Articles
Exploring partnerships with local government: A people's-led approach to informal settlement upgrading It is with great pleasure that we share our most recent publication: It comes at a time…
Nabaa Zaynah, Sophie Moody, Kate Hunt, Hien Le (Bath University Students) On the 5th of September, SA SDI Alliance facilitated an exchange between International Development with Economics students from the University…
Collaboration Saving Scheme (on behalf of FEDUP) One of the landmark projects of the collaboration youth saving scheme is the street naming project in Orange Farm, Johannesburg. We have taken upon…
MEDIA RELEASE 4 September 2018 The South African Slum/Shack Dwellers International Alliance (SA SDI Alliance) enters into an agreement with Ethekwini Municipality The SA SDI Aliiance (an alliance of 2…
By Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) This year marks the 20th anniversary of the White Paper on Local Government. The theme of SoLG 2018, the state of local government…
"We built the house as a practical statement. Of course we knew that it was illegal. We knew that we would have to suffer the consequences…. We did not try…
The following narrative is part of a broader and in-depth documentation of the Ruo Emoh project. This documentation includes a video and booklet and is the result of collaborative efforts…
The following narrative is part of a broader and in-depth documentation of the Ruo Emoh project. This documentation includes a video and booklet and is the result of collaborative efforts…
By Mariel Zimmermann and Jaclyn Williams (on behalf of CORC) Looking back at the two decade history of the Ruo Emoh housing project, we outline the primary political and social…
By Evelyn Benekane (on behalf of FEDUP) and Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) The “land issue” is probably the most debated topic in South Africa today. This is after…
By Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) Partnerships as an approach to service delivery have gained trust in many quarters and are widely acknowledged as a viable solution to a…
Mariel Zimmermann (on behalf of CORC) “Large mines in the Free State are falling on hard times. Subsequently, our Federation members are complaining that it is now difficult to find…
By Skye Dobson (On behalf of SA SDI Alliance and SDI Secretariat. Original post here) As the Black Panther movie continues to smash box office records and enthrall the world…
Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) Shamrock informal settlement at a Glance Shamrock informal settlement is located along a portion of Amrisar Road and Gladiola Road in Belfort Estate suburb,…
by Kwanda Lande and Mariel Zimmermann (on behalf of CORC) We decided to do re-blocking because we were living in a very congested settlement, we wanted our settlement to be rearranged,…
By Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) On 11 February 2018, the ninth World Urban Forum (WUF9) will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. WUF9 will have a specific thematic focus…
By Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) We would like a type of a hall that can accommodate a lot of activities, like church services, cultural activities and office space…
This blog was first published by openDemocracy, on the 26 September 2017. By SOPHIE KING A Manchester-South Africa exchange reveals striking similarities in the dynamics of urban inequality. Members of Mums Mart,…
By Yolande Hendler and Kwanda Lande (on behalf of CORC) “What’s the difference when we collect data on our own informal settlements?” – a question that Melanie and Nozuko asked…
Date: 7 September 2017 Time: 9am – 5pm Location: Guga S’thebe Arts and Cultural Centre | Langa Cape Town SDI is proud to co-host the 8th stop on the Digital…
Compiled by Carmen Cancellari (on behalf of CORC) Through the Federation Income Generation Programme, FEDUP savers have an opportunity to establish small businesses to generate income through accessing and repaying…
CORC is looking to host a dynamic and self-motivated intern in the research and documentation department, which works towards CORC’s vision of strengthening the voice of the urban and rural…
“Saving is our heartbeat”, any member of South Africa’s Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) will tell you. “This is how we organise, how we build trust, open spaces to…
How can saving impact poor communities and influence inclusive development practice? On a recent visit to Manchester's Global Development Institute FEDUP's Patrick Matsemela responds to these questions by telling his story: …
*By GxaGxa Community Members, Compiled by Shelby Lyons (on behalf of CORC) This blog contributes to a series called Community Voices; a blog space that shares the words of community members…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) With the 2016 municipal elections around the corner, the relationship between elected representatives and local citizenries could not be more topical. For some,…
By Arnotte Payne* (on behalf of CORC) View of KwaMthambo settlement in Durban Kwa-Mathambo informal settlement is located in a suburban area of Red-hill on Old North Coast Road in…
By Ava Rose Hoffman and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) A variety of methodologies exist for gathering data on informal settlements. The SA SDI Alliance follows the practice of…
By Ava Rose Hoffman (on behalf of CORC) In this blog, the SA SDI Alliance speaks with Nkokheli Ncambele—ISN Coordinator of the Western Cape—to learn about how the participation process…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) While the value of in-situ informal settlement upgrading is increasingly recognised by national and global actors, its implementation as a co-productive approach rooted…
By Dan Silver, Diana Mitlin and Sophie King (crossposted from the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester) “We are poor, but we are not hopeless. We know what…
by Ava Rose Hoffman (on behalf of CORC) In 2016, the SA SDI Alliance began a new series of participatory learning spaces intended for FEDUP and ISN community leaders and…
by Ava Rose Hoffman, Yolande Hendler and Skye Dobson (on behalf of CORC) From 7-8 April 2016, the SA SDI Alliance together with Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) participated in the…
Nomvula Felicity Mahlangu 13 March 1961 - 11 April 2016 On Monday night, we received the news of the sudden passing of one our beloved leaders, Nomvula Mahlangu. Nomvula, a…
On 8 April 2016, SDI leader Rose Molokoane delivered an address on the New Urban Agenda at the final plenary session of the UN Habitat III Thematic Meeting on Informal Settlements…
By Charlton Ziervogel (on behalf of CORC) Urbanization and the growth of informal settlements Urbanization in South Africa has not followed the usual patterns as witnessed in many other developing countries…
By Ava Rose Hoffman (on behalf of CORC) From 8-12 March 2016, the South African SDI Alliance participated in a learning exchange in the United Kingdom with students at the University…
By Ntombikayise Promise and Emgard Msibi (on behalf of FEDUP) This photo story (text and images) was compiled by members of a FEDUP savings scheme in Mpumalanga with the purpose…
By Laura Bliss and Aarian Marshall (Cross-posted from CityLab) In this Jan. 29, 2016 photo, Tainara Lourenco, who's five months pregnant, stands outside her stilt home that stands over polluted…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) From Ghetto informal settlement in Nairobi, the Kenyan SDI Alliance together with an official from the nearby Kiambu County Government visited the South…
By Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), Development Action Group (DAG), Habitat for Humanity South Africa, Isandla Institute, People's Environmental Planning (PEP), Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading (VPUU) The National Department…
