Consent and contradiction: Scholarly responses to the capital subsidy model for informal settlement intervention in South Africa

From “contravention of laws” to “lack of rights”: redefining the problem of informal settlements in South Africa

“…6 I have asked elsewhere (Huchzermeyer, 1999b(Huchzermeyer, , 2001a, why these research insights have not challenged the state of the art of dealing with informal settlements. One reason certainly appeared to be that researchers producing insights into the social implications of the current approach have not developed any clear alternatives for debate (Huchzermeyer, 2001a).…”

“…One reason certainly appeared to be that researchers producing insights into the social implications of the current approach have not developed any clear alternatives for debate (Huchzermeyer, 2001a). The relevant social scientists are not positioned in the policy discourse, which remains dominated by experienced technocrats drawing on flawed social paradigms (see Huchzermeyer, 2001a).…”

The rise or fall of the ‘community’? Post-apartheid housing policy in Diepsloot, Johannesburg

“…However, 'community' participation in the design and implementation of the development project, which is seen by conventional wisdom as the condition of its success, may also lead to the outbreak of violence (Hindson, Beyerly and Morris, 1994;Crankshaw, 1996;Huchzermeyer, 2001). It seems rather utopian, and may even be dangerous, to expect social justice to emerge from a social process of participation (Visser, 2001), and to see a fair and democratic compromise in the result of what is often merely violent conflict.…”

Upgrading through the project-linked capital subsidy: Implications for the strategies of informal settlement residents and their community organisations

“…However, once an agreement for development is secured, rigid standards and procedures condition the release of project-linked subsidies by the Provincial Housing Boards. In essence, this reduces community-based organisations to mere consultative bodies, expected to ensure the smooth implementation of an externally designed project.In a recent review of the informal settlement literature of the 1990s in South Africa (Huchzermeyer, 2001), I conclude that our understanding of intervention processes has been biased towards the realities of project managers and implementers, rather than the experiences of organised informal settlement communities. Where case studies have taken into account the perspective of community organisations, these tended to focus on violent…”

“…In a recent review of the informal settlement literature of the 1990s in South Africa (Huchzermeyer, 2001), I conclude that our understanding of intervention processes has been biased towards the realities of project managers and implementers, rather than the experiences of organised informal settlement communities. Where case studies have taken into account the perspective of community organisations, these tended to focus on violent situations predating the 1994 election, thus needing to unravel a complexity of social dynamics relating to repression, forced migration, displacement and political division.…”