Housing in the Western Cape still reflects the stark contrasts of apartheid and economic divisions. Marianne Merten reports
Daily life in Cape Town is a tale of three cities. Every morning, township commuters queue for the long trek into town, while residents of coloured areas squeeze into taxis for a high-speed chase to the central station, and those from the white areas on the slopes of Table Mountain brave congested highways and roads.
When Llewelyn Gawza first arrived at the Langa hostels in 1970, he shared a unit with 16 bachelors. Now whole families live in one unit.
“You must tell the government, especially here, the Reconstruction and Development Programme money, we don’t see it,” Gawza said.
About two years ago, a handful of the old hostels were converted into family units; dozens still await upgrading.
Five years after the first democratic elections and two years after local government structures were restructured to abolish racially segregated services, the divisions are still there for all to see.
In 1997, Cape Town’s 39 segregated municipalities merged into six. The province transferred responsibility of black local authorities such as Nyanga, Langa and Guguletu – the iKapa administration – to the Cape Town City Council. Khayelitsha, formerly administered by Mfuleni, landed in the Tygerberg Council. Coloured areas previously run by the Cape Metropolitan Council joined the new non-racial administration, so when Durbanville, Parrow and Goodwood joined to form Tygerberg, areas such as Elsies River, Belhar and Ravensmead also came under its control.
Housing in the peninsula reflects the stark contrasts of apartheid and economic divisions, telling the story of just one of South Africa’s many yet to be unified cities.
On the Atlantic seaboard, where houses sell for millions of rands, dozens of homes have been let to foreign visitors for an end of the millen- nium treat. Services such as refuse removal and street lights are provided at a cost.
In coloured areas on the Cape Flats, council housing is provided for hundreds of thousands. But the recent tornado that hit the area showed up the poor quality of the buildings.
While many residents in gang-ridden Manenberg have invested their own money to improve their homes, the area owes the council R17-million in rent arrears and R7- million for lights and water. Figures show only 50 families are up to date with payments.
In the former black townships, one-roomed corrugated iron shacks accommodate families of up to 12. In areas such as Guguletu and Langa, family homes are sub-let room by room, or whole families are accommodated in lean-tos in backyards.
In Brown’s Farm, near Phillippi, and the older sections of Crossroads and Khayelitsha, shack sits next to shack. Thousands still rely on night soil buckets, otherwise there are outside toilets or nearby bushes and embankments. Electricity cables run wild overhead.
In serviced land site development areas such as Weltevreden Valley, the cement brick homes are so small many residents joke they have to step outside to change their mind. Frequently these serviced sites stand next to squatter settlements. Often, first-time homeowners sell their homes and move back into shacks elsewhere.
Council officials are becoming increasingly frustrated. Plans to develop areas are sometimes met with resistance from squatter communities, and the culture of non-payment for services is still entrenched in many communities.
Competing political agendas every so often result in violence, as happened last year at Brown’s Farm. Several people were killed and dozens left homeless when a nearby housing development triggered a long-simmering dispute between the South African National Civic Organisation and the Western Cape United Squatters Association, fuelled by the influence of the local warlords.
A recent survey showed that in the greater metropolitan area 221 000 families are on the housing waiting list, with a further 26 000 joining every year.
The number of shacks are increasing yearly, albeit less so now than from 1993 to 1996. A Cape Town City Council study shows that in 1993 there were 2 785 shacks in Brown’s Farm. This increased to 5 125 in 1996 and 7 481 by May last year.
Since the 1994 election slogan “Houses for All”, numerous projects have been launched to relieve the dire need for homes. However, corruption, building contractor mismanagement, political power plays and non-payment have undermined efforts. The private sector has shied away from the government’s appeal for partnerships.
In Delft South, low-cost housing development has led to sporadic violence, with Tygerberg council officials trying to evict illegal tenants. Many claimed they received the keys to the homes from council officials. Houses there, as in Tafelsig near Mitchells Plain, are crumbling.
Meanwhile, the South Peninsula municipality obtained an interdict against squatters from the Vrygrond settlement after they marched on the contractors building low-cost housing there. At the heart of this is a dispute regarding who the acknowledged community leaders are. One council official said the issue is still not resolved, but construction is proceeding.
The City of Cape Town has openly stated its commitment to poverty relief, and building partnerships with the private sector and communities to unify the city. Providing housing, infrastructure such as roads, and community services on the Cape Flats and in the townships are at the top of the city’s agenda, as is security and cleaning up the CBD.
The council’s two principles in providing housing are equity and fairness. Housing must be supplied in partnership between the council and civil society, says Community Development executive director Ahmedi Vawda. “We ask people to demonstrate the ability to take responsibility. People have a role to play in their own development. Council is moving away from looking at people as passive recipients.”
The council will still be responsible for upgrading hostels in areas such as Nyanga and Langa which house about 70 000 people. Plans for upgrading are under way and should be completed by early next year.
In former coloured townships, council homes have been sold to residents. In the former Black Local Authorities areas, a similar process is under way. Blocks of flats remain a headache because of the complicated sectional title legislation. Instead, the council aims to regain control of these flats, which since the 1980s have fallen prey to gangsters, slum landlords and other non-official interests.
With the exception of the City of Cape Town, most municipalities predominantly rely on central government’s capital housing subsidy and private contractors. The South Peninsula municipality, for example, has adopted an “equitable and sustainable” housing policy which will provide what is called starter homes – generally between 16m2 and 28m2.
Consultants are preparing for an upgrade in Imizama Yethu informal settlement near Hout Bay, and the council has linked this to an education programme on the benefits of owning homes.
The Cape Town City Council recently launched the Cape Town Community Housing Company to provide low-cost housing in conjunction with residents and the private sector. This has been described as an attempt to divorce politics from housing delivery.
Between the beginning of June and the end of August, 25 000 people earning less than R3 500 per month applied to join. Applications had to be closed due to the unexpected demand.
All applicants must qualify for the central government capital housing subsidy administered through the province of R16 000, which is increased to R18 400 because of the province’s bad soil conditions. The council will provide a top-up loan of R5 000 once people commit themselves to saving between R50 and R350 per month for four years.
The housing company borrows money from banks on behalf of the potential homeowners. After saving money for four years, the homeowners receive their title deeds from the company and surplus savings still left in their account. From then on they pay rates and services.
Company chief executive Mervyn Bregman says: “We have created hope for people who have given up.”
Many of the applicants are subtenants living in backyards, shacks or even double garages. They spend between R350 and R800 a month on rent.
The aim of the Cape Town Community Housing Scheme is to provide homes to about 300 families by Christmas.
With greater Cape Town’s move to becoming a unicity by the end of next year, the provision of housing is already being discussed. And Bregman hopes the housing company will be seriously considered as the way to provide quality housing for which people take responsibility.
The three-year-old Victoria Mxenge settlement sandwiched between Nyanga junction and Phillippi is another example of successful private initiative. The community initiative won the presidential award in 1997. About 300 women started a savings club under the South African Homeless People’s Federation. So far 146 homes have been built.
The debate around housing on the peninsula is far from over. The concept of home ownership still has to be cultivated in many areas.
In the face of non-payment, crumbling council housing stock, the lack of council governance in some areas and increasing squatter settlements, the politicians’ will to improve the lives of all and enable people to empower themselves remains the biggest challenge.