As community members gathered in a neighbour’s large living area in the centre of K2 informal settlement in Khayelitsha, the room continued filling up with more people who had been…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) “It was about ten to one. We were asleep and suddenly we just heard the ringing of the Lumkani fire detection device. Everyone…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) FEDUP's KwaNdebele youth group in Mpumalanga For Sylvia Mduli South Africa’s Youth Day on 16 June 2014 was energising and inspiring. She recounts…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) A multi-stakeholder discussion kicked off in early January in Nairobi, Kenya to deliberate on the lessons learnt from the fire sensor installation pilot…
As 2015 draws to a close, we reflect on global and localised responses to rapid urbanisation, the mushrooming of informal settlements and the position and potential of the urban and…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) As the last quarter of the year comes to an end, we take time to give an overview of the Alliance’s Khayalethu livelihoods…
By Tambo Square community members (on behalf of ISN) This blog was written by the community of Tambo Square in Mfuleni, Cape Town, namely: Babalwa Sabe, Nomaphelo Voyi, Nosikolise Swaphi,Asanda Kumbaca,Nokubonga Stefans,Lindiswa…
By Motebang Matsela (on behalf of CORC) Yona Yethu is a group formed on 25 April 2013 by eight youth members of the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor…
With great pleasure we share this year's annual report with you. Know Your Community. Know Your City: the theme reflects the power of community-led process to mobilise the urban poor.…
By Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC) For years the government has been testing different solutions with regard to bringing basic services to poor people and engaging with rapid urbanisation…
By members of Bholobholo Informal Settlement (on behalf of ISN)* For the SA SDI Alliance community-produced documentation is crucial. Engaging communities with such processes enables them to drive their own…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC). September-April marks the Western Cape Fire season. The eight months period has the highest record of fire disasters due to a number of…
By Joel Bolnick and Ted Baumann (Cross-posted from SDI blog) Via Imraan Christian Since well before 1994, the élite of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has comprised two broad…
By Jhono Bennett (on behalf of SA SDI Alliance) This story covers the 2015 exchange trip between South African delegates from the SDI Network and the CAN Network in the…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Piesang River – the home of the South African Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP), a meeting place filled with sounds of Portuguese,…
By Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC) Recently, the Zimbabwe SDI Alliance spent four days on a learning exchange to the South African SDI Alliance in Cape Town (14-17 September). In…
By Yolande Hendler & Moegsien Hendricks (on behalf of CORC) Over the last ten years South Africa’s human settlement’s sector has seen significant shifts in government approach and policy toward…
By Andiswa Meke and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Meet eight young storytellers, driven by their love for the arts and commitment to change in their communities. From 31…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Horizontal learning exchanges form a significant pillar of bottom-up knowledge sharing and a mobilisation tool used by informal settlement dwellers across the Shack/…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) It is a pleasure to announce FEDUP's award for best enhanced People’s Housing Process (ePHP) project at this year’s national Govan Mbeki Awards…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Bulelwa Msila & her mother sell vegetables in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth As Bulelwa Msila arranges vegetables on a small vending stand on…
By Santini Community Members (on behalf of ISN) This blog was written by Santini's community documenters depicted in this picture: Veronica Lebakeng, Nwabisa Ndzendze, Bathandwa Yengeni, Loniswa Dumbela. Grace Lebakeng,…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) For the Shack / Slum Dwellers International (SDI) network, horizontal exchanges between savings groups and communities present an opportunity for bottom-up learning and…
By Sarah Cooper-Tognoli This piece traces the individual migration stories of four informal settlement dwellers in Tambo Square, a settlement affiliated to the Informal Settlement Network (ISN). It is a…
By Adana Austin (on behalf of CORC) As global cities continue to rapidly expand, how can we encourage equitable growth that would foster safe communities, sustainable development, and an increased…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) According to how the Informal Settlment Network (ISN) demarcates Midvaal informal settlements; Sporong informal settlement falls under cluster 3. Sporong is a relatively…
By Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC) From 16-23 June 2015, the SA SDI Alliance joined community designers and architects for the third regional workshop of the Community Architects Network…
By Yolande Hendler & Andiswa Meke (on behalf of CORC) In April 2015, the community of Lwazi Park embarked on a four-week design studio that investigated affordable solutions for incrementally…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) FEDUP savers, Norman Bless, Provincial Minister and Municipal representatives infront of Norman Bles' new house It’s a rainy June afternoon in KwaNonqaba, an…
By Motebang Matsela (on behalf of CORC) From 27 April to 22 May 2015, the community of Denver informal settlement in Johannesburg partnered with students from the University of Johannesburg’s…
Authored by SA SDI Alliance Following the outbreak of xenophobic violence in Gauteng in April 2015, the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP) and the Informal Settlement Network…
***Cross-posted from SDI Blog*** By: Mariana Gallo, Knowledge Management Officer CCODE; Nico Keijzer, LME Officer Southern Africa SDI; & Noah Schermbrucker, Projects Officer SDI The recent regional hub meeting for…
By Nkokheli Ncambele (on behalf of ISN)* Nkokheli Ncambele is the regional co-ordinator of the Alliance’s Informal Settlement Network (ISN) in the Western Cape. Emseleni Community leader, Nomfundo Lungisa In…
By Jeff Thomas (on behalf of CORC) A SA SDI Alliance team comprising FEDUP and ISN community leaders, regional co-ordinators and CORC representatives was invited to attend the International Human…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) “At Ellerines in Standerton, we need to collect Dolly, then its not far: continue straight over the crossing and turn left to get…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Elisa Ramboda Venda Beadwork in Limpopo “My name is Elisa Ramboda. I’ve lived here in Ramahantsha* my whole life, more than 70 years.…
The South African SDI Alliance, together with SDI, is excited to announce that last week national minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu appointed Rose Molokoane to the Council of the South…
By Cynthia Ntombekhaya Yalezo and Philda Mmole * (on behalf of FEDUP) This piece of land - where we now live - was not always called Tinasonke**. When we still…
By Anni Beukes (cross-posted from SDI Secretariat) Last week, the South African SDI Alliance's Data Capturing Team reported back to the South African Federation's (FEDUP) community leaders in Cape Town…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) The last two months bear witness to the devastation fires can cause. At the height of South Africa’s hottest months, fires pose a…
