(UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Hopa, Lutho
Backyard rental accommodation is increasingly receiving attention from the state, urban
planners and policy makers as one of the solutions to the housing problem in South Africa. The state in their quest to achieving sustainable human settlements, has through various policies and programmes attempted to address some of the challenges experienced by people ‘operating’ in the informal housing sector. The Gauteng Department of Housing’s (now Gauteng Department of Human Settlements) Zola. Backyard Upgrading Programme was one of these programmes, set up to revive dead capital in the township by ensuring that property owners in Zola get the maximum use value of their properties in a sustainable manner. The Department through the programme upgraded approximately 500 backyard shacks in Zola. The programme however, did not have the desired overall outcomes. This study is centred on identifying the rationalities of both the state who are implementers of the Zola Backyard Upgrading Programme, as well as, landlords and backyard dwellers, who were the target group for the upgrading programme. The research argues that the phenomenon of backyarding in Zola is best understood and explained through the perspectives and experiences of those who supply and those who occupy backyard dwellings and that often top-down state attempts at controlling and regularising such a complex and relatively functional housing sector could have negative impacts on both backyard dwellers and landlords, most of whom rely on income generated from this housing process.