Housing Citizenship Through the Federation of Urban Poor in South Africa

Abstract

This chapter explores the notion of housing citizenship through the Federation of Urban Poor (FEDUP) among the poor and homeless in South African townships. Through the Federation of Urban Poor, the poor people have been instrumental and pragmatic in promoting housing citizenship self-funded and with the help of the Department of Human Settlement both locally and nationally. The chapter makes use of human-capability development framework to draw lessons for active participation and empowerment in the delivery of services such as houses. The chapter found that the people involved in FEDUP managed to transform their dire situation from marginalization to empowerment and have managed to further outsource both government and private sector resources in the form of finances and human expertise. The data in this chapter are collected through face-to-face interviews, document analysis, and observations.