On site in Flamingo Crescent Informal Settlement Sizwe Mxobo, a planner at the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) received the South African Planning Institute’s (SAPI) Young Planner Award in October…
Authored by CORC “People said Flamingo Crescent will never happen. But today is here and this is the proof that it has happened – one cannot do it alone we…
By Skye Dobson “Poor people have me. Rich people don’t need me. If you eat me you’ll die. I am worse than a demon. Who am I?” This was the…
By Ariana K. MacPherson (cross posted from SDI blog) A different approach to livelihoods A national industry which offers public-sector employment to 50,000 economically disadvantaged beneficiaries should have a profound…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) From 23-29 November 2014 the SA SDI Alliance and SDI affiliates from Malawi, Zambia & Zimbabwe gathered for a weeklong savings symposium in…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of SA SDI Alliance) Father Jorge is one of the longest-standing friends and a much-valued mentor not only of the SA SDI Alliance but also…
By Joel Kramer (on behalf of SA SDI Alliance) The garden is in its element, the peak of spring. Tomatoes as plump as a baby’s cheek, carrots bright as the…
We are pleased to share with you the CORC Annual Report 2013/14 on behalf of the SA SDI Alliance. This past year we have focussed on our vision of building…
By Walter Monyela and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Sarah Makgopela of Aganang savings scheme in Legonyane (North West province) has started a small business selling hats, water boilers,…
By Julia Stricker (on behalf of SDI Secretariat) ***Cross-posted from SDI Blog*** During a very successful learning exchange focused around settlement level data visualisation and mapping, community members from K2…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) From 29 October - 2 November 2014 the South African Alliance travelled to Swaziland to support communities in their work with government around…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) FEDUP members welcome Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and Deputy Minister Zoe Kota-Fredericks at the SDI Exhibition booth Twenty years after Joe Slovo’s historic Botshabelo…
By Blanca Calvo (on behalf of CORC and uTshani) Holomisa is an informal settlement located in Katlehong (Ekurhuleni, Gauteng). In May 2014, Pumelele Ntanjana, one of the leaders of Holomisa…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It is…
By Walter Fieuw and Thandeka Tsabalala An emerging focus area for the SA SDI Alliance is sustainable social enterprises and creating more options to access livelihoods opportunities. Informal areas are…
2006 Pledge Conference with Minister Lindiwe Sisulu In anticipation of The National Human Settlements Indaba and Exhibition (16-17 October 2014) we share a speech made by Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements…
**Cross-posted from the SDI blog** By Noah Schermbrucker (on behalf of SDI Secretariat) SDI Southern African Hub Countries HUB meetings are gatherings that bring affiliates together to collectively set the…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) African cities are characterised by informality, as the rapid urbanisation from rural areas are transforming cities. Within informal settlements, residents are investing incrementally…
By Motebang Matsela and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Over the years, the SA SDI Alliance has been involved in several architecture and planning studios in which university students…
By Aditya Kumar and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Zwelitsha is a section of Langrug informal settlement, located on the rocky ground of a mountain slope that overlooks the…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Leadership Retreat in KZN, Durban From 20 – 25 June 2014 national leaders from both FEDUP and ISN met in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal,…
Patrick Magebhula Hunsley, founding member and stalwart of the South African Alliance and Shack Dwellers International (SDI), was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements…
After 56 years, our dear friend and comrade, Patrick Magebhula, breathed his last on 4 August 2014. This memorial booklet is a memoir and a tribute to Patrick's life. The…
Patrick Magebhula Hunsley, our comrade, our brother and our very special friend passed away on Monday 4 August. Patrick has been dodging bullets all his life - literally and figuratively.…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) The venue : Makhaza Day Care Centre in Khayelitsha Cape Town If designing and planning with communities are key aspects of people-led projects…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Vuyani Ntontela and Thamara Hela are community leaders in UT Gardens, an informal settlement of about 400 structures in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. UT…
By Stefanie Holzwarth and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Over the past years, the communities of Midrand in Port Elizabeth and Havelock in Durban have been upgrading their settlements,…
By Nozuko Fulani (on behalf of FEDUP)* We are Siyazakha Savings Group. We are a group of 26 members and first started to meet in 2010 in Siyahlala informal settlement…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC and uTshani Fund) and Melanie Manuel (ISN and FEDUP) Between 9 - 13 June, the South African SDI Alliance visited a public organisation…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Tucked between Lansdowne’s industrial warehouses and timber depots lies Flamingo Crescent, an informal settlement situated on a street by the same name. On…
By Motebang Matsela and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Naledi informal settlement in Soweto, Johannesburg Many informal settlement dwellers have no access to electricity and are forced to rely…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) Over the last four months Europe community members and Masters students of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Cape Town (UCT)…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Manenberg community leaders and architectural students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) recently collaborated on a six-week long planning studio in…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) A four-day community exchange was underway from 29 April to 2 May 2014, during which community leaders from Durban visited informal settlements in…
Jockin Arputham, president of Shack / Slum Dwellers International (SDI) received a warm welcome from the South African Alliance in Cape Town yesterday on the last of his four-day visit. As a…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Informal settlement leaders from Kenville and Foreman Road in Durban are mobilising their communities to upgrade their settlements with better services and improved…
By Walter Fieuw and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Kuku Town before re-blocking Kuku Town after re-blocking There is a growing recognition that services need to be delivered to…
By Barbara Torresi (on behalf of uTshani Fund) While the provision of housing to the poorest of the poor remains uTshani Fund's main objective, it has become increasingly indisputable that,…
By Ariana MacPherson (on behalf of SDI secretariat) and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Today marks the last day of the 7th World Urban Forum (WUF), which took place…
As a heavy down pour of rain struck Gauteng in the first week of March, the banks of the Kliprivier broke and severely flooded Kliptown, one of the largest areas…
A young architect working with CORC, Mr. Olwethu Jack, was awarded one of nine "honourable mentions" in the most recent international architectural competition hosted by CA'ASI Association, an international "…
