1. How will it work?

1. You enquire with your staff about their living conditions
2. You broach the subject about a possible upgrade with co-payments, if they’re interested
3. You contact Mensch to request a housing audit by iKhayalami
4. Ikhayalami will do an audit of the structure and send photos and recommendations for upgrading
5. If you’re satisfied with the recommendations, you can request a quote.

2. What happens once a quote is requested?

1. Mensch will send the quote and discuss possible payment scenarios
2. Mensch will then arrange a meeting with yourself, your employee/potential homeowner & iKhayalami to discuss the terms and the plan for construction
3. Once the payment ratio is agreed, iKhayalami will conduct an affordability assessment with your staff/the potential homeowner to include: credit checks, house visit and questions by an accredited loan officer.
4. Once affordability has been approved and payment terms set, this will be formalised in an agreement and signed by all parties
5. Ikhayalami will then construct the proposed upgrade

3. What are the rebuild options?

• Your employee’s shack may be in such bad shape that an entire upgrade of a new fire and flood resistant Ikhayalami structure is warranted
• Your employee’s shack may only need a partial structure upgrade

NOTE: If your staff member lives in a backyard shack, we will draft an agreement to be signed by the landlord and your employee to indicate that the structure belongs to the employee not the landlord.

4. What does a Shack Upgrade cost?

• On average a shack rebuild will from R18,500
• A minimum upfront payment of 24% is required as a deposit
• Mensch can provide an interest-free loan upfront for the balance of up to R15,000 to enable the building to start soon as possible
• The balance of the cost (the loan amount) will be a co-payment by yourself and your employee/the homeowner, as agreed
• This amount must be paid back  in one year. These funds will be recycled to finance future loans to needy homeowners

NOTE: The more that can be paid upfront in cash, the more units we can build via Project Bayit

5. What about water and sanitation?

• In informal settlements there are usually shared toilet blocks where on average 5 toilets need to service 25 households
• People living in informal settlements do not have access to running water and flush toilets in their homes
• The units built via this project will unfortunately not include own toilet facilities or running water, unless under favourable conditions where a hook up to running water is available

6. Why build more shacks and not houses?

Have a look at these SA Housing Statistics

The wait for people to be given a new government subsidised home can be years away. Many people have been waiting for over 10 years for their homes, and these are people that have already applied and are on the waiting list. Project Bayit addresses this issue adopting a realistic approach to the housing situation and enabling a more dignified, safe and secure upgraded shack solution for those that continue to live and wait in inhumane conditions.

7. Who owns the land?

• In 90% of the cases people do not own the land on which their shack has been built
• In CT 80% of informal settlements are built on land owned by the state
• It is not easy to evict people, so in most cases these settlements can remain in existence for more than 30-40 years.

(Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act(No. 31 of 1996) To provide for the temporary protection of certain rights to and interests in land which are not otherwise adequately protected by law; and to provide for matters connected therewith.)

More questions, please contact us here.

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