Celebrating 30 years of transforming slums & cities.

Join us as we celebrate our achievements with an online photo exhibition and reflect on how we got to where we are.

Celebrating 30 years of transforming slums & cities.

One Home. One Street. One Settlement at a Time.

1988

Father Jorge Anzorena, who documents poor people’s movements on land and shelter in Asia, visits South Africa. He facilitated a trip to Asia for South African community leaders and activists to participate in an Asian People’s Dialogue on Land and Shelter.

1991

Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD) calls a South African People’s Dialogue on Land and Shelter in Broederstroom where 150 informal settlement leaders come together and agree to start a national grassroots network. A South African delegation visits India during a first learning exchange.

1992

Following exposure to Asian NGOs, the first South African support NGO is founded: People’s Dialogue on Land and Shelter.

1993

Poor communities in South Africa begin organising and reach more than 50 housing saving schemes across the country.

1994

The savings schemes are collectively launched as the South African Homeless People Federation (SAHPF). The Housing Minister, Joe Slove, pledges R10 million to the federation process. The Federation starts the uTshani Fund, a revolving fund that loans pledge fund to members to assist in building homes in the absence of a national housing subsidy program.

1995

The uTshani Fund begins operation through pledge and donor funding.

1996

The South African and Indian Federations spearhead the launch of Shack Dwellers International (SDI) and the establishment of SDI Secretariat.

1997

Federation and uTshani construct the 10,000th house in 3 years. The SA Federation receives the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour award.

2000

The organisation now known as Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) is founded as research and documentation arm to the Federation. It coordinates thematic forums and engaging government around burning issues.

2006

SDI, Durban Metro Municipality (South Africa), San Andre Municipality (Brazil) sign Memoranda of Understanding. South African government pledges 1000 housing subsidies per province to the South African Federation.

2011

The South African SDI Alliance signed an MOU with the City of Cape Town’s Department of Housing Informal Settlement Upgrading Directorate to undertake upgrading projects across the city.

2013

The SA SDI Alliance with support from Comic Relief establishes the Community Participation Fund (or City Fund) in Cape Town. Inspired by the model of the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI) in Thailand, the aim was to establish a finance facility in which community savings, and donor funding would leverage municipal finance, for community–led upgrading initiatives. FEDUP wins the Govan Mbeki Human Settlements Award.

2014

FEDUP marches in eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu Natal, resulting in an agreement addressing inadequate housing and basic services. Patrick Maghebula Hunsley, comrade, friend, brother of SDI, and co-founder and president of FEDUP, passes away in August.

2015

SDI holds first youth exchange in partnership with Indian organisation Prayasam, bringing together youth from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and India.

The South African SDI Alliance and City of Cape Town celebrate the launch of re-blocking and upgrading at Flamingo Crescent informal settlement in Cape Town.

First wall murals of Patrick Maghebula Hunsley go up in Piesang River, Durban.

2016

The SA SDI Alliance is awarded its first government tender in a competitive bid process for the collection of informal settlement data using the tools of profiling and enumeration. This paves the way for the recognition of bottom up community driven data collection, by the government. The Alliance successfully profiles over 100 informal settlements and enumerates over 18 000 informal structures. This data would later inform the Provincial Informal Settlement Support Program (ISSP) paving the way for Civil Society Organisations to support upgrading projects with direct funding from government for community mobilisation activities.

2019

FEDUP passes the 50 000 member mark and has over 600 savings schemes established across South Africa.

2022

By the end of our financial year 2021/2022 saving groups of the Shack Dwellers Federation in all 14 regions of Namibia have saved collectively N$39 million to meet their needs for affordable land, housing, infrastructure and services – such as water and sanitation. These N$ 39 million have been saved by 956 savings groups with a total of 29,718 members (66% women).