The South African Housing and Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF) has pledged to assist the Housing Development Agency (HDA) and government to provide temporary residential units by providing 50 temporary housing structures that will provide shelter for 200 South Africans in need during the Covid-19 crisis. The shelter would also promote physical distancing for individuals currently residing in overcrowded communities.
“We have a housing crisis in South Africa, people live in overcrowded spaces and if the coronavirus reaches those places, it will be hard to control. As a company within the property sector, we made this pledge to slow down the spread of the virus. We believe that it is up to each one of us to do what we can to flatten the curve and reduce the possible impact of this virus,” said Rali Mampeule, SAHIF CEO
The National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences HSS Response to Covid-19 papers include Lockdown blues: end of ritual as we know it written by Puleng Segalo, Natalia Molebatsi and Thembela Vokwana. They note that “For years, the majority of south Africans have had to cope with an array of interlocking structures of risk as survival mechanisms, which in a pandemic become sources of danger. Furthermore, as much as people might understand the need for social distancing, this new ritual requires resources and privilege unavailable to many”.
“Part of the work we do is focused on the empowerment of those less fortunate,” “With this pledge, we are supporting the government the only way we know how, through providing serviced land and quality housing which will promote social distancing for South Africans living in overcrowded communities,” said Kameel Keshav, SAHIF CFO.
