Ms. Mandisa Dlanjwa's beautiful new brick house is the envy of her neighbors. She used a loan from the Development Action Group (DAG) and Kuyasa Fund--supported by USAID South Africa--to buy the house. Another loan from DAG enabled Mandisa to create a spacious living room, large enough for community meetings. Functional appliances are plugged into electrical outlets in every room. Indoor water flows generously at the twist of taps within the kitchen and bathroom. Her three sons and a nephew used their newly acquired construction skills to build a brick wall around the family's property. Mandisa's home is an impressive hive of activity for every family member.

It took Mandisa almost 50 years to achieve such model living conditions. She lived in tiny wood or tin shacks most of her life.

Mandisa was born in 1953 in a country that prohibited her human rights. People discriminated against her skin colour and gender. The Republic of South Africa legislated--among other injustices--that people of her race could not live where they wanted, attend their school of choice, use certain facilities reserved for other races, or vote.

Her generation suffered severely under apartheid. "I lived with my parents in a four-room house--what people call 'matchbox'", recalls Mandisa. As a child, her family and scores of neighbours lost their land to the government who forced them onto trucks and dumped them in a vacant field without any amenities. She migrated to Cape Town in search of work in 1990 where she has since lived in Khayalitsha Township. Mandisa said life has been difficult and depressing, "Living in a shack is something you're not proud of. It's hot in summer and cold in winter. A shack is unhealthy and your dignity suffers."

Mandisa was skeptical as the South African Nationalist government made bold promises about reforms. New houses built across the field from her shack in 1993 were allocated "only to Coloureds" (apartheid classification for the mixed race segment of the population). Mandisa didn't qualify. The mother of three growing sons knew that her boys were embarrassed of their shack and seldom invited friends to visit, so she set up home in one of the new houses across the road, without formal permission.

The joy of living in a "normal" house constructed of durable materials didn't last long. Mandisa and her sons were surrounded by security police and rounded up one morning at 2:00. Along with other "illegal squatters", they were physically removed in February 1994 from the houses they were occupying illegally. This humiliation occurred two months before South Africa's first democratic elections in which she was able to vote for the first time in her life.

Mandisa wondered if freedom would ever liberate South Africa. She wanted more than anything to elect a government to represent her and the rest of the majority of her country's people. On the bright days when she dared to be optimistic, Mandisa dreamed she would get a new house if a fair new government assumed power in South Africa. Her dream has come true. She said her sons are happier living in a "real" house and are proud to bring friends home.

Mandisa doesn't have a formal job, earning money as an entrepreneur buying and selling used clothing. She has planted a vegetable garden in her yard and helps stock the local soup kitchen with nutritious food for people with AIDS. Mandisa sees herself as an unpaid social worker, giving advice liberally and sharing her modest resources with others in need. The community sees her as a leader who helps them however she can.

USAID started working with the Development Action Group early in 2002. A $170,000 grant supports DAG's work to help community residents apply for the national housing subsidy. USAID and DAG also help communities to organize savings and self-help housing schemes. More than 1000 houses will be constructed under the grant.

For more information on this project you may contact Ms. Reverie Zurba at Tel (012) 452 2265.