Objectives. First, the study aims to explore demographic and socio-economic characteristics of residents who moved into Indlovu village. Second, the study will explore if the housing development attracted the intended beneficiaries as outlined in the policy document of the RDP and the targeted households as specified by the local authority. Third, the study will examine whether there is differential selection of people at places of origin into new housing developments. Background. Since 1994 when South Africa attained independence, the major thrust of the new government was to improve the welfare of the people who were previously underprivileged, especially the Black population. Affirmative policies aimed at the black population were formulated. The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was formulated in 1994 and was aimed at addressing housing, health, education and economical problems for people who could not afford. South African citizens with low socio-economic status, without proper shelter and previously disadvantaged were provided with subsidised houses. These RDP houses induced an influx towards urban areas in informal settlement, further swelling the waiting-list for RDP houses. Methods. This study utilises data from the Africa Centre Demographic Information System (ACDIS). The Demographic Surveillance Area (DSA) is located in rural KwaZulu Natal. The surveillance area includes a new RDP housing development called Indlovu village. The analysis examines the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of people who moved into Indlovu village between 2003 and October 2006. In bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis, the determinants of movement into RDP houses were estimated. The dependent variable ‘moved’ was defined as a binary, where 1 was assigned to those who moved from elsewhere within the DSA to the RDP development scheme and 0 to those who never moved. However, some of the people who have moved into Indlovu Village could have moved from other places outside the DSA and these were analysed separately. Results. There are equal numbers of male and female headed households in Indlovu. Bivariate analyses suggest that there is a statistically significant difference between individuals who moved to Indlovu and those who did not move from the DSA with a p-value <0.001. When controlling for age, sex, marital status, education, employment, household socio-economic status and place of origin, multivariate analysis suggests that people from the rural part of the DSA are more likely than those from urban and peri-urban areas to move into the RDP housing area. Looking at age, more elderly individuals were more likely to be allocated the houses relative to the younger age groups, however, this was not statistically significant. Individuals in the middle age were less likely to move relative to the younger age groups. Equal proportions of females and males benefited from the development and these findings agree with the requirements of the policy. Those in a relatively high socio-economic status were more likely to move than those in the relatively low socio-economic status. Multivariate analysis suggests that the currently married people were more likely to move to Indlovu village. However these findings were not statistically significant but they were significant in the bivariate analysis. Also those from households with dependents were more likely to move relative to those who stayed alone. These findings were not significant after adjusting for other variables. Again this is consistent with the requirements of the policy which stipulates that married people and individuals with dependants have to benefit from these housing developments. The Indlovu housing scheme target people living in and around the DSA, but the development mostly benefited those originating from far away places. Almost 60% of the residents in Indlovu came from places outside the DSA while only 36% originated from within the DSA. Conclusions. This analysis aimed to determine the socio-demographic determinants of individuals who move into RDP houses, using the case study of movement from the Africa Centre DSA into Indlovu village. The findings revealed that the housing development was able to attract individuals from household with average socio-economic status and those from high and very high socio-economic status relative to the very poor households. The RDP policy required that poor individuals with low socio-economic status should be the ones who benefit, however this is contrary to the current study’s findings. However, though by demographic characteristics (gender, age and marital status) most of the beneficiaries met the criteria for eligibility for RDP housing, most came from places further than communities surrounding these housing schemes, disadvantaging the intended beneficiaries. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating the recipients of RDP housing developments around the country, to ensure that the deserving individuals receive the houses.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.