After weeks of preparation and community mobilization, thousands of shack dwellers gathered on Durban’s Dinuzulu Square early on Monday morning, 24 March 2014. As people arrived by foot, mini-bus taxi…
By Thandeka Tshabalala and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Community members and students locate structures and amenities in Europe informal settlement. On 19 February 2014, Europe community members welcomed…
View of Kuku Town in the process of re-blocking Kuku Town informal settlement is located on a little triangle of open land opposite the railway line in Kensington, Cape Town.…
By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) Richard Curtis, Melanie Manuel (ISN), Emma Freud, Bunita Kohler (Director of CORC), Marlene Don (FEDUP) and Bukiwe Marawu (CORC) Last week, the South…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC/uTshani Fund) South Africa celebrates two decades of independence this year. It is also a decade after the then-Department of Housing issued its guiding…
By Patrick Matsemela (on behalf of FEDUP) 2013 was a special year for Gogo Mmapule Mohale. After she saved for 14 years, we began building her house in Maboloka in…
Re-blocking as an innovative approach to urban informal settlements. By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC) If “the most successful cities will be those that embrace ground-breaking solutions to meet…
With great pleasure CORC 's annual report looks back on an event-filled 2012-2013 which set the scene for community mobilisations, beginning and continuing partnerships with government, valuable developments on urban…
One of the main events in the calendar of the SA SDI Alliance in 2013 was the National Conference, which brought together FEDUP and ISN affiliated groups from across the…
“The projects awarded have been selected according to the country's needs” Rhoda Kadalie Mtshini Wam Reblocking project was one of the 33 finalists that have been selected out of the…
Today Tanja Winkler, senior lecturer in Urban and Regional Planning, University of Cape Town, joined CORC staff and the Europe informal settlement leadership on a planning session at Europe, an informal settlement…
The Executive Mayor, Honorable Poppy Mpho Magongwa delivering her speech during the launch of the charter. By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) Once in 4 years the South African SDI…
The City of Cape Town adopted the re-blocking policy on 5 November after an announcement by Councillor Thandeka Gqada, Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, City of Cape Town. In…
There is a buzz in Cape Town on the possibilities of design thinking, doing and living leading a transformation role in the city. But what does Cape Town, with its…
Article from (Climate and Development Knowledge Network) Blaise Dobson and Jean-Pierre Roux (SouthSouthNorth) argue that African urbanisation and burgeoning informal settlements present an opportunity to build truly adaptive cities. African…
By : Baraka Mwau & ThandekaTshabalala (on Behalf of CORC) Phase 1: Forum 4 As we advance towards the close of Phase one of the Learning Space series, once again the…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) We live in the urban age where, for the first time the majority of the world population lives in cities. Despite the overwhelming…
Father Jorge Anzorena, is an Argentinian by birth and entered the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) order in his early thirties when he was ordained as a priest. He completed a…
Europe is an informal settlement located in Gugulethu Township; it is situated along N2 road bordered by Barcelona and Kanana informal settlemnent. The enumeration exercise, which ended on 10 October…
It is frequently acknowledged that urban residents living in dire poverty are socially excluded and are in need of more interventions from Government, but the plight of the Backyard Dwellers…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) Source of photographs : (Stephen Lamb, 2013) On a learning exchange the community of Langrug went to Gege crèche located in Langa to…
By Thandeka Tshabalala on behalf of CORC Langrug is an effervescent informal settlement that was illegally formed in 1993; this settlement is located in the most affluent farm area called…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) For more than twenty years, the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) has pioneered a collaborative solution that can transform our cities: empowering…
If you were appointed as mayor of the City of Cape Town, how would you structure policies, financial management and technical capacity to ensure a participatory approach to upgrading informal…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) The process of formalizing a working relationship in form of an MOU between the Midvaal Municipality and ISN has not hindered the undertaking…
Addressing the scale of the urban crisis requires multiple stakeholders to collaborate around a common vision of change. The partnership between CORC/ISN and Habitat for Humanity South Africa centrally recognises…
We are excited to announce that the report Masikhase: the Community Upgrading Finance Facility (CUFF) will be queued for printing in the next week. Here is a preview of the front page
By Noah Schermbrucker, SDI Secretariat ** Cross posted from the SDI Blog ** “When the NGO disappeared it was like a shepherd looking after the sheep and the sheep were scattered…that…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) On Erf 64, located in the neighborhood of Kylemore in Stellenbosch Municipality, a small community has lived on the land since the early…
By Baraka Mwau (on behalf of CORC) Editors note: In April CORC and ISN launched community forums in Khayelitsha with the view on generating an alternative view on city building…
By Evelyn Benekane (FEDUP), Mohau Melani (ISN) and Motebang Matsela (CORC) In May 2013, we traveled to informal settlements in and around Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape to support…
Cross posted from SDI blog By Walter Fieuw, CORC When the question of collaboratively testing new techniques in profiling informal settlements was raised, Cape Town was proposed as the gathering…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) To the casual observer, a road is simply a tarmac to allow for different usages. Perhaps we can also define it as a…
By Thandeka Tshabalala (on behalf of CORC) In the past there has been an ongoing notion that poor people are helpless and are generally considered to be passive recipients of…
Editor's Note: Ben Bradlow has worked with Shack/Slum Dwellers International and the SA Alliance since 2009. Ben’s thesis considers the experience of the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) in building coalitions of…
By Jeff Thomas (on behalf of CORC) Havelock informal settlement is located 8km outside Durban central, close to the northern suburb of Greenwood Park. The first settlers – a coloured man…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of uTshani Fund) The annual Govan Mbeki awards recognises excellence in the development of human settlements. Speaking at the Provincial Govan Mbeki Awards held at the…
By Greg van Rensburg (on behalf of FEDUP and uTshani Fund) Each year government recognises the partnerships with all sectors involved in developing sustainable and integrated human settlements. The Govan…
By Sizwe Mxobo* (on behalf of CORC) This is a map of the floodlines in Mfuleni, Cape Town. The Green, Blue, Yellow and Red lines indicate the possibilities of this…
By Nkokeli Ncambele* (on behalf of ISN) Nkanini is a large section of about ten informal settlements on the far south-east region of Khayelitsha. In 2002, when the railway station…
Melikhaya Klaas was interviewed by Africa Melane on 567 Cape Talk today. Listen to this recording here. Forward to 4:42 to listen to Melikhaya talk.
