Abstract:
Despite the adoption and implementation of upgrading and the delivery of mass public housing in
South Africa, the number of informal settlements is still swelling. It is against this background that the paper
intends to provide critical analysis of the upgrading projects beneficiaries' perceptions regarding the general
performance of an informal settlement upgrading project in Soshanguve Extension 3. The study adopted a
mixed-methods approach to capture perceptions of informal settlement upgrading beneficiaries concerning
the impact of such upgrading in their lives and livelihoods. A household survey questionnaire was utilised with
60 randomly sampled households for the quantitative aspect of the research. Purposive sampling was applied
for the qualitative aspect with one focus group discussion and one in-depth interview with a community leader.
The key study findings revealed that the upgrading in Soshanguve Extension 3 presented a generally acceptable
access level to certain basic services and housing infrastructure. Furthermore, the upgrading project in
Soshanguve Extension 3 deviated from certain key principles acknowledged by Turner and adopted in South
Africa housing upgrading policies, such as: limiting dweller participation and freedom to build; as well as failure
to improve dwellers' economic standing. The main study recommendation is the augmentation for the freedom
to build and dweller control in the housing provision facilitated through self-build in which government create
enabling environment for dwellers to build their own houses
Description:
Journal articles published in the 6th International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 06-08 October 2021, Virtual Conference.