Self-help housing as a flexible instrument of state control in 20th-century South Africa

There is a long and varied usage of self-help housing policy in South Afric a, dating from colonial times when Africans were dumped in locations and le ft to build their own housing, to the present past apartheid reconstruction . The paper documents and periodises the adoption of self-help strategies f or housing the African population of South African cities throughout the 20 th century. Exploration of the practice of self-help housing practices in J ohannesburg suggests that owner construction is a prevailing method of soci al engineering, whose acceptance or rejection reflects perceived political and economic advantages for the state and the private sector, and is not a simple response to a shortage of affordable shelter among the poor.