By Phumelele Mbali and Olwethu Jack (on behalf of CORC) Havelock informal settlement is located 8km outside Durban central, close to the northern suburb of Greenwood Park. The land is privately…
By Olwethu Jack (on behalf of CORC) An incredible story is unfolding in the Moeggesukkel informal settlement, a community of about 320 households located 30km north from Port Elizabeth towards Uitenhage.…
By Chantal Hildebrand, SDI Secretariat (cross posted from SDI's blog) As part of their initiatives to improve the sanitation situation in the slums of Accra, Ghana, a delegation of four…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) In 2012 the community of Mshini Wam initiated an innovative approach to the in-situ upgrading of their dense informal settlement. Working closely with…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC) In November 2012, ISN and CORC reportedon the unfolding partnership in the Midvaal Municipality which was largely unlocked through the enumeration of the…
By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC and SDI) The Kingdom of Lesotho is a landlocked country in the South Eastern region of South Africa. The country's population is still…
By Tuliza Sindi (on behalf of CORC) In November, ISN with support from CORC launched a renewed focus on small scale projects funded by the Community Upgrading Finance Facility (CUFF),…
By Tuliza Sindi (on behalf of CORC) In November, ISN with support from CORC launched a renewed focus on small scale projects funded by the Community Upgrading Finance Facility (CUFF), an…
Community members showcase model homes in Mtshini Wam. By Ariana K. MacPherson, SDI Secretariat (cross posted from www.sdinet.org) The second day of the 5 Cities Seminar kicked off in Mtshini…
By Andy Bolnick (on behalf of iKhayalami and CORC) Before On the 1st January 2013, Tuesday in the early hours of the morning a man in the furthest eastern part…
By Phumelele Kumalo, Patience Phewa and Jeff Thomas (on behalf of CORC Durban office) Some of the largest and most dense informal settlements settlements are found in the eThekwini Municipality.…
Home Comforts, by Andrew England, July 26, 2012 (cross posted from the orginal FT blog) Standing in front of a clutch of shiny tin shacks, Priscilla Siziwe reels off a…
By Sandra van Rensburg (on behalf of CORC and ISN) After more than four months of legal proceedings, the Constitutional Court delivered a ruling in favor of the displaced Marlboro…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of SWN/ISN) Solid waste management requires citizens, industries and government to work in a collaborative manner to minimise the flow of waste to landfill sites.…
By Kwanele Sibanda and Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) Midvaal municipality is located in the Gauteng province and its name is deduced from its geographical location: Midvaal lies halfway…
By Jhono Bennett and Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) Post-apartheid urban and housing policies have underscored the necessity of progressively integrating the poor as a means of restructuring spatially…
Father Jorge Anzorena (82) is an Argentinian by birth and entered the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) order in his early thirties when he was ordained as a priest. He completed…
By Katia Savchuk, cross posted from The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog", Monday 8 October The first global fund to give poor people direct control over urban development spending is having more…
By Jeff Thomas (on behalf of CORC) The SANPAD (South African /Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development), which has since 1997 been financed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs,…
http://vimeo.com/49875035 Watch this documentary film by the Pretoria Picture Company Inc. on the changing dynamics and identities of Slovo Park settlement south of Soweto. Slovo Park is also aligned to…
It is with great excitement that CORC reports on a year of memorable achievements on the part of the South African SDI Alliance. Slum dwellers, women savers, community leaders and…
By Sizwe Mxobo (on behalf of CORC) The South African Planning Institute's (SAPI) "Planning Africa 2012" conference was held in Durban's International Conference Centre (ICC) between 17 and 19 September.…
By Walter Monyela (on behalf of FEDUP and CORC/uTshani Fund) uTshani / FEDUP received a Star award (Silver category) from Impumelelo Social Innovations Centre. The award ceremony took place on…
Asihambi – we will not be moved. By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) On Tuesday the 11th September, thousands of shack dwellers from Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni (the mining belt), Tswane…
Rose Molokoane, national coordinator of the FEDUP, reading the memo to the office of the premier ATT: Premier Nomvula Mokonyane Gauteng Provincial Government Building, East wing, 13th Floor, 30 Simmonds…
On Tuesday 11 September 2012, informal settlement communities from across Gauteng will march on the Gauteng Premier’s office to hand over a memorandum outlining demands and requests for “informal settlement…
Image credit: http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-22-marlboro-simmers-a-community-destroyed-by-a-breakdown-in-communication In August 2012 the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department illegally displaced and evicted more than 1,000 families from the industrial area of Marlboro South. The Informal Settlement…
By Scelo Zibagwe (on behalf of CORC) Enkanini Informal settlement was self-initiated by residents on a municipal land in 2006. Even though they were accommodated after battles with usual demolition…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) On the 13th of August, heavy machinery rolled in on the tattered and teared Marlboro Industrial area. Charles and Tapelo, community leaders in…
The sixth World Urban Forum will be hosted in Naples, Italy between 1 - 7 September 2012. The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations to examine one of…
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** 8 AUGUST 2012 Residents of Marlboro sleep 40 people per tent this Women’s Day Residents of Marlboro in Johannesburg are suffering in the record cold weather this…
By Walter Fieuw (on behalf of CORC) The socio-spatial dilemma The interactions between spatial and social processes have occupied the imaginations of planners, geographers, urban designers and even economists and…
The Marlboro Community, SA SDI Alliance and the University of Johannesburg partnership towards developmental solutions. By Jhono Bennett (on behalf of CORC) Marlboro is situated in the Northern of Johannesburg,…
