Die rol van bantoesake-administrasierade in bantoebehuising in Suid-Afrika met spesiale verwysing na die Wes-Transvaalse Bantoesake-administrasieraad
Abstract
Obj ect of the investigation
Labour and housing go hand in hand. In the
i ns t ance where the Bantu from the homeland sells
his l abour to the Whites in the White areas,
adequa t e measures must be taken to provide hygienic
and a ttractive housing conditions for the Bantu.
An attempt must be made that the sojourn of the
Bantu in the White areas will cause pleasant memories
whenever he recalls the interim period during which
it was necessary for him to stay in a White area
until such time as his own homeland will develop
into economic viability and when it will be possible
f or him to return to his homeland of his own free
will, or a lternatively until rapid transport has
r e ached such an advanced stage that it will be
po s sible for him to commute daily between the home=
land and hi s work .
It will, however, be quite a while before the
resett lement of Bantu families in their respective
homel ands will become an established fact. There
are even persons who are doubtful if this ideal
will ever be attained. Now is the time that the
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relative permanence of certain urban Bantu residen=
tial areas must be assumed in all earnestness .
Attention must also be paid to the social evils
stemming from the overpopulation of the Bantu resi=
dential areas and the gradual infiltration of
nocturnal Bantu sleepers into White re s identi a l
areas .
The object of this investigation was to
determine :
(a) if the problem of inadequate housing
facilities exists in urban Bantu residential areas; and
(b) if there is a demand for additional Bantu
housing and if so, for what type of
housing such a demand exists.
It was also attempted to probe the Bantu's
opinion as regards the standard of the existing
available housing. The study was undertaken to
ascertain the needs of the Bantu insofar as both
quality and quantity of housing are concerned.
Furthermore, the rate at which housing for the
Bantu is being provided was taken into account. By
means of projections into the future, an attempt
was made to assess the required rate at which housing
should be provided in order to meet the growing needs
of the urban Bantu.
The type, size and standard of housing offered
to the Bantu was also reviewed in order to determine
the interaction between supply and demand.
In order to obtain an over-all picture of the
Bantu housing problem in the Republic, the activities
of the 22 Bantu Affairs Administration Boards , which
only recently commenced operations, were studied.
Lastly, the activities of the Western Transvaal
Bantu Affairs Board were studied in detail. Special
attention was paid to the function of this Board
in providing housing for the Bantu in the White
areas and the assistance which the said Board (as
agent of the South African Bantu Trust) rendered
in connection with homeland development.
2. Method of investigation
Use was made of primary as well as secondary
methods in carrying out this study.
Primary research was based on practical data
collected by means of five questionnaires, which
formed the nucleus of the investigation. In addition,
an attempt was made to learn more about the ways of
living and thinking of the Bantu. This was achieved
by means of numerous interviews and the results were
incorporated in the finding s in a practical way.
As regards secondary methods, use was chiefly
made of the official information supplied by the
Department of Statistics, the Human Sciences Research
Council, the South African Bureau of Racial Affairs
and the various Bantu Affairs Administration Boards.
Existing literature was studied and special use was
made of publications of the National Building
Research Institute of the Council for Scientific
and Industrial Research in order to gain the
necessary background for the whole study -
3. Results of the investigation
3.1 Whithin the area under the jurisdiction of the
Western Transvaal Bantu Affairs Administration Board
the following numbers of Bantu are encountered :
(a) in the prescribed area 167 874 ;
(b) in the non-prescribed area 481 023; and
(c) on mining properties 13 7 929.
The Tswana population group comprises 72% of
the total Bantu population in the white area in
the Western Transvaal.
3.2 Only 2.0,93% of the Bantu families living in
urban Bantu residential areas in Western Transvaal
are prepared to move voluntarily to their homeland
There is an official waiting list for only 5 ,1% of
the Bantu population in the Western Transvaal for
homeland resettlement. This poor reaction is
ascribed to the absence of a proper homeland trans=
port service and the fact that large tracts of
Bophuthatswana are not economically viable for the
Bantu in urban areas.
3.3 Amongst the Bantu in the White area there exists
a positive demand for housing and there is also an
alarmingly high trend to over-population as such
amongst the Bantu. An official waiting list for
approximately 5 200 dwellings and 5 300 hostel
beds is being kept by the Western Transvaal Bantu
Affairs Administration Boards for the 26 Bantu
residential areas under its jurisdiction . In the
latter areas 32 605 persons board with relatives
on a single basis. On White premises in Western
Transvaal an estimated 12 745 Bantu spend the night
legally and an estimated 1 662 illegally as a
result of the housing shortage.........