Just a Thought

So I thought I would start this entry with a little anecdote from Johannesburg.  On one of my tours around some of the townships within Soweto, the tour guide, Lebo’s brother Phillip, explained the RDP housing initiative and followed by saying that the reason RDP housing may be so poorly built is political.  Most of the people in the one specific township we were in do not vote for the ANC, the party currently in power, and the party that has been in power since the first post-Apartheid elections.  So because that part of South Africa’s population does not vote for the ANC, the government is less inclined to present Soweto with good quality living standards.  This is a strong accusation against the government, but one that is believable.  I’m not quite sure what the voting pattern is in Cape Town’s townships, but I’m guessing, if this situation is political, then the Cape Town population must be voting for the ANC.  As stated earlier, CT’s RDP housing seems to be of better quality compared to Johannesburg’s.  

So with that I thought I would throw out an idea I had in terms of infrastructure development/better housing standards.  This year my roommate did a lot of research on sustainable living aspects of shipping containers.  Now, I know shipping containers aren’t the prettiest looking things, but there are plenty of shipping containers to go around.  There are many architects out there using this type of structure to create interesting buildings.  Shipping container homes would be an interesting way to build RDP housing.  Even though shipping containers look ugly, it is quite easy to make turn them into structures that are appealing to the eye.  There are also many sustainable building materials that work well with shipping containers, in terms of insulation and things like toilets.  Now, I haven’t yet researched the possibilities fully because of limited Internet, but I do think this would be something to look into.  I am not opposed at all to traditional building materials, but exhausting other possibilities only helps the thinking process. 

The solar panels on top of some of the RDP housing in CT seemed like an excellent idea and one that should be utilized through out all RDP housing in South Africa.  I would definitely also look at other types of sustainable energy options to use for the houses, but I definitely like the idea of using affordable solar panel heating systems for housing. 

I wish I could say more about this idea, but I need to do more research.  I just wanted to get it written down.  You are welcome to comment with suggestions, comments or concerns!