Hands On - The Earth Report from TVE.org: "Report 1 of 4: Shacking Up - South Africa
Introduction
One of South Africa’s most pressing problems is the provision of suitable shelter for the huge numbers of people living in shacks in the sprawling settlements. These shacks are constructed from anything which can be acquired, such as scrap timber, old roofing sheets etc. and, while they may give some protection from rain and the heat of the sun, they do not provide adequate housing. The poor materials and the makeshift way in which they are constructed also lead to a risk of fire.
The construction of low cost houses in the township of Khayelitsha is based on locally-made building components and has been made possible by the development of equipment which is itself low in cost.
The low cost housing project for townships in South Africa
Work on the project started early in 1994 as a co-operative venture between the International Development Group (IDG) of Birmingham School of Architecture and the Margarette Pierson Research Trust (MPRT), with the support of the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The project included a study, at an early stage, of various low-cost housing schemes in South Africa, built by contractors using standard building materials. The study found that most were built to very low standards and were, in some respects, worse than the shacks they were intended to replace. The study concluded that many of these housing schemes produced houses which:
are neither structurally sound nor suitable for living
have high maintenance requirements due to poor construction
have no control or contribution from the owners
The study indicated that the involvement of the owner as unskilled labour could have saved more than 12% of the cost w"