Community Development and Empowerment

Quality Housing through Community Participation: People’s Housing Process in Vosloorus

Planact has been working with the community in the informal settlement of George Sgomora Extension 28 for the past three years. The community was initially developed as a ‘site and service scheme’ and had been looking for government assistance to upgrade their settlement for several years prior to Planact’s involvement. The main goal of Planact’s intervention initially, then, was to facilitate the provision of adequate shelter with secure tenure, in a way that maximized community involvement. The People’s Housing Process seemed like the ideal vehicle to achieve this, and Planact worked to capacitate the community structures necessary to drive the process, assisting the community-based Vosloorus Steering Committee to submit a business plan and subsidy applications, to secure the support of the local Ekurhuleni Metro Council, and finally, to implement the project.

The Department of Housing began approval of the People’s Housing Process subsidy applications in June 2002 and by September had approved the first 250 applicants, so that the first phase of the housing consolidation project could begin (a total of 1000 units to be constructed is the ultimate goal). Construction began on the foundations in November, 2002, and as of the end of September, 2003, all 250 units of Phase I were completed. The houses are 36 square metre brick structures, with mono-pitch roofs. Planact is now assisting with the implementation of Phase II, which will consist of 500 units and is expected to be completed by March, 2005—85 of these housing units have so far been completed. More housing options are available for this phase, to accommodate a greater degree of beneficiary choice.

An important feature in the success of the project was the commitment demonstrated by all stakeholders to work together during planning and implementation of the project. Weekly project team meetings have been held since July 2002 with representatives from the Ekurhuleni Metro Council, the provincial Department of Housing, the Vosloorus Steering Committee and Planact, and it is at these meetings where financial and other decisions are taken. Tasks include decisions on appointing contractors and material suppliers, standards for the construction programme, a development timeline, and project monitoring. The Council is the account administrator and formally appointed as support organisation, and Planact serves as project manager and as the ‘secondary service provider’ to the Vosloorus Steering Committee. Planact and the Steering Committee established a Housing Support Centre, which works with the beneficiaries and emerging contractors to manage the construction process. The Steering Committee regularly communicates with beneficiaries through meetings, and beneficiaries receive one-on-one support through the Housing Support Centre as well. The province and the local council each have building inspectors designated to ensure the quality of the foundations and top structures.

In June of 2002, Planact facilitated building skills training sponsored by the Department of Labour for 98 project beneficiaries, who form a pool of labour for working on all top structures, and, coupled with the construction experience gained from working on the project, will be able to use their skills in future to earn a living. Sixteen emerging contractors from the community were certified through the Department of Labour training process, and ten of them are now active on the project. Each contractor has a team of ten workers, and includes experienced construction workers as well as those newly trained. At least three members of each team are women, a specification that Planact and the Vosloorus Steering Committee insisted upon. Three of the emerging contractors are also women. There is a fixed budget for labour costs for the contractors and laborers. Work by any contractor that is not up to standard is corrected by all construction teams.

Planact’s role as a service provider has proved to be a very critical ingredient in ensuring that the process is indeed truly led by the community. Planact feels that the community is gaining a lot of useful experience as they grapple with the sometimes hard decisions to be made about the project. And they are gaining in confidence to be able to challenge other players and engage with the local council and province effectively. Planact is now working with the Steering Committee to develop a role for the Housing Support Centre that will last beyond the implementation of the housing construction process, and serve as a permanent resource for the community that will respond to both housing and other needs-such as economic development or HIV/AIDS.

(July, 2004)

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