Clinton O. Aigbavboa and Prof. Wellington D. Thwala – Housing Experience of South African Low-Income Beneficiaries

Clinton O. Aigbavboa., PhD Candidate and Prof. Wellington D. Thwala., PhD., Eng. – University of Johannesburg – Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Since the inception of the South Africa Government Housing Subsidy Scheme to solve the countries housing problem for the disadvantaged and low income groups, there is limited information available to ascertain the beneficiaries experience since they have been living in the subsidized housing units. This paper presents an evaluation of the post occupancy experience of Housing Subsidy beneficiaries in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is an evaluation of the occupant’s experience since the inception of the policy to date, which is born out of the lack of POE monitoring. The paper present finding on the Socio- economic/demographic profile of the occupants since the housing units were allocated to them. Also, an evaluation of the right to housing is done, to ascertain if the right to housing as contained in the South Africa Constitution is being realized through the subsidized housing units. Others includes the level of beneficiaries’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction, beneficiaries’ home usage and the effect of the housing subsidy scheme on the present demand of housing in the country, since the government has approved housing subsidies for 3.1 million households and constructed over one and a half million housing units. Read more

Moladi: Developing Affordable Housing Solutions in South Africa

www.inclusivebusiness.org. Moladi, a small family-run business based in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, is innovating to address the challenge building sustainable housing for low-income communities. It utilizes a unique plastic injection molded technology to produce cast-in-place mortar structures. The process allows unskilled laborers to use indigenous materials to quickly and cheaply construct high standard permanent buildings that are earthquake, cyclone and tsunami resistant.

Read more: http://www.inclusivebusiness.org/2011/01/moladi-affordable-housing.html

The Netherlands – Digital Museum Of Public Housing And Aedes Archive

socialhistory.org. Amsterdam. In honour of the centennial anniversary of the Housing Act, the IISH was commissioned to compile a digital museum of public housing in 2001. The foundation consisted of the archives and the photograph collection of Aedes, the umbrella of housing construction associations.

The website features the chief developments in Dutch social housing construction in the twentieth century. The century of public housing began with the Housing Act of 1901. This act introduced quality standards for construction and regulated government funding for municipalities and housing construction firms. The resulting developments consisted of stereotypical townhouses, as well as suburbs, blocks of flats and working-class estates, which is most of the housing that surrounds us today.

Fifty-one projects were selected for the new web site: five housing development projects typical of each decade, representing a national cross-section wherever possible. Each project presented features background information and five images. Viewers select housing by period, as well as by project, place, street, province, year, housing construction association and architect or a combination of these criteria.

The Digital Museum is linked to the Museum Het Schip web site, which is the Information and documentation centre for public housing in Amsterdam. Guided tours and exhibitions are organized at Poste Restante, which is located at the former post office in Het Schip. The programme council Wij wonen – 100 jaar Woningwet, is a collaborative effort between the City of Amsterdam, the Stedelijke Woningdienst Amsterdam and the districts, with financial support from the Amsterdamse Federatie van Woningcorporaties.

Read more: http://socialhistory.org/en/collections/aedes-archive

Attie S. van Niekerk – The Broken Circle: The Prevalence of Fear in Low-Cost Housing in South Africa

The South African township is characterised by low-cost houses as well as the so-called ‘shack’ that consists of corrugated iron, plastic and cardboard. In several research projects high levels of fear have been encountered among residents of these low-cost houses, in both rural and urban contexts (Holm, Murray and Pauw, 2005).

The high levels of fear among residents of low-cost housing present us with a combination of problems of a technical, socio-cultural and religious nature. Modern science, as it has developed since the time of the European Renaissance, has not been very successful in addressing this type of problem. Modern science has been remarkably successful in unlocking the secrets of nature and in utilising the potentialities of nature, through a strong emphasis on the superiority of reason. But this emphasis has had a reverse side: scientists tended to dismiss all the non-rational, yet vital elements of human life and reality, such as the destiny of humanity, human freedom and spontaneity (Prigogine and Stengers, 1984: 34-5).

