THE FULLER CENTER for HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 Issue 1
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THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 Issue 1 The Fuller Center for Housing Western Cape, South Africa Newsletter November 2015 BUILDING OUR FIRST WENDY HOUSE IN IN THIS NOVEMBER, 2015 ISSUE REGISTERED AS A NON PROFIT COMPANY BONTEHEUWEL FOR BACKYARD DWELLERS, CAPE NPC REGISTRATION: 2014/007443/08 TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Why we selected the townships of situated in CENTRAL CAPE CONTENTS Cape Town to launch our building TOWN, were forcibly removed Why Fuller Center for Housing Western program for the Fuller Center for from Cape Town by the previous Cape (FCHWC) selected the townships of Housing Western Cape apartheid government and were Cape Town – p 1 dumped onto the sand dunes of A short history of Bonteheuwel – p 2 The Fuller Center for Housing several townships on the outskirts of Cape Town. The scourge of rampant crime in townships Western Cape started its work in like Bonteheuwel – p 3 2014 and we selected townships A cooperative policy by the City of Cape like Bonteheuwel, Wes bank and Town to provide Backyard dwellers in Delft for very good reasons. townships throughout Cape Town with basic services – p 4 Our building program in Cape Town – p 5 Our first 9 phases – p 5 Why we use Fibre cement cladding – p 7 The scourge of rampant crime in townships like Bonteheuwel – p 3 Luke Staniland,” aptly describes the socio economic conditions in his Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment Firstly, many of us, who lived in of the PhD at University of DISTRICT SIX before, which was Edinburgh in 2011: THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH 2 AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 | Issue 1 Town to work as domestic workers in the homes of wealthy whites and in the city’s restaurants and hotels, as plumbers and construction workers in the city’s building sites, and as factory workers in the light industry of Epping Industrial Estate that bordered the township to the North.” Thus the researcher Staniland A short history of Bonteheuwel “Bonteheuwel was the first ‘coloured’, state rental township, to house people being forcibly removed under the group areas act. People from the recently declared white areas such as Claremont and District 6 moved alongside people from the many coloured squatter communities that dotted the city at this time. Thus were created the now wrote: notoriously known crime infested townships of Cape Town, such as “With only three roads in and out Bonteheuwel, Manenberg, Elsies of the township Bonteheuwel was built around a central shopping River, Lavender Hill, Bishop Lavis, and many others. area and had three secondary The housing that greeted them schools, Arcadia High, when they arrived was simple, Modderdam High and single storey matchbox housing Bonteheuwel High. In 1980 it had with asbestos roofs, although the The Fuller Center for Housing a population of around 45,000, of township was electrified and Western Cape (FCHWC) has which nearly half was aged 18 or plumbed. identified Bonteheuwel as a key under, and an unemployment area where housing is of a critical rate of around 6%. need. When the township was created in 1960, it was sparsely populated, but now it is critically overcrowded with hundreds of backyard dwellers living in appalling conditions. From these simple homes workers commuted into Cape THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH 3 AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 | Issue 1 As the population expanded duplex houses were built in the 1970s in the backyards of existing homes, although overcrowding and poverty was still rife. Interestingly, unlike other coloured townships where large numbers of flats were built Bonteheuwel remained a low rise township of individual houses.” The Founding President and CEO of FCHWC grew up in Bonteheuwel. He lived there from 8 years old, until he got married at age 26. Many bright, talented young people who grew up in gangsterism, crime and drug Bonteheuwel, and who attended addiction mushroomed in those any of the three high schools, areas and many of these formerly Bonteheuwel High, Acadia High ‘coloured’ townships are now School or Modderdam High controlled by drug lords and gang School, have done well for leaders. themselves, and have moved on to live in more affluent areas. When the CEO of FCHWC started his church in Bonteheuwel, he The sad thing is that the new After the demise of structural frequented the township on a generations growing up in these apartheid in South Africa, all regular basis, and it was during townships, are growing up in a former ‘white’ areas became his daily visits to Bonteheuwel much more violent community. available to all the citizens of the that he once again became aware Just recently, on June 7, 2015, two country, as well as to foreigners of the struggles