Cape Town - A Kuils River resident is determined to rid the province of shoddy and unstable shacks and provide a more sustainable option for those less fortunate in informal settlements.
Educational psychologist and researcher Quinton Adams, 51, founded the non-profit company Shackbuilder, and has worked in informal settlements for the past 20 years.
In 2017, during inclement weather in Cape Town, causing destruction to several structures, Adams decided to build new and safer shacks in informal settlements.
With a team consisting of community members, builders from the community and others, Shackbuilder has built more than 50 new shacks over the past three years.
The aim of the shack-building project has been to restore dignity to backyard dwellers, those living in shacks as well as the homeless.
The shacks are built in accordance with the number of occupants, with three-, four- or six-room structures built. Shackbuilder also responds to shack fires and provides aide.
“For 18 years, I have seen the most horrendous and inhumane living conditions in poor communities, especially in informal settlements. In these dilapidated shacks, the stench of rat urine, faeces, human urine, and even dead rotting rats was incomprehensible,” he said.
“For the past three years, the Shackbuilder organisation has taken the initiative to break down dilapidated shacks that pose a life risk and rebuild them to resemble a living space and restore some human dignity to the people who have to live in them.”
Beneficiary Calvin Coetzee said he met Adams when he frequented the coffee shop he used to work at. Adams would persistently inquire about his home and what it looked like. In early July, he allowed Adams to see what his home was like.
“I was staying in a backyard dwelling: me and my wife and three kids. It was cramped. It did not have sufficient ventilation, and it was three by three metres, so it was really unpleasant. We used to sleep five people on one double bed.”
They had been living in the structure in Kleinvlei, Eerste River for nine years. “He (Adams) said this is not how people are supposed to live.” Coetzee said that the following week, Adams arrived to assess the grounds, and broke down the old structure to rebuild a new one.
“He paid for everything. He built us a huge structure. It’s such a pleasure to go home from work every day knowing that’s what you’re coming home to. It’s so much more comfortable.”
Cape Argus