Shacks and Dormitories

On the visit to Larga Township, we walked from the community center along streets with small bodega-type shops -- some in shacks, some in shipping containers.  There were paved streets with an occasional car.  We saw a mixture of three story buildings and one story buildings.

We came to a three story building with a huge amount of laundry hanging in front of it -- suggesting to me that there were a lot of people living there.  In fact, it was a dormitory.  Or, rather, it was built as a dormitory for men when the township was first established.  Men came from the villages to work in Capetown and its surrounding areas.  On a section of one floor, there were 4 rooms to the right of a common room with a couple of tables, and 4 rooms to the left.  There was one bathroom.

When originally built, this section held 16 men.  But now each room houses a family -- the rooms have three beds with storage over each one, and a small shelf for a hot plate.  At night, older boys may sleep on the floor by the tables when there is not enough room in the family room.  Our guide indicated that each unit agreed on the time that the door would be locked in the evening.  If you came home after that, you would find somewhere else to sleep.  Because people need to get up in the morning for work and school, it would not do to have people waking them up when coming in late.

Because of the high level of crowding, and the low level of privacy, people living in the dormitories wanted to move out to shacks.  We had the chance to go into a shack.  Usually they are built by the owners, with help from neighbors.  Materials include corrugated metal siding, boards, cardbord, tarps, etc.  The shack had two rooms -- a front room with a single bed and a very small kitchen section with room for a two burner stove and a rice cooker, and back room.  In fine weather, it was cozy and functional, but in wet and cold weather, the shacks were likely to be pretty miserable.  There were water taps scattered throughout the shack area, and a row of port-a-potties along the edge of the cluster.

Because we are close to elections, government houses are being build -- the basic unit has 25 Sq meters.  There are also newer apartment building -- with 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms.  People are on long waiting lists for government housing -- and there is some corruption that lets some folks move in front of others on the list.  The law forbids removing anyone from where they live without providing replacement housing.