This paper undertakes an indepth study of the Kipi land restitution claim. This study focuses on the nature of the settlement achieved in the case ofthe Kipi land claim and covers the period 1993 to 1999. It compares the Cato Manor reconstruction and development process and the Kipi land restoration and housing process within the Durban Metropolitan's Inner West Council area. The study does this by tracing the history of the Kipi community's relationship with the land, documenting the communities resistance of the removal in terms of the Group Areas Act and presenting a critical examination of the communities efforts to reclaim and develop their land. The study uses the case ~tudy method to analyse the principles embedded in this settlement and attempts to draw on these to inform possible policy recommendations in respect of other urban land claims. The central thesis of this dissertation argues that the quality of restitution delivery is directly affected by the degree to which it is located within local development coordination and management institutions and structures. In the Kipi claim the Council chose negotiation rather than the apartheid planning principles of prescription and coercion. This resulted in a integration of the housing and restitution processes. It is in this light that the role of the land claims working group which was set up by the Commission and the Durban Metro Inner West local council is evaluated. While in the Cato Manor case the Council chose to follow the legal route and opposed restoration in terms of section 34 of the Restitution ofLand Rights Act. The consequences of following the legal route has been that the housing and land restitution processes have been compartmentalised. It is argued that post apartheid planning is indeed a complex process that needs to engage creatively and flexibly with issues of over due social justice and the current development needs of the urban poor. It is important that in reconstructing the urban landscape that communities are involved in planning models that focus on bottom up processes for successful outcomes. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

When the Government of National Unity (GNU) came to power in South Africa in 1994, it inherited a housing sector with severe abnormalities as a result of the policies and political turbulence of the apartheid era (Department of Housing/DOH, 2000a). One of the main problems was and is still the enormous housing backlog facing large sections of the country's population both in rural and urban areas. The housing crisis in South Africa has received extensive attention by the South African government, non-profit organizations and international actors such as research and aid organisations since the demise of apartheid. This shows the historical and present interest on the SUbject. The most significant development in housing policy in 1990 was the creation of the Independent Development Trust (lOT). The lOT, was a parastatal, a government created institution in 1991, which was to address the housing needs of the country's poor. As one form of housing subsidisation, housing consolidation subsidies have been used in housing projects for households to build new houses or improve existing structures on the serviced sites that were previously subsidized through the Independent Development Trust (lOT) in the 1990's. The realisation that between 20%-30% of beneficiaries do not take occupancy at the end of a specific project, has brought a serious concern to the Housing Department, local community structures and Project Managers. This study, focuses on the Durban Metropolitan Area; it intend to increase one's understanding of why consolidation housing projects only reach 70%-80% of intended beneficiaries on closure of the projects. The housing consolidation projects in Luganda and Savannah Park, Southern Pinetown, Durban, which are the sUbject of the present stUdy, were initiated in 1996 and 2000 respectively with the intent to deliver over 2000 houses in both study areas. These are being investigated. The study takes a form of a wholes tick approach and tries to make a link between the absent beneficiaries and those who informally transfer their property to new owners. The reason is simply that the 20-30% originally intended beneficiaries are not benefiting from the Consolidation Housing Subsidy. The study aims to look at alternative, cheaper and affordable ways of obtaining title deeds for people who have bought sites informally from the authentic officially recognised beneficiaries. Lastly, the study will contribute by data gathering and analysis, to the understanding of the phenomenon of low-occupancy and informal or de facto transfer of property. / Thesis (M.Housing)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.