This article describes the daunting challenge of precarious housing in Salvokop located in the southern part of inner City of Tshwane, Gauteng Province. Insecure tenure, unmaintained dwellings, overcrowding, mushrooming of backyard shacks and the rise of the informal settlement, all that led to deep levels of vulnerability and neighbourhood deterioration. Current conditions show that life in that neighbourhood is fraught as substandard housing degenerated into slum and squalor. This concern emerged among other salient pressing issues of poverty and vulnerability from the World Café and Focus Groups with the inner city churches including those from Salvokop. The article set out to describe precarious housing, unpleasant living conditions owing to the fact that human beings stay in unsuitable dwellings while the environment deteriorates. Taking into account their circumstances, the article’s aim was to recapture the extent to which the residents suffer as a result of living in dwellings unfit for human habitation, rethinking an alternative model to respond. A theological agenda for future ecclesiological engagement was discerned forthwith recommendations. The article makes a contribution towards the theology of the city in that it stimulates church practices and housing of poor people in Tshwane. It does so by engaging in a unique way grassroots knowledge from the different inner city congregations. This process used the platform of surveys, World Café style gatherings and Focus Groups. In conversation with the primary source, this article also contributed with original data generated with the Salvokop residents whose stories helped to expend on horizons of housing, which is acknowledged. All the inner city church contributors of the realisation of the study objectives are also recognised.
The opening page of the classic book, G
In view of all these specified programmes, the problem statement of the study is that precarious housing is a matter of growing concern for the residents of the Salvokop neighbourhood. Three aspects that help to create a bigger picture of this problem are descriptive to show the extent to which the residents are deeply affected. First of all, the residents stay in free-standing houses inherited from the colonial and apartheid era. However, the viability of these ventures has gradually dropped because of a lack of maintenance and upgrades of basic service infrastructures in the neighbourhood. Secondly, there is a question of overcrowding in these houses mainly because of illegal subletting. The residents tend to accommodate desperate poor people who cannot afford rent elsewhere in the inner city. This situation has gone beyond proportion because it is apparent that the Department of Public Works, the landlord, has lost managerial control, which has led to chaos. Thirdly, an increase of backyard shacks and occupation of open land in the
Accordingly, these factors and others show clearly that precariousness of housing in Salvokop is a matter of greater concern. The study notes that since the Department of Public Works took over the administration from Transnet, the housing situation in the neighbourhood remains uncertain. This study is intended to describe the problem and to discern an alternative theological agenda for future ecclesiological contributions towards a change. Gloeck (
In the view of these reports, the experience of precarious housing implies ‘inadequate housing’ and is linked to poverty and human vulnerability as a result of resource deprivation and social exclusion (Doyle & Williams
The first conversation is dedicated to an over focusing view of how Salvokop started in the years back, what has socially changed and how housing service was administered.
The second conversation connects with historical overview to recapture an urban perspective of the contemporary Salvokop assessing mechanisms behind precariousness of housing in the neighbourhood and extent to which the residents are affected.
The third conversation redirects its focus on rethinking an alternative model to respond towards precarious housing.
The fourth and last conversation discerns an alternative theological agenda for future urban ecclesiological involvement in response towards precarious housing in Salvokop.
In alignment with the title of the article, the study is conducted under the broader context of human rights deprivation, which propels poor people to urban social margins where they face a deplorable life without social service net. Specifically, it deals with a struggle for poor people to access proper housing in the inner city. The envisaged objectives are stated as follows:
to recapture the historical background of the Salvokop neighbourhood to establish obstacles and social patterns that hampered housing for poor people
to reassess the current state of the neighbourhood to get a bigger picture of the precarious housing problem while exploring the extent to which the poor people are affected
to demonstrate the active role all the residents of Salvokop should play to participate in finding a solution towards a precarious housing problem
to discern an urban alternative theological agenda for future considerations as; both the residents and the churches journey together to address precarious housing.
