CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 CONCLUSION
The purpose of this research was to address the research questions and the hypothesis set up with regard to the nature of the study. The conceptual framework of the study, the analysis and interpretation of findings have been unpacked in the preceding chapters.
This research has identified factors such as unemployment, low income, generalized abject poverty and peripheral unsustainable development in both study areas as contributing to informal selling and abandoning of property by poor households and forcing them to seek employment and greener pastures somewhere else.
The findings of the study reveal that:
1. Individual (formal) Ownership is
a
significant social and economic risk in Consolidation Housing Projects becauseit
is virtually the only form of tenure provided in all Consolidation Housing Projects in South Africa:Because of this, empty serviced sites are abandoned by their owners when they move elsewhere, and the serviced site cannot be utilized or transferred to someone else in need of shelter by the local authorities because the original owner still has a Freehold Title. Thus, legally the site belongs to the missing beneficiary. The empty sites might create problems because there is a danger of those sites being illegally occupied or invaded by outsiders. The worst part of it is that legally owned properties are also being sold without following the formal transfer procedures. As a result social problems for the community and the local officials in that area are created. It is imperative that a comprehensive housing policy regarding empty sites and cheaper transfer mechanisms should be development as soon as possible.
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2. It has been established that unstable and uncertain informal employment is rife accounting for 20% in Luganda for example and casual work consisting of 30% in Savannah Park alone. It has also been established that unemployment was a common factor in both study areas, and accounted for 30% in both study areas as the resultant beneficiaries were poverty stricken and that resulted in selling of their houses. This brought the researcher to the conclusion that establishing dormitory settlements in the periphery without support of economic and social amenities within the area, is a source of unsustainability and social cohesion of the new community. This has managed to confirm the hypothesis of the study as it states that unemployment and poverty encourages poor households to sell informally or abandon their properties in search of jobs and to follow the increasingly scarce income sources by moving elsewhere away from the project for which subsidy is granted.
3. There is a significant informal housing market occurring in Housing Consolidation subsidy projects of Metropolitan Durban. From the data, out of 15 missing beneficiaries checked at Home Affairs website and another 15 missing checked through IEC website and the 20 respondents that bought houses informally from both study shows the extend of the problem that the authorities has in Consolidation Housing Projects. Again it must be said that the de facto tenure which arises out of these informal mechanisms of property transfer are cheaper and more accessible to low- income households than formal tenures and official mechanisms for transferring property. For this reason, one of the major findings of the present study is that informal transfers are common and seem to be acceptable to the local community. This is a huge challenge for the policy makers to address this kind of the problem, whose long term repercussions are as yet unclear. It could be that there may be legal ownership battles down the line, but it is not apparent so far, which gives new owners a false sense for security. Given the importance of security of tenure in post-apartheid policy, this situation needs to be addressed.
4. In the written interview with Mr. Peter Wolff of Provincial Housing Department and Mark Byerley responsible for policy and in eThekwini Municipality it emerged that there is a lack of clear policies concerning missing beneficiaries in consolidation projects that contributed to serviced sites remain empty and unutilized. It remains a challenge of housing policy and coming up with a solution concerning missing beneficiaries in consolidation projects and this review of housing policy needs to be prioritized.
5. Both the housing developments of Luganda and Savannah Park are located on the periphery of the city because this is where the land is cheapest and where it is possible to acquire large pieces of land suitable for large housing projects. Both Luganda and Savannah Park are more than 30km from Durban eBD and hence the low-income households require more money for transport costs to go to work or look for work. The findings indicated that a significant number of the beneficiaries whom according to the new owners sold their houses from Luganda stated 'area far from work as a reason and in the same breath 25% of Savannah Park also expressed the same sentiments. The lack of economic infrastructure in both areas of Luganda and Savannah Park and being located away from the economic opportunities definitely deprive them means of livelihood.
In conclusion, it can be argued that individual ownership in the case of consolidation subsidy housing projects can restrict labour mobility, and formal transfer procedures are usually not followed. A comprehensive housing policy that will incorporate what measures to be taken with regard to missing beneficiaries in consolidation housing projects needs to be formulated as a matter of urgency.
One would recommend that a housing policy should be reviewed, and that missing beneficiaries be given a time limit of at least six (6) months to locate all
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of them and for them to come forward and daim their properties and thereafter should forfeit them. And at a later stage the authorities could allocate those sites to the needy people, who qualify for consolidation subsidies, or even other subsidies.