This was low cost housing at its majestic best – with little or no attempt being made here in recent years to come even close to matching what had previously been available to all. Had it been necessary in the past to provide the poorest of the poor with help with housing, the donated home would have been little different from the homes of the better-off. It might have had one rondavel instead of three or four, but it would have had a lelapa and a long drop toilet. Crucially, both rich and poor used locally available materials to build their homes. Today, the houses donated to the poor are smaller versions of those who are making the donation. Yet there are striking differences.
The small donated house is virtually naked, isolated and left completely exposed to the elements, especially sun and wind. The counter part housing of the better-off is not in essence dissimilar. The materials used are the same and the designs are usually not fundamentally different. But whilst being built with little concern for environmental factors, the popular suburban house is somewhat shielded from the weather by protective perimeter walls, by garages, and by subsidiary housing for domestic servants. The houses for the destitute come without any of these features. I am yet to hear of a house donated to a destitute lady in any urban area. It may have happened. It doesn’t much matter because the donated houses are all, by their nature, urban models whether placed town or in a rural or semi-rural setting. Self-evidently, urban people live urban style lives, rural people live rural lives. It has long been disturbing to me that the poorest of the rural poor are expected to live happily in urban style homes. Are they ever asked if they would prefer a small suburban house or something more related to what they know? We have institutions which reasonably should be expected to come up with sensible alternatives. Reflecting the inefficacies of these institutions, however, is the undeniable fact that, generally, we build our suburban style houses in almost exactly the same manner as 50 years ago. For the destitute a return to the old style rondavels won’t do because older ladies, destitute or not, are unable to undertake the maintenance work that they require.