To achieve the objectives of the study, the methodology adopted a multi-level and interdisciplinary framework, which helps to conduct an inquiry into issues of urban spatial justice in the pressing social context of poor people who live in dwellings that are unfit for human habitation. This methodology is specifically shaped by an urban philosophical praxis, which harnesses grassroots knowledge from the fieldwork. This recognises that research is:
not only exploring conceptual or theoretical frameworks, but based on actual challenges and questions articulated by local participants and stakeholders, shared action, reflection, dialogue and research are engaged in for real-life solutions and innovations. (Bergman
Accordingly, the aspects of the study methodology are structured as follows:
Literature review was an important aspect of the methodological framework used to achieve the objectives of the study.
Aside the literature review, the World Café style gatherings and Focus Group sessions with inner city churches have been used to gain empirical knowledge. From the side of Salvokop, four churches were invited to participate in the Focus Group meetings. However, only two churches availed themselves for the meetings which was a disappointing part in the study. Focus Group sessions were conducted on 25 September 2016, 03 May 2017 and 14 May 2017.
Another component of the methodological framework of the study has been individual interviews with ten residents from Salvokop to get their view on how precarious housing affects them and what role the residents can play in the housing process. The interviews took place on 28, 29 and 30 April 2017.
Again, the study has relied on my personal observations from pastoral experience as a minister who is running a church in Salvokop. The regular door-to-door outreach we do in this area has exposed me to real-life experiences poor people face on a daily basis as a result of staying in substandard houses. My involvement with YCH is also another experience that made me aware of the appalling situation of housing in the neighbourhood. As indicated in the introduction, YCH has recently built an affordable housing project in the area. This project stimulated me to see Salvokop precinct with more potential to improve the living conditions of all the residents through proper housing suited to their various social and economic circumstances.
In short, these above important aspects of the methodological framework have been the guiding principle in the study to investigate the precarious housing problem in the Salvokop neighbourhood and how the residents are affected because of a lack of interventions.
Keeping in mind the title of the article, there are four main conversations that lead the study: (1) an urban historical perspective of Salvokop in relation to housing situations, (2) presentation of the contemporary Salvokop and precarious housing, (3) rethinking an alternative model for both the residents and the inner city churches journeying together to respond towards the problem of precarious housing and (4) discerning an alternative theological agenda and recommendations for future ecclesiological involvement.
An epistemological inquiry set forth in this first conversation describes historical settings that characterise Salvokop, a site regarded as one of the biggest and growing informal settlements in the inner City of Tshwane. The reader is informed that a teleological position pursued through this process is not one of generating a scientific spatial configuration to scrutinise architectural details as underpinned by Naude (
the rights of being, becoming, and interconnecting in the city, rights that do not flow alone from the ways in which the physical space is organized, but also from the development and expressive opportunities given to [
Davey (
All these above insights give a good perspective, helping to assess historical background of Salvokop starting from its inception. Records from history, however, show that its establishment reflects worse experience of racial segregation from the South African history of colonial and apartheid powers. Gloeck (
The NZASM railway initiatives, which focussed on the hub of Salvokop before 1902 (IMR/SCAR), was the biggest single state driven infrastructure venture the Transvaal Republic ever undertook. The venture provided job opportunities for thousands of white and black citizens at the time, and made a huge contribution to the ZAR economy, in terms of revenue and of sustaining the all-important mining industry and also the agricultural community. (p. 17)
This above assessment leads now to the political and social life discussion. Records show that as economy continued to grow, it was between 1890 and 1930 when a need arose to provide housing to the railway line employees to live closer to work. However, reports confirm that the framework applied that time to address the need, was based on the colonial and apartheid policies. Housing service undertaken only favoured the workers from the white community excluding their black counterparts. As Wenhold (
The concepts of liveability, resilience and inclusivity are anchor principles that will guide how the City sets policy and investment priorities as well as balance competing needs of social, spatial, and environmental issues brought about by the City’s ever-changing population dynamics. Furthermore, these principles seek to bring about the realisation of the City’s new urbanism and smart city aspirations. This vision serves as development logic for the four decades of game changing and it is a collective call to all stakeholders and residents. (Tshwane Vision 55
From operational ground, however, the Vision 55 does not match reality. In his report, Mudzuli (
Now that a historical background of Salvokop has been covered, this present conversation opens a new debate about its current social conditions. Officially, the neighbourhood falls directly under the administration of the Department of Public Works whose responsibility is to ensure that space is well managed to promote proper human settlement in line with the Tshwane Vision 55 mentioned previously. Looking at the present situation, however, the residents are faced with dire precarious housing and this challenge emerged from the Focus Group meetings with the inner city church including those running in the neighbourhood. These Focus Groups form part of the World Café gatherings, which have already been mentioned earlier (see Introduction Clarifying the methodology) as an initiative championed by the Centre for Contextual Ministry from the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria. Their main purpose was to establish how religious innovation and competition deal with urban vulnerability and change in specifically identified communities in Pretoria. The targeted areas in this process include the inner city of Tshwane and Mamelodi East, a section closer to the Woodlane Village, which is generally known as one of the wealthiest suburbs of Pretoria. Salvokop that this study focuses on was selected as part of the inner city to engage all the inner city churches on urban social issues and the role played to respond to those challenges.
