| The iSLP was
originally conceived as a housing project,
at a time when government policy limited the
product to "site-and-service",
and when it was impossible to obtain a budget
allocation for more than a year at a time.
Therefore the initial content of the iSLP was a
list of potential housing projects. These
comprised "Greenfields" projects
on unoccupied land and "upgrade"
projects on occupied land. There was also an
"infill" land category, but these
opportunities have fallen away as all the areas in
question have either become informal settlements
or allocated for use in the Lansdowne-Wetton
Corridor.
The first significant policy
change to influence the design of the iSLP was the
establishment of the new national housing
subsidy policy in late 1993. In changing its
method of financing housing for the poor from a
loan system to a capital grant the State made it
possible for townships and houses to be developed
linked to secure tenure. Improvements to houses
would then be made incrementally as the
beneficiary is able. The benefits offered by the
policy are on a tiered basis - the higher the
household income the lower the available subsidy.
However, its
selection as a Special Integrated Presidential
Project changed the whole profile of the iSLP. The
national government offered a grant of almost R600
million over a 4-year period provided that it was
matched by a commitment by the provincial
government of the Western Cape - and on condition
that the product would be integrated human
settlements, fully resourced with housing,
education, health and other community facilities
and infused with appropriate programmes that would
promote the viability and vitality of the
communities. These conditions were agreed to by
the provincial cabinet, backed by the metropolitan
and local authorities. The Name & Logo
of the project were adjusted slightly to reflect
the change and the project menu was recast into a
list of Projects and Programmes.
Name & Logo
The original geographic
focus of the project was Crossroads -
probably the most volatile informal settlement in
South Africa in the 1980's. Its first name was
therefore "The Crossroads and Environs
Project". However, because the proposition
was about housing, and state-financed housing in
the early 1990's was about the delivery of
serviced sites, the name was changed to
"Serviced Land Project", the "SLP".
Strangely, although the content
of the project changed dramatically on its
selection as a Special Integrated Presidential
Project, the project’s name stayed practically
the same! The "Serviced Land Project"
had become so much a part of people’s hopes and
plans that the only alteration made was to preface
it with "integrated" - and spelt with a
small "i" to conform to the syntax of
isiXhosa - the first language of most
beneficiaries. "iSLP" means "the
SLP".
The first attempt to produce
a logo was in 1994, during the preparation of
the RDP business plan for national government. Its
objective was to employ the letters "SLP"
in a happy, positive, hopeful context.
The reaction to the logo was
interesting. Some people found it attractive, but
many more found it meaningless. It was apparent
that although some of the consultants and
officials involved in the project regarded the
device as clever and appropriate the people who
should most identify with the project did not
identify with the logo in the slightest! The logo
was therefore abandoned after a few months.
In 1999 a new attempt was
made to create a logo as part of a
"branding" exercise for the project as a
whole. It was kept simple and appropriate and has
been well accepted. |
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