Today, CORC bids Sikulile Nkhoma, Programme Coordinator since January 2011, farewell and fruitful future endeavours. Siku joined the South African Alliance in January 2011 when the Alliance met at Kolping…
By Andy Bolnick (CORC/iKhayalami) and Benjamin Bradlow The roller coasters and carnival games at Ratanga Junction Park in the Milnerton area of Cape Town may appear as a middle class…
Event: Handover ceremony with the City of Cape Town Venue: Mshini Wam settlement, Milnerton (corner of Democracy Way and Nkomo Drive, Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton) Date and time: Wednesday 11…
The reblocking of Cluster 2 in Mshini Wam has begun! ISN leaders have been engaging with City of Cape Town officials and principle field officers for more than 6…
SELAVIP CALL FOR 2012-2013 PROJECTS SELAVIP is a private foundation that supports housing projects for very poor urban families. Our focus is on “extreme social emergency”, that is, people…
The Solid Waste Network (SWN) is an Informal Settlement Network (ISN) initiative in Cape Town that provides access to markets for informal waste pickers. It employs five full time staff,…
Where development projects have affected the environmental and built environments where FEDUP and ISN groups are organised, CORC and uTshani Fund have helped secure jobs for communities in collaboration with…
Mama’s Coin Factory supports a network of women's self-help groups in poor rural and urban communities in South Africa by providing them with the tools and resources to actively participate…
Background Communities in small rural and peri-urban towns on the West Coast of South Africa are often dependant on social grants because they have no ability to earn a living…
Across the networks of the FEDUP and ISN, local communities are creating local industries around the arts and crafts, food production units and local businesses. These include the Vukuzenzele savings…
The ability to provide year-round access to adequate amount and variety of food and nutrition is often a causal reason why woman collectively organise in saving schemes. Whether communities save…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC ISN attempted to make a presentation to the Mangaung Metro in March. This was delayed because the speaker of the Chief of Staff felt that…
Gugulethu, Cape Town Europe is an informal settlement located in Gugulethu township, it is situated along N2 road bordering with Barcelona and Kanana. This settlement is only made up shacks…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC The dystopia of the urbanisation of poverty is a confounding reality, to say the least. People eek out a living in the harshest environment, are subject…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC In the lead up to the 1994 elections, the federation of woman’s savings collectives lobbied the Government of National Unity to institute an alternative to the…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC One of the salient challenges when capacitated networks of the urban poor build partnerships with the local government is balancing the agency of micro-level interventions and…
By FEDUP and uTshani Fund The Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) and the uTshani Fund are two organisations working in alliance to bring the urban poor in South Africa…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC An ISN leadership meeting was held in Bloemfontein on the 8th of March 2012 where 76 leaders represented 14 informal settlements falling under the Mangaung Metro…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC Much effort has been spent on crafting democratic spaces where ordinary citizens have a direct voice in the way service delivery is conceptualised and operationalised. Some…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC The formal and the informal co-exist in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, Cape Town. Joe Slovo Park is a formal township established in the 1990s when City…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC On Thursday 23 February 2012, while South Africa were debating the implications of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech, another group was preparing to put action…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC Zeziphi ezona ngxaki ninazo e Joe Slovo? Xa unofumana ithuba lokulungisa yeyiphi eyona onoqala ngayo? On a hot Cape Town morning, across the road from where…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC Leaders of the South African SDI Alliance congregated between 16 – 18 January 2012 at the Lutheran Youth Centre in Athlone to follow up on progress…
By Max Rambau, CORC The Bapsfontein mass meeting was held at the Mayfield Sports Ground in Extension 9. This meeting catered for people from Zenzeleni, Baghdad and Mayfield Extension 6.…
By Ariana K. MacPherson, SDI A national leader of the South African Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP), Patrick Magebhula Hunsley, was appointed in July 2011 to serve on the…
By Max Rambau, CORC Today, the 6th December 2011 marks the most important victory for the community of Bapsfontein after they won the case against their forced removal that started…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC, and Vernon Bowers, Stellenbosch Municipality The creation of a new Urban Poor Fund was the highlight of the event: The community contributed R12,000 in savings The…
By Charlton Ziervogel, CORC/SDI These are the words that epitomize the approach the Western Cape Backyarders Network (WCBN) has towards solving the problems that exist within backyarder communities in Cape…
By Laura Carvalho, CORC CORC has partnered with the University of Stellenbosch’s Sustainability Institute (SI) and Specialized Solar Systems (SSS) in a pilot project that will test an incremental and…
Mobilisation and capacitation of community organizations around their own resources and knowledge is the Alliance’s approach for securing delivery and deepening democracy. The first point of departure is generally the…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC “This is a dream come true in bringing City Councils and communities around a table to talk about possibilities of city-wide informal settlement upgrading,” said Jerry…
By Walter Fieuw, CORC Service delivery in the Eastern Cape faces dire challenges. While the nature of the crisis is still poorly understood, poor communities are mobilising toward preparing to…
By Andrea Bolnick, CORC/iKhayalami Given that estimates suggest a government house may only be delivered 30 years after being on the roll, blocking-out with improved shelters and basic service provision…
By Andrea Bolnick, Ikhayalami Ruimsig Informal Settlement is located on the West Rand and is part of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan area. The settlement also sits on the border of…
