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Apartheid's Legacy: Affordable Housing Sparse For South Africa's Poor

Posted by: David Gest

16 April 2006 - 5:00am

A recent court case has focused attention on Johannesburg's decrepit housing, although the government insists its building pace is adequate.

"San Jose, a 10-floor building with the concrete walkways and wide picture windows of the 1950s or 1960s, has been at the centre of a legal battle that could have profound consequences for how central Johannesburg develops in the next few years.

Mr Chawe, who sells clothing on the city's streets, moved into the block in 2004, when the city authorities had already announced plans to evict the occupants, none of whom were paying rent."

A report on housing in Johannesburg "says 'huge backlogs in infrastructure inherited from apartheid, and the unprecedented influx of people to the Johannesburg area' are making it unlikely that the poorest people will find affordable housing close to where they work."

Full Story: Johannesburg poor fight for their homes
Source: BBC News, April 10, 2006
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These interconnections ratify for us the sense that markets are as strong as confidence is present and confidence is as justified as patterns are dependable. These are what might be called our community moorings: anchored, tangible patterns.
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