Firstly, the Focus Group participants made reference to various social issues the neighbourhood faces and included on their list precarious housing. They referred to the degradation in housing established several years, dated to the period of colonialism and apartheid regime, as I also profiled this in the previous conversation. These houses have not been maintained and their current state shows that they are no longer fit for human habitation. The participants stated that after the Department of Public Works took over the administration from Transnet, there was hope that the situation would change, instead the neighbourhood is gradually deteriorating. The identified problems include lack of maintenance and upgrade of basic infrastructures such as sewer systems, electricity, water and sanitation. Looking at the reports by
Secondly, besides the unmaintained houses and the collapse of basic services, the Focus Group participants also identified overcrowding in these houses mostly because of illegal subletting. It is believed that poor people move to Salvokop to look for cheaper places to rent because flats are expensive in the city. De Beer (
An extensive influx of jobseekers to the Salvokop area could result in negative social impacts such as the extension of the Baghdad informal settlements with associated environmental pollution, an increase in the number of backyard shacks within the formal residential component of Salvokop, social conflict between the jobseekers and locals to secure employment, conflict between informal vendors (also seen as jobseekers) for new business, misbehaviour of jobseekers (e.g. possible increase in alcohol use) possible increase in crime due to these jobseekers being unemployed, as well as increased pressure on already strained infrastructure and additional pressure on health and community services. (p. 37)
In view of influx and overcrowding, poor people tend to exploit each other through the situation of subletting. Batho Earth (
Thirdly, an increase of shacks in open land besides backyards has been noted as another indication of precarious housing. These shacks are built with card boxes, whereas others are built with plastic sheeting, which poses a very high health and safety risk because paraffin is used to prepare food. Reference was here made to
‘We have to go to ask water from POPUP and sometimes we do not get it because they say water is now expensive. Can you imagine spending a week without taking bath …? We do not have privacy, we do not have toilet, there is no electricity to cook food, and life is difficult here.’ (Interview 2017)
One participant from the Focus Group meetings blamed the churches for not doing much to help:
‘this place is like Sodom and Gomorrah. You will find some smoking weed [
Most of the local churches from Salvokop are operating informally (Batho Earth
An important element from the report by Batho Earth (
In brief, one big challenge in Salvokop, given its historical background of unjust policies, is to cultivate changes that promote the value of neighbourhood through social integration prioritising access to adequate housing so that the poor people can live closer to economic opportunities in the city.