An exhibition will soon open at the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg, which will showcase the recent, successful partnership between the residents of Ruimsig, a small informal settlement on the north-western periphery…
By Andre Mengi, CORC Residents from other informal settlements and ISN representatives support Bapsfontein's legal fight against the eviction which took place earlier this year. Following the discovery of the…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC The residents of Kaalfontein learn at an ISN mobilisation meeting from other slum dwellers On the 3rd of September 2011 the Tembisa Sub-regional dialogue was held.…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC Barricaded streets in the Thembelihle: The police used live ammunition to regain control of the informal settlement On Wednesday, September 7, ISN representatives attended a public…
Ayanda Vena from uTshani Buyakhuluma reports about dire living conditions in Athlone, Cape Town The new and third issue of the community newspaper uTshani Buyakhuluma is being distributed to informal…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC Residents of Thembelihle informal settlement, south of Johannesburg started a service delivery protest on Monday the 5th of September 2011. The informal settlement is situated near…
CORC continues to provide platforms for the growth of dedicated professionals as well as community leaders: The latest award winner is Andrea Bolnick, who as programme director of iKhayalami produces…
Nokwanda Langazana from the Alliance of Rural Communities (ARC), a pro-poor SA SDI alliance initiative at the Wild Coast, has won the renowned WWSF prize for Women's Creativity in Rural…
By Mengi Deedee, CORC Dolomite is a reality that South Africa is facing. Some cases of dolomite are found in Johannesburg as well as in Ekurhuleni. Moray who is a…
By Mengi Deedee, CORC After spending almost one month with mapping, architecture students of the University of Johannesburg started the second phase of their activity at Ruimsig on Thursday, 11…
By Max Rambau, CORC Children play on the new astro-turf at Artwell Garden's Park in Joburg On Saturday, 13 August 2011 I attended the City of Joburg’s Projects Tour with…
By Max Rambau, CORC The City of Joburg had organised a meeting to present its draft Growth and Development Strategy document. This meeting was held at Emoyeni Conference Centre in…
By Charlton Ziervogel Leaders from the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), CORC staff and City officials met with the Mayor Community development is often a hard, slow process that requires patience…
By Max Rambau, CORC Architecture students from the University of Johannesburg recently reported back about the community mapping process at the informal settlement Ruimsig. Representatives of the City of Johannesburg,…
By Max Rambau, CORC On Thursday, 4 August 2011 I attended a meeting that was called by the City of Johannesburg to discuss its Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS…
By Max Rambau, CORC A fire destroyed almost 200 shacks at Slovoville Informal Settlement near Coronation in Johannesburg. There was confusion as to how the fire started. Some people claim…
By Max Rambau, CORC On Monday, 18 July 2011, we went to the informal settlement Ruimsig where there was going to be a community meeting between the students of the…
By Max Rambau, CORC The leadership of the Malatjie Informal Settlement informed the alliance that the Lanseria eviction case was going to be heard at the Randburg’s Land Claims’ Court.…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC Meriteng is an informal settlement that was initially mobilised on the 28th of June 2011 during an exchange with ISN/FEDUP representatives from Durban and Cape Town.…
After six months of thorough field research, 20 students of the UCT Planning Department presented development models for the Barcelona informal settlement, which is situated on a former landfill alongside…
By Max Rambau, CORC At a recent visit to Erasmus 2 in Ekurhuleni, a local leader took us to the nearby emerging informal settlement. It was very cold and the…
The grassroots are talking again: A few days ago the new issue of the community newspaper uTshani Buyakhuluma came off the press. 4000 copies are currently being distributed to informal…
The South African SDI alliance gladly announces that the weekly Mail & Guardian has selected two of its members for their prestigious list of Top 200 Young South Africans. Mzwanele Zulu from the Informal Settlement…
By Lindiwe Solani 30 years ago the residents of Grassy Park, from two different areas invaded land which was more than 400m² each. They were twelve families who occupied the…
By Sothembela Siyo, Informal Settlement Network (ISN) Burundi informal settlement is located in the Western Cape, situated between the informal settlement of the Eastern region and different places of Mfuleni.…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC Gogo Goalone Mahlala is proud of her new home FEDUP has eight saving schemes in QwaQwa. 50 members from two saving schemes, namely Phutaditjhaba and Matebeleng…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC The community of Kliptown has for the past 17 years had a problem with accessing and playing a part in the management of their own community…
By Barbara Torresi, CORC On my first visit to Langrug in February 2011 I was surprised to hear that until a few months earlier the relationship between this sprawling hillside…
By Max Rambau, CORC On the 13th of May 2011, the Gauteng Department of Housing and the project manager of the Garankuwa Municipality met with FEDUP representatives to discuss the…
By Barbara Torresi, CORC The importance of spatial mapping Settlement profiling was originally designed to complement the enumeration process and has hitherto consisted of a narrative description of the state…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC The Mind-tour youth federation of North West hosted a successful dialogue that was supported by a number of stakeholders. The event was held on the 7th…
By Max Rambau, CORC On April 19, 2011, the ISN met with representatives of the Hekpoort Police Station, namely the station commander, the deputy station commander and the investigating officer.…
By Max Rambau, CORC On Saturday, 9th April 2011, I went to visit the area where the Bapsfontein families were relocated to in Zenzele (about ten kilometres from Bapsfontein). I…
By Barbara Torresi, CORC La Rochelle is a small informal settlement consisting of 25 mixed material dwellings, some of them brick and mortar structures dating back to the end of…
By Barbara Torresi, CORC On the 22nd of March 2011, a delegation of government officials, community members, and professionals set out on a visit of selected informal settlements in the…
