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Africa Knows! It is time to decolonise minds

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Accepted Paper: E32-09. To panel E32.

Title of paper:

Author:

Joana Messan.

Long abstract paper:
Cape Town located in the south-west of South Africa, is the capital city of the Western Cape region. Cape Town includes many neighbourhoods, which are spreading across the Cape Flats plain from the Central Business District. The identity and organization of these neighbourhoods - including the City Bowl and its suburbs - is linked to land planning policies that were implemented during the Apartheid regime (1948-1991). At that time, many forced expropriations led to the emergence of informal settlements. Established following the creation of townships during the Apartheid, informal settlements are the place of long-standing marginalization in terms of access to infrastructure (water and electricity, waste management), transportation (metro, buses, taxis), health services and education. These residential areas are distinct from squats by definition temporary. In fact, some people have lived in informal settlements for generations, including people waiting for houses promised by the African National Congress (ANC) through the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP, 1994).

Following this planning policies, socio-economic opportunities are concentrated in key urban centres around which informal communities have emerged. But while some informal settlements are located near wealthy areas, others are embedded in areas of poverty. Near the most distant neighbourhoods from the city (City Bowl), inhabitants of informal settlements still maintain a sense of social community despite poverty and inter-ethnic conflicts. Indeed, populations of these areas live in deplorable sanitary and hygienic conditions, while being part of the urban and economic dynamics of the region. Furthermore, despite many public and private programs to reduce inequalities, the affordable private and public housing sector are experiencing a shortage that continues to grow. Informal entrepreneurs and inhabitants themselves find short and long term solutions in order to live in a place they can call home. NGOs and the government support informal settlements' residents, in order to alleviate their experience of marginalization. Among actors involved in this field, IKHAYALAMI provides long-term and emergency solutions for the housing of the poor and marginalized people of Cape Town's informal settlements. This proposal explores the various outcomes of such activities, it is the result of a 4 months' research-action work in the townships for the needs of my final year of studies internship.

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