On the basis of precariousness of housing as faced by the residents of Salvokop, this conversation explores an alternative model for the churches to respond in a more practical way. This model is assessed through the lens of social justice, a vision which fascinates Jackson (
Applying the above insights in the context of Salvokop, the inner city churches working together with the residents can significantly achieve more in the areas of advocacy and policy lobbying. A unique contribution that the churches can make is, for instance, to prioritise consciousness-raising and awareness of citizens’ rights including access to quality housing as enshrined in
Lessons learnt from the early Methodists do not, however, suggest that churches’ relief initiatives should stop as such decision would be undermining the integrity of Jesus’
This ruined building at Windmill Hill, Moorfields, the building was wrecked by an explosion, and was left derelict for more than twenty years. At a cost of £800, Wesley made this his headquarters. Out of ‘a vast uncouth heap of ruins’ Wesley made a chapel which would accommodate some fifteen hundred people. There was a Band Room behind the chapel holding about three hundred people; at north end a school, and at the south end the Book Room. Over the Band Room were apartments for Mr. Wesley, assistant preachers; a coach house and stable stood in an open yard to the north, while at the south side was walled-in garden in which were ‘some forest trees. (Boyling
This example represents a model of good practice showing how urban space can be innovatively used to improve lives of citizens through housing. Basset (
to improve the livability and safety, to promote a sustainable development, to improve the quality of working and living, to strengthen the economic base, to enhance the social cohesion, to improve accessibility, to upgrade the quality of public space …
Integrity flowing from the phrases, ‘… to improve accessibility …’, ‘… social cohesion …’ and ‘… urban public space …’ reminds me of a conference I attended in Pretoria CBD where a speaker claimed that poor people who occupy urban space illegally, like in
shack dwellers should organize themselves and think and speak for themselves, … shack dwellers should no longer be ‘ladders’ for the politically ambitious but should fully own their own politics and own it in common. The central idea in the understanding of a living politics is that politics should not be something imposed on people from above, via sterile and often alienating dogma but should rather be something that, in its discourse and practice, emerges from and speaks to immediate life world of shack dwellers. (Pithouse
It is likewise of paramount importance to realise that the residents of Salvokop have a pivotal role to play towards the rebuilding of their neighbourhood. Until they mobilise themselves to defend and reclaim their dignity, their dream of a home in the inner city will remain a thick fog and what is likely to happen is eviction from the city under the pretext of urban planning development. This happened to the shack dwellers who were evicted from Marabastad to Mamelodi as the local government wanted to implement the projects of inner city renewal but the plans did not take place (De Beer
It is then argued that both the residents of Salvokop and the churches can journey together in advocating for proper housing in their neighbourhood. An ecclesiological guiding principle flows from Jesus’ requirement for the church to become a good shepherd (Jn 10:14) who (1) should know the sheep and (2) who should be prepared to lay life down for them. This call is intended to inspire the church’s pastoral care plan to be broader to integrate housing for poor people. Batho Earth (
YCH reputation emerges from its status of a non-profit church-based company and is fully accredited by the Social Housing Regulatory Authority with level one contributor towards B-BBEE
In short, an alternative model that helps tackle precarious housing with more impact should invaluably prioritise underlying issues of advocacy and policy lobbying so that the neighbourhood of Salvokop can become a symbol and expression of social justice in the inner City of Tshwane. In the next conversation, it is indicated that the churches should not just see the residents as the illegal shack dwellers who have invaded inner city land aimlessly, but to walk alongside with them in their struggle to achieve a decent housing in their neighbourhood.
The penultimate section of the study leads a crucial conversation on an alternative theological agenda for future ecclesiological engagement in Salvokop to address precarious housing and builds on insights from the previous discussion. This alternative theological agenda is firstly discerned in appreciation of the residents stepping out to contribute towards their neighbourhood change. A theological reflection on the vision of
Jesus stimulates faith; he encourages them to comprehend the reality of what makes them marginal. They are receptive not only to the message but also to the invitation to create an alternative way of community life … (p. 71)
Davey (
… the fact that worship takes place in communities of the urban poor is not a secret, of no relevance to the Church outside those places. God’s new order is celebrated and claimed among members of the same body who find themselves the under-valorised objects of global economic forces: the unemployed, underpaid and those caught up in debt; migrants seeking security and work; refugees seeking safety and welcome. (p. 106)
In alignment with the above reflections, the local churches from Salvokop are operating from the grassroots level among the poor people. This status places them in a position whereby they should learn the real issues of the residents and the neighbourhood in general so that they can be addressed in a real and direct way.
