PEOPLE'S
HOUSING PROCESS
SAVING
THE ECONOMY - COMBINE PEOPLE'S CAPITALISM WITH THE PEOPLE'S
HOUSING PROCESS
PEOPLE'S
CAPITALISM via THE PEOPLE'S HOUSING PROCESS of ASSISTED
SELF-HELP
The ever increasing
unemployment rate, should set the alarms bells ringing.
We need to focus on the solution by empowering us to use
our fast resources of labour to address our housing problem.
If the government cannot provide affordable houses then
it is our responsibility to provide a solution.
The
underlying principle is simple. The value of a currency
relates to the productivity of the nation. We will not
attract foreign capital, turn the rand around, succeed
in attaining single digit inflation and lower the interest
rates until our people are firmly on the road to prosperity
via harnessing their own potential.
Much
is said about the need to increase employment. Waiting
for formal business or the Government to create more jobs
can NEVER provide more than a fraction of the answer.
We must follow the international experience of developing
nations by freeing up the potential entrepreneur who lurks
within a high proportion of all our citizens.
How
do we achieve that? The People's Housing Process is yet
the most promising initiative to emerge from our fledgling
beleaguered government and MUST SUCCEED if we are not
to sink into a third world morass of inefficiency corruption
and crime.
By
promising to fund Housing Support Centers that comprise
groups of about 200 households who are willing to participate
in building their OWN HOUSE at R500 per household, Government
have given us the best opportunity yet, to solve our problems.
The
big challenge now is HOW DO WE MAKE IT HAPPEN? Government
is short of funds. Local authorities are emerging from
a process of wrenching change, and many NGOs still struggle
to survive.
South
Africa has produced many hundreds of frustrated individuals,
who have invested many years and capital in devising self-build,
quality, and energy saving housing systems that are best
suited to our needs, but have failed to realize their
vision due to a combination of community suspicion of
new technology, and bureaucratic complexity.
South
Africa cannot afford to deliver completed houses that
are built by contractors and handed over before the
R20000 consolidation subsidy is paid? That is impractical,
has not worked, and will never work. People tend to get
a tiny matchbox of a house of ever reducing size, that
is built with the cheapest materials and labour available
which comprises a health hazard, and creates more frustration
and resentment than anything else.
The
answer lies in ASSISTED SELF-HELP which is what
the People's Housing Process
is all about.
People
need dwellings that are of a good quality, of a design
that reflects individual needs and taste, and FROM WHICH
THEY CAN WORK.
There
is no doubt that when the owner is personally involved
in the construction of the house, the quality of finishes
is much higher than when delivered by a hard pressed contractor.
Direct involvement results in pride of achievement and
good quality.
The
next step is to help create the opportunity for the householder
to set up a small business from the home. This can be
done by the provision of:
The
resulting lifting of the living standard of urban dwellers
is then permanent, and provides a much higher productive
base for employment in the formal sector. It follows that
the need to turn to crime for a living reduces in proportion.
This
is the international experience. Other developing countries
have traversed the same path, and have learned the same
lessons. We just happen to be rather far down the road,
but learn we must.
The
Readykit Housing patent cavity walling system fulfills
the need for housing to be of the highest quality, energy
efficient and affordable. The system was designed specifically
for assisted self-help housing projects where the aim
is for the community to have a say in the size, design
and finishes of each unit, which in most cases is intended
to be a workplace as well as a home.
The
Readykit product is not only waterproof, bullet proof
and has a 60 minute fire rating. It is also extremely
energy efficient, and healthy. Our people are desperate
for a technical solution to help overcome the respiratory
problems that result from excessive exposure to wood or
coal fires in an enclosed environment. TB is a growing
scourge that is fuelled by the absence of dwellings that
provide effective insulation from damp and cold.
The
housing subsidy will pay for at least half the erected
40sq-m unit plus the entire foundation. Training is provided
to give the necessary skills to the owner to be able to
complete the process and extend the house in future as
additional funds are available. The training at that stage
is linked to a program that identifies potential for
the creation of a small business and identifying what
extensions if any are required to the dwelling.
The
Readykit solution works, but is not the only one around.
We need to encourage all entrepreneurs who have devised
practical self-help housing systems to bring them to the
party in the confident knowledge that if they deserve
to succeed.
THE
FINANCIAL ENVIRONMENT IS IN PLACE TO ENABLE IT TO HAPPEN
AND THE TIME TO DO IT IS HAS ARRIVED
Appropriate
unsecured loan finance.