Housing Delivery in Nthutukoville, South Africa: Successes and Problems for Women

This paper examines the notion of empowerment and what it entails in housing development. Through a critical analysis if the different phases in one particular housing project analyzed by the author, the paper highlights the areas of empowerment and emphasizes that it is a process, which in the case of Nthutukoville in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa began with securing land tenure. Access to resources and acquisition of skills are important. Both external and internal factors may be responsible for women’s inability to take charge of their lives. External factors include political violence, unsupportive local authorities, and a hostile environment as well as lack of resources and skills. There is, however, often an internalized problem of the failure to challenge the prevailing gender ideology that reinforces women’s subordination and male dominance in power. Although state policies may be favourable, women, through mobilizing resources, negotiating with authorities, and strategizing must be responsible for their own empowerment

Introduction: Women’s Activism for Gender Equity in Africa

This special joint issue of the Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS) and WAGADU focuses on women’s activism and women’s movements in different countries and cultures throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. The project represents a collaboration between two online, open-access journals that address gender and women’s issues within a transnational and cross-cultural context. The essays, which are distributed between the two journals, use interdisciplinary feminist and activist approaches to reveal the different forms of personal and communal actions being undertaken by African women today in cultural, social, economic, and political arenas. In showing the diversity of African women’s activism; the underlying issues around which activism develops; and the impact of women’s activism on individuals, communities, and nations, this dual project has relevance for women and men throughout the world

Coping strategies of women micro-enterpreneurs : the case of women curio sellers of the Durban beachfront.

Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.The dissertation examines the coping strategies of women curio sellers of the Durban Beachfront. In order to know the coping strategies employed the study looked at the problems that the curio sellers face. The understanding of the women's coping strategies by the service providers while addressing the needs of the curio sellers was also examined. The Fieldwork was conducted at the Durban Beachfront among a total of 35 women drawn through the accidental and snowball sampling techniques. Findings: Women curio sellers experience problems related to recognition of their work, capitaVcredit, shelter, accommodation, crime and laws that impede their business operations. Though these problems are quite crippling, women are not entirely helpless. They cope. The coping strategies of the curio sellers are both individual and collective. The individual coping strategies are used to deal with immediate problems and the collective strategies are used to tackle problems that women would not resolve as individuals. The collective efforts are transfonnative in that they seek to change women's position. The effectiveness of the coping strategies is demonstrated by the number of women that employ them and the gains made by using the strategies. Through collective coping strategies women have been able to get the authorities to act on the problems they face such as crime, shelter and accommodation. Coping strategies have implications for participation in endeavours to resolve the problems faced by the curio sellers. The service providers are aware of the problems faced by the women and some of the coping strategies that the traders employ. The service providers have made efforts to resolve the problems of the women but these efforts have not been fruitful. Women's coping strategies appear not to have been taken into consideration and their participation has not featured much in the planning and implementation of the programmes aimed at assisting them. For development programmes to be effective and sustainable, women's coping strategies need to be taken into account in the planning and implementation of development programmes

Accessing Housing Finance in South Africa: The Role of Women Activism

Women’s history in South Africa is replete with examples of exclusion, discrimination, and marginalization. The transition to democracy in 1994 and inclusion of gender equality in the post-apartheid constitution in 1996 were seen as steps in the right direction towards addressing women’s oppression and creating gender equity in accessing housing finance. The subsequent formulation of policies and institutions meant to achieve gender equality put women’s concerns in the public domain. However women’s access to capital and housing finance in particular remain challenges in accessing improved housing. An exploration of women’s position with regard to housing finance points to the ways in which women were systematically excluded from accessing housing during apartheid. While the post- apartheid housing policies have been inclusionary to women, access to finance from both the traditional and non-traditional housing finance institutions remains a challenge. This paper argues that women’s involvement in rotating savings schemes has been key in providing them with finance for the consolidation of subsidized housing in South Africa. Although micro-credit institutions continue to respond to women’s need for housing finance, equality in access to housing finance will only be achieved when all the role players, both formal and informal, remove the obstacles that constrain women’s access to capital and credit for investment in housing development

Gender-based Household Compositional Changes and Implications for Poverty in South Africa

Poverty is one of the most challenging socio-economic problems in South Africa. Though poverty rates have been substantially reduced in the post-apartheid period, many South Africans remain poor. Available evidence also indicates a substantial gender gradient to the prevalence of poverty in the country. A standard indicator of gendered power structures is the gender of the household head. We examine the effect of transitioning from a male- to a female-headed household over time (relative to remaining in a male-headed household) on changes in the probability of transitioning into poverty from a non-poor state over a two- to six-year period. This type of longitudinal analysis is largely lacking in South Africa, where most previous studies have largely focused on cross-sectional and repeated cross-sectional analyses. The results indicate that transitioning from a male- to female-headed household is associated with an increase in the probability of falling into poverty from a previous non-poor state. The results hold true across all poverty lines and also indicate that the effect of gender-based transitions is not significant in the short term (i.e. for the one-period transitions), but over more persistent transitions

HSRC Review

In these articles on the subject of the COVID-19 crisis, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC, South Africa) magazine explores seven themes, including analysis of the impact on psychological health and wellbeing, the impact on the economy, and information about the pandemic in media and science communication. Apartheid’s spectre persists, as millions of South Africans continue to struggle in unsafe and overcrowded conditions where COVID-19 has exposed and intensified conditions. Research by the University of Cape Town and the HSRC shows the inadequacy of infrastructural access and the lived effects of widespread income and resource insecurity. There are 18 articles regarding different aspects of pandemic effects

Women Entrepreneurship in Kwazulu-Natal: A Critical Review of Government Intervention Policies and Programs

Entrepreneurship is considered one of the key drivers of economic development. It is widely recognized that female entrepreneurs in formal and informal sectors play crucial roles in building and sustaining economic growth and development. In South Africa, however, women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities remains on the periphery of formal government policy. This is despite formal pronouncements and recognition that women’s integration and role in the economy is vital for both the economic and socio-political development of the country. Indeed, the South African government has introduced various policies and programmes in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 5 – achieve gender equality, social inclusion and human rights. Such programmes are aimed at generally empowering women. This paper examines various government programmes aimed at enhancing women’s entrepreneurship in KwaZulu-Natal. It attempts to go beyond the rhetoric to assess the current position of women and to determine the extent to which policy prescriptions and initiatives have empowered women entrepreneurs in KwaZulu-Natal. The data is based on a wide range of existing literature and primary sources