Indlu Living established a partnership with the Department of Gauteng Economic Development to launch a project in 2022 in Ekurhuleni to build backyard rooms in order for Township property owners to generate income; however, due to the great demand, the project couldn’t grow.

Soweto has been given the opportunity to be part of this project. Soweto Business Access and Indlu Living are in the process of turning Soweto the township into Soweto the city by providing funding to empower property owners to replace shacks (mkhukhus) in their yards with modern buildings.

The practice of building shacks in backyards in Soweto started during the apartheid era. The government had a policy of relocating black people to townships far away from the cities and towns where they worked, which resulted in overcrowding and a housing shortage in these areas. As a result, many families began building shacks in their backyards to accommodate additional family members or to rent out for extra income.

Mr. Mphuthi Mphuthi, Chief Servant at Soweto Business Access, says “our priority at this stage is to get rid of Apartheid-era identity.”

Soweto Business Access has core objectives, which are to:

Formalize the township property sector as it stands. People are operating within the property sector, but informally and secondarily.

Access to funding to build is an issue; however, through Indlu Living, funding will be available without having stringent requirements to have access to the loan, and support will be provided.

Mr. Mphuthi says this initiative doesn’t require a financial contribution from the property owner; however, they will look at the viability of your property to generate income, which will be used as the basis to grant you the loan.

Soweto Business Access will be able to assist you in getting tenants. The money that you generate from the tenants will be used to repay the loan. In the event that a tenant is unable to pay rent due to unemployment, there’s an insurance policy that will cover the tenant’s rent and the income of the property owner.

This initiative is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, click the link: https://bit.ly/3rAoVB5.