Ikhayalami

iKhayalami works closely with CORC, and effectively serves as its technical arm when it comes to settlement upgrading. iKhayalami has developed a very affordable housing solution that is effectively an upgraded shack. In this regard iKhayalami is making technical interventions that add value to the value already created by squatter households themselves. This is in direct contra-distinction to the dominant approach that see shack dwellings as problem structures with no value at all, that need to be eradicated and replaced with formal housing. iKhayalami’s housing units are made from clip-lock zinc and their prototypes follow these simple criteria:

·      They are cheap and very affordable;

·      They are easy to manufacture and easy to transport;

·      They are easy to erect and dismantle;

·      They are fire and flood resistant.

iKhayalami works closely with the community groups in the Federation of the Urban Poor, the Informal Settlement Network and the Poor People’s Movement. In most cases iKhayalami units are built for organized collectives so that the construction goes hand-in-hand with community based spatial redesign and realignment of shack settlements. As such iKhayalami also provides support with the provision of basic drainage, water and electricity.

iKhayalami has its own blog: http://ikhayalami.org