Cape Town is a divided city, community leaders suggested at the first Isandla dialogue which took place on March 17 at the Langa Christian Church. Representatives from communities all over…
By Barbara Torresi, CORC Whilst Stellenbosch is home to some of the nation's wealthiest families, hidden amongst its lush vineyards and posh farmsteads lies a smattering of derelict settlements where…
By Max Rambau, CORC At a meeting between various stakeholders involved in the land struggle around Rose Acres on March 15, the landowners indicated that they sympathized with the occupiers.…
The Bapsfontein residents were supported by hundreds of shack dwellers outside the Pretoria Supreme Court By Max Rambau, CORC The case of the so-called “evacuation” of people at Bapsfontein Informal…
Shack dwellers all over the country are reading the first issue of uTshani Buyakhuluma, "The newspaper of, by and for the people - Amandla, imali nolwazi ... Eish, ayilumi xa…
The government needs to improve informal settlements because their housing porgramme gave too much to too few and has run out of steam. But the State can not improve any…
By Max Rambau, CORC This meeting was arranged by the Mayor of Ekurhuleni Metro Municipality with the community stakeholders and the landowners at Makause. This meeting follows a visit by…
By Max Rambau, CORC In the morning of the 5th March 2011, I received calls from Bapsfontein people who were panicking and sounding emotional informing that there were a lot…
By Max Rambau, CORC Red Ants offload belongings of forcefully removed families including building materials I went to Malala Informal Settlement together with two sub-regional community leaders in the West…
Twenty mamas, some heartsore, many excited, wrote history on February 17 around a conference table at the Lutheran Youth Centre in Athlone, Cape Town, when they signed a Memorandum of…
By Andrea Bolnick, Ikhayalami It is our role as the NGO to highlight and promote a people’s process – and the upgrading of Sheffield Road is exactly that. At each…
By Max Rambau, CORC At Bapsfontein relocation is still continuing and I visited the area on the Tuesday, 15th February and I discovered that some families were still being intimidated…
Service delivery protests are making the headlines once again. This time in Ermelo in Mpumalanga. The residents of Slovo Park, in Soweto, Gauteng, know all about service delivery protests. Their…
A methodological blind spot can significantly generate challenges on the ground: Fedup is not an ISN affiliate. This would assume that ISN is the umbrella institution and Fedup one of its composite…
NEW: Listen to the podcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yNQU4iEuU4 The people are excited about the plan that has been crafted with their active involvement. The consultants are angry and adamant that their plan…
By Max Rambau, CORC ISN leader Herbert Malewa addressing the people at Bapsfontein Hotel On Thursday I attended the report-back meeting that was held at Bapsfontein Hotel. The purpose of…
Pictured above: Residents of Sheffield Road deliberate over plans to "re-block" their cluster of shacks. By Benjamin Bradlow, SDI secretariat Networking informal settlement communities at the city-wide level is perhaps…
By Patrick Magebhula, Chair of the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) Magebhula is a member of the SDI board, President of the Federation of the Urban Poor, Chair of the Informal…
By Max Rambau, CORC On Saturday (5th February 2011) I went to Hekpoort at the invitation of the local leadership. I had expected to meet only with the leadership but…
By Kwanele Sibanda, CORC There are 29 community members who were arrested on allegations of perpetrating public violance during a forced removal. The members were arrested and they spent nine…
Slum dwellers community leaders from throughout South Africa made a historic commitment last week to build and network community organizations in order to upgrade informal settlements at scale throughout the…
Pictured above: Residents of Reagile wait for the private landowner to show up. By Max Rambau, CORC On 15 Jan, I met with the community of Reagile in Princess next…
Pictured above: An overflow mass meeting of Bapsfontein residents, after the leadership committee met with the private landowners. By Max Rambau, CORC We had no idea what this meeting would…
Pictured above: Residents of Bapsfontein informal settlement during a mass meeting. By Max Rambau, CORC This morning (2 Jan) I attended a community general meeting at Bapsfontein together with the…
By Max Rambau, CORC I responded to a call from one of the local leaders at Bapsfontein that they were being forcefully relocated by the Ekurhuleni Municipality and I went…
Pictured above: Building material being loaded onto trucks to be taken away. By Max Rambau, CORC I got a call today (22 November 2010) that evictions were being carried out…
By Blessing Mancitshana, CORC Europe is an informal settlement located in Gugulethu township, it is situated along N2 road bordering with Barcelona and Kanana. This settlement is only made up…
Pictured above: Residents paint their replacement shacks after they were destroyed in Makause. By Max Rambau, CORC On Saturday, the 2nd October some fire broke out at Makause Informal Settlement…
Pictured above: Evicted residents sit under a tree and guard their belongings after their shacks were destroyed. By Max Rambau, CORC On Friday, 1 October, I received a call from…
Pictured above: Patrick Magebhula speaks at a convention for the Informal Settlement Network in Durban, October 2009. By Benjamin Bradlow, SDI secretariat A slum dweller community leader has become a…
Pictured above: The local committee members of Mangolongolo are busy assessing the extent of the damage and trying to find out what can be done to assist with the burial…
Pictured above: Some residents at Denver Hostel Informal Settlement have already started rebuilding their shacks. However, most residents do not have building material to do so. By Max Rambau, CORC…
Pictured above: A month after being ordered by a court to rebuild over 70 shacks in Barcelona informal settlement, the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality has only constructed a few wooden poles.…
By Max Rambau, CORC On Sunday, 18th July 2010 I got a report that there was a fire disaster that had happened at Alexandra’s Helen Josephs Hostel in the early…
By Max Rambau, CORC In the past month, shacks have been destroyed due to eviction orders by the municipalities of Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg in Gauteng province. In June the communities…
By Louise Cobbett, SDI secretariat The World Cup kicked off in fine style for the staff of Cape Town’s CORC office with a visit from the United States Secretary of…