An alternative theological agenda for future ecclesiological engagement in Salvokop secondly recognises a broader partnership with multiple role players from public and private sectors to rally behind a standalone goal of rebuilding the neighbourhood to become a model of justice and reconciliation given its history of injustice. An obstacle to achieve this goal lies in the churches lacking an important aspect of collaboration to promote a shared vision of building a sustainable human settlement. It was astonishing during the World Café and Focus Group meetings to note that some churches do not know each other while operating from the same building blocks. De Beer (
Thirdly, other than grassroots leadership and broader partnership, spirituality is a touchstone in discerning an alternative theological agenda for future ecclesiological involvement in the Salvokop neighbourhood. It is argued that in church practices, spirituality matters as Humboldt, Leal and Pimenta (
The main aim of the study has been to describe the problem of precarious housing that the residents of Salvokop neighbourhood are facing and to discern urban ecclesiological role to respond to the situation. Mechanisms surrounding this problem have been explored by means of a critical review of the historical background of Salvokop. Its initial establishment was covered bringing in issues of unfair policies and social exclusion, which affected housing for poor people. The study built on this step to offer a description of the current state of housing problem in Salvokop and how the residents are affected while investigating whether or not there is any involvement of the inner city churches to respond in a more practical way. Leading from these lines, the study concludes that Salvokop does not in one way or the other make exception of other South African urban neighbourhoods suffered from patterns and unjust policies from the colonial and apartheid patronage. It became clear that political ideologies of social exclusions linked to aspect of racial segregation led to dramatic events of fundamental human rights violation. Housing was allocated in accordance with the confinement of unfair laws to favour a certain class of white workers while their black counterparts became subjected to forced removals from Salvokop resulting in poverty and vulnerability. A link between precarious housing, poverty and vulnerability is here acknowledged albeit not developed in these conversations, but the subject may potentially be considered for future project. Thus, lessons learnt from both past and the present social context of Salvokop reveal that the history of unjust policies tends to repeat itself as the neighbourhood remains competitive towards businesses and public offices overlooking an important component of urban social development. In short, the picture of precarious housing as experienced has the following layers:
gradual degradation of existing housing because of a lack of maintenance and intervention
social phenomenon of overcrowding in the houses as a result of influx of poor people migrating to the neighbourhood
insecurity of tenure as the residents remain uncertain of the future of housing in Salvokop
the rise of shacks and
neighbourhood deterioration because of a lack of maintenance and an upgrade of basic infrastructure causing harm to environment.
A theological agenda for future ecclesiological involvement in Salvokop shows that precarious housing is immense and complex and that the churches involvement requires more than just to run outreach and handout programmes to promote decent housing for poor people. It is expected that the churches working together with the residents will prioritise issues of advocacy and policy lobbying to promote a model of housing, which is socially inclusive to consider all the circumstances of each household residing in the neighbourhood of Salvokop. To plan ahead, issues of immediate attention that need the facilitation from the churches are reflected in the recommendations as follows:
stakeholders’ collaborative and consultative meetings involving community leaders
building strong partnership relationships with public and private sectors
land audit and disposal for housing purposes
establishing a conversation on a range of various housing options to be negotiated and approved with the residents of Salvokop
upgrading the existing housing stock and basic infrastructures followed by environment upkeep campaigns
legitimising the current residents determining security of housing tenure
exploration of home ownership option through rental to buy option for the existing houses
exploring the Government housing grant to fund the model of affordable housing given the case study of Inkululeko Centre social housing project of YCH.
All in all, the successful integration and execution of these components require wisdom and zealous leadership and commitment of all participants involved to the long-term journey of realising the ultimate goal of the neighbourhood change through housing adapted to circumstances of all the residents. In the same spirit, it is lastly noted that once housing vision is achieved, it will humbly be celebrated as a Christian expression of justice and a contribution to human dignity, bearing in mind that ‘mission in the complexity and tangle of the urban will bring us again and again to the
The author declares that she has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced her in writing this article.
The project is also a sub-theme of the ‘Faith in the City’ research project, hosted by the Centre for Contextual Ministry in the Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria.
According to the current
African common value of ubuntu that promotes human dignity and cultural diversity is described in Hankela (
De Beer
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment.
This insertion is my personal reflection.