.3132.
81. Ibid., p.165.
82. Robinson op.cit., p.102.
83. Ibid., p.18.
84.In this context Aevaluation@ is defined as Aa
systematic way of learning from experience and
using the lessons learned both to improve the
planning of future projects and also to take
corrective action to improve the functioning,
utilisation and impact of existing projects.@
(WHO 1983, cited in Cotton and Franceys 1991,
p.134.)
85.Cotton and Franceys 1991, p. 134.
86. Harber 1995, p.46.
87. Financial Mail op.cit., p.75.
88.Saad Yahya, erstwhile Dean of Architecture at the
University of Nairobi, cited in McAuslan 1985,
p.85.
89. Turner 1967, p.168.
90. Turner 1992, p.14.
91.Housing in Southern Africa, September 1992,
pp.2930.
92. The Red Book 1994, chapter 1, p.1.
93. Ibid.
94. De Loor 1992, p.294.
95. Arrossi et al. 1994, p.30.
96. Housing White Paper 1994, p.10.
38
39
Appendix A: Summary of Ministry of Housing Programme to Advance the RDP.
(Source: The RDP White Paper, November 1994, p.67.)
40
41
Appendix B: Schematic Representation of the Institutional Framework
and Flow of Funds proposed by the De Loor Commission.
(Source: The De Loor Report: Housing in South Africa: Proposals on a Policy and Strategy,
SAHAC, April 1992, p.332.)
42
43
Appendix C: The Levels of Service (LOS) Matrix.
(Source: Department of National Housing, Guidelines for the Provision of Engineering Services and
Amenities in Township Development, Revised March 1994, Chapter 1, pp.46.)
44
45
Appendix C /continued
46
47
Appendix C /continued.
48
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