DUNOON | JOE SLOVO PARK | WOLVERIVIER | KWA 5 | KILLARNEY GARDENS | MONTAGUE GARDENS | MILNERTON | TABLE VIEW | WITSAND
JUNE 2016
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Double-storey shack boom in kasi 000 on the double-storey mansion and estimated that it would cost him R120 000 to entirely complete construction. “The rooms will be rented out,” he said. During the interview prospective tenants came to find out when construction of the mansion would be completed as they were desperate for decent accommodation in the squatter camp. They had already requested for the rooms to be reserved for them.
Thabiso Bethani has spent R120 000 building a double-storey 11 room shack in order to rent them out in the overcrowded Dunoon kasi.
PETER LUHANGA
D
ouble-storey luxury shacks tower above an undulating landscape of zinc roofs in Ekuphlumleni—a sprawling squatter camp in Dunoon township north of Cape Town. To overcome overcrowding in an area where zinc shacks are closely compacted, the residents
have opted to build up, turning one bedroom shacks into doublestoried ones boasting three bedrooms, a lounge, a kitchen and a garage. The demand for double-storey shacks has landed Alfred Mafa (57) a lucrative construction business. A husband and father of four children, Mafa has since built 16 double-storey shacks from last
November to June. He earns R22 000 to build one double-storey luxury shack and employs two assistants. During the interview Mafa was on site, building an 11 room doublestorey shack. After completion he would be paid R22 000. The owner of the 11 room mansion Thabiso Bethani, 42, said he had already spent R85
“When you’re unemployed you think of a lot of creative things to fend for the family. I’ll rent out one room for R700 a month,” said Bethani. He said the City attempted to stop him constructing his shack but he defiantly refused. “I told them if they’re going to destroy my mansion I’ll also go destroy City infrastructure,” he said. Another resident Bantu Bakhe, 36, a father of three children said he had bought a one bedroom shack for R30 000 and having seen Mafa’s shack construction skills, he approached him to build his own. The one bedroom shack was demolished and a three- bedroom shack was built boasting three bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and a
garage with an automated garage door. He said it cost him R40 000 to build his new shack mansion. “Mafa’s work is outstanding. He is talented. If I see something wrong with my shack I go call him and he comes to fix it,” he said. He used his provident fund to finance the construction of his luxury shack. “It was a blessing in disguise to be fired at work. While being upset of losing my job I asked myself where am I going to live with wife and kids. I decided to use my provident fund to buy a shack and build a luxury shack,” he said. Approached for comment on the emergence of this new sector of the squatter camp shack market, Mayco Member for Human Settlements, Benedicta van Minnen said residents must request permission, in writing, from the city’s human settlements directorate’s informal markets department, should they wish to erect any structures in any informal settlement area. This includes extensions or renovations to existing structures. Mafa said he can be contacted on 0788445442 .