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Source: After Walker, N., 1993. Chapter 4. Current approaches to low-income
housing delivery, In: A New Approach to Housing Delivery: Some Ideas for
Discussion, Built Environment Support Group, University of Natal, Durban,
p. 18 - 38.
See also: lil Anonymous, 1992. Housing in South Africa: proposals on a policy
and strategy, Report prepared by the Task Group on National
Housing Policy and Strategy of the South African Housing Advisory
Council under the chairmanship of Or J.H. De Loer, Report No. RP
79/1992, Government Printer, Pretoria, 409 p.
(ii) Boaden, B., 1990. The myths and the realities of shack upgrading,
Urban Forum, VOL 1(1), p. 75 - 84. (The paper contains a very
useful overview of the difficulties involved in the process of shack
upgrading).
(iii) Botes, L.J.S., Stewart, T. and Wessels, J., 199_6. Conflict in
development: lessons from the housing initiatives in Freedom Square
and Namibia Square, Develooment Southern Africa, VOL 13(3),
p. 453 - 467. (The paper similarly, discusses a number of pitfalls in
respect of housing delivery and the provision of services).
(iv) Gilbert, A., Mabin, A., McCarthy, M. and Watson, V., 1996. A
neglected sector of housing for the poor: subletting, sharing and
informal renting, Development Southern Africa, VOL 13(3),
p. 495 - 497.
Note: lil The housing backlog in NatallKwaZulu (1990 - 201 0) is estimated to
be 726 000 units in the urban areas and 290 000 units in the periurban
and rural areas. (No definitive data on the housing backlog are
available, and numerous guesstimates are evident in the literature)
(Van Gass, 1993, quoted in Walker, 1993 - above).
(ii) Poverty is a very real problem influencing the demand for
conventional housing. Many families are simply unable to purchase
formal housing stock. Inadequate services, insecurity of tenure and
high rentals - especially for backyard shacks - compound the
problems of the urban poor.
(iii) The variety of State and private sector agencies involved in the
supply of housing effectively precludes (in most cases), uniform or
standardized levels of services and infrastructure provision, even
within a given area such as the Durban Functional Region.
(iv) Reservations have been expressed regarding the suitability of
subsidized site and service schemes. The (previous) subsidy
available per site largely covered the costs of land and the
infrastructure required (for example, a VIP toilet and standpipe),
leaving a very small amount for the building of a dwelling. A new
scheme however, was announced in March 1994, with a subsidy of
R12 500 per household earning between R801 - R1 500 a month; a
subsidy of R9 500 for households earning between R1 501 - R2 500