of the backyard young people, in the prime of throughout the world. dwellers in Cape Town. their youth, was shot and killed in This resulted in most successful All families in townships like Bonteheuwel. people leaving the townships like Bonteheuwel have children who Bonteheuwel and moving into qualified themselves at colleges, areas with better facilities (i.e. technical schools and universities, former white areas; the natural and who are great role models for process of upward social the children of these townships. mobility). But they are no longer present A scourge of rampant crime in and have moved on with their Bonteheuwel lives. News 24 had the following report on the incident: Those who stayed behind did not have sufficient positive role “Cape Town – Two teenage boys models; with the result have been killed in a flare-up of THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH 4 AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 | Issue 1 gang violence in Bonteheuwel in Our own research (read our the Western Cape, community extensive research report on this) forum members said on Sunday. indicates that the amount of average income families looking “There were two killings on Friday for decent, affordable homes in night… definitely related to gang Cape Town are closer to 500,000 violence,” Bonteheuwel Joint and the numbers are increasing Peace Forum member Soraya daily. Many back yard families do Salie told News24. not even bother to apply to the We want to make an impact and City of Cape Town for a council She said one of the boys who had to create a positive presence. We house, because they know that been killed was aged 16 and the want to contribute to improving people wait as long as twenty other 17. The older teenager had the living conditions of Cape years to receive a dwelling from been shot 14 times. Town townships and the City Council, hence the communities like Bonteheuwel. Salie said the situation in mushrooming of back yard Bonteheuwel over the weekend One of our greatest challenges in dwellings in townships and had been “very tense”. Cape Town, is the lack of land for squatter camps throughout Cape Town. On Saturday, the funeral of one housing. Even the governing of the teens, as well as those of authorities of the City of Cape three alleged gang members, had Town had to accept the ‘illegal’ taken place. mushrooming of informal dwellings in the backyards of the However, Salie said there had existing families. been a very strong police presence over the last few days, with raids taking place and helicopters flying overhead. Salie said that the community feared the upcoming Youth Day Building our first ‘wendy’ wood public holiday. framed house in Bonteheuwel “Four youths were killed last year. Of particular concern for the FCHWC We don’t want a repeat.” The official website of the City of was the back yard dwellers living in Cape Town indicates that there Cape Town townships. Meanwhile, Salie said that a 13- “are approximately 280 000 The researcher Staniland writes: year-old girl who had been shot in applicants (for housing) on the the face when rival gangs opened database, although this figure “The back yards of many formal fire on Thursday, was recovering. fluctuates daily”. houses house people living in shacks The child was apparently hit by a made of corrugated iron and wood. stray bullet while walking down Democratization also brought with it the street.” an explosion of crime as, particularly in the late 1990s, gangsterism took a It is within this atmosphere and deep hold on the community and led within these conditions that the to many deaths. Drug abuse and FCHWC is rolling out its alcoholism are also commonplace developmental program in and the coming of crystal meth to the Bonteheuwel. THE FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH 5 AFRICA NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2015 | Issue 1 Cape Flats was a particular concern On Wednesday, Mayor Patricia de whilst I was conducting my Lille conducted an inspection of fieldwork.” backyard dwellings in Parkwood as part of the city’s project aimed at Our intervention in townships like improving basic services for 483 Bonteheuwel, is the realization that families in the area. the challenge of informal dwellings in townships are not going to disappear “We use the same infrastructure, the overnight. same water meter. We connect three more people to the same meter with By providing these basic amenities It is a problem that has been created their own card that they can buy their for backyard dwellers, these families more than 50 years ago by the own water with. With that they also realize that such concessions are not previous regime; it has been qualify for the free 450 litres of water necessarily legitimizing informal inherited by the present provincial a day; they also qualify for the free 60 structures in backyards by the City governments, and will still probably kilowatts of electricity,” she said.