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/ 10 December 2007

South Africa’s squatters lose faith in ANC

Just beyond Johannesburg’s affluent suburbs, with their manicured lawns and swimming pools, the shack dwellers of Diepsloot live amid stinking garbage, raw sewage and rats. Disillusioned with politics, many squatters have little faith that their once-champion, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), will find them better homes and opportunities.

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/ 19 August 2004

Jo’burg to transform informal settlements

Thabiso Mahowa is one of about seven million South Africans who live in squatter camps, deprived of basic services like clean water, proper sewerage, roads, and a house he can proudly call home. Now the country’s major economic centre, Johannesburg, is bracing itself for one of its biggest challenges since the demise of apartheid — to do away with the squatter camps, known as informal settlements, within three years.