From early on, African writers have pointed out that the rationalism of Western culture – also of Western missionaries – was alien to the African experience. Africans combine political, cultural and religious resistance to Western rationalism; maybe because Western rationalism seems to be closely associated with the desire to control and dominate. Such resistance can be traced back to African writers early in the twentieth century.

African writers have repeatedly pointed out that there are important differences between Western and African thought patterns: in African tradition, causality may be understood in a magical way, because spirit permeates the whole universe to such an extent that the self and the world, mind and matter interpenetrate each other and cannot be distinguished (Anyanwu, 1984: 87-93); Ibe Nwoga (1976: 17-8, 21) contrasts traditional Western man’s more detached, analytical mode of understanding with traditional African man’s more holistic, instinctive mode of understanding.

In this essay I will argue that the prevalence of fear in low-cost housing is a result of the dysfunctional interaction between the modern, Western or global worldview and the traditional African worldview. The different worldviews meet, interact and combine in the household (household can be seen as a micro-system formed by numerous elements that interact and combine to form a whole, showing properties that are properties of the whole, rather than properties of its component parts), and the end result is a rather chaotic manifestation in the household: in the architecture, the social relations, and the interpretation of illness. These aspects are so intertwined that an architectural problem (how to design an energy-efficient house) is related to a religious problem (why do Christians fear that witches will fly through the window?) or maybe to a psychological problem (is such fear a function of conflict with other people?).

Read more: http://rozenbergquarterly.com

Awareness Is Power: Tactics For Staying Safe In Violent Spaces

• by: Bridgett Sass

Unfinished Structure – Photo by author

Violence is everywhere (Lindiwe, Hector Peterson Residence).

In order to understand the concept ‘awareness’, Hastrup’s (1995) explanation of consciousness is invaluable, especially to identify with people’s behaviour in violent situations. She explains that our patterns of thinking are not subject to paths of practical reason, but that we rather constantly reformulate our whole existence through our actions; a reconsideration of our ideas of consciousness is thus necessitated (ibid.: 99). Hastrup reminds us that we are inarticulate and that expression is not limited to the verbal. Expression, rather, takes place in various forms (ibid.).

Given Hastrup’s suggestion to understand consciousness from multiple angles, we approach a field within which questions of ontology and methodology join: how do people think and how do we know? (ibid.; Ross 2004: 35). What tools should anthropologists use to access these forms of consciousness that are so intertwined in social space, affecting it, being affected by it and being its defining capacity? In an environment of violence, students are affected, they can potentially have an influence on this through the tactics they use to stay safe and, at the same time, can become the defining capacity of such an environment. These are among the dynamics involved in conceptualising ‘awareness’ of potential danger in potentially dangerous areas. This awareness is positioned on various levels.

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Moladi – Innovations in Affordable housing

Siemens Stiftung. July, 11, 2012. Decent housing is one of the key factors in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It is not just about putting a roof over someone’s head. Academic research proves that access to a clean and stable home implicates an improvement in security, health and education.

Moladi, a South African based company, makes housing accessible to low-income people through innovative and eco-friendly technology. The Moladi system consists of a reusable and recyclable plastic  formwork mould, which is filled with stoneless cement and a special chemical additive. This additive ensures that, once the mortar is set, the framework can be removed – and reused up to 50 times. According to the founder Hennie Botes, the brickless walls can withstand all types of weather. The formwork is lightweight allowing easy transportation. Due to the simplicity in design and the repetitive application scheme, construction costs can be reduced significantly. The Moladi model is not only cost-effective but fast, too: Botes comments that the wall structure of a house can be completed within one day. A further plus point, especially in remote areas, is that the construction does not require heavy machinery or electricity.

Read more: Empowering People Award. Siemens Stiftung.org : Moladi