Handing out title deeds is not enough
Builders are busy outside Louisa Qangiso’s house in Khayelitsha, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town. The 49-year-old is putting up eight studio flats in her backyard that she will rent out for 3,000 rand ($177) per month. This could almost triple the value of her property, from roughly 570,000 to 1.6m rand. These are life-changing sums for Ms Qangiso, a grandmother whose warehouse job pays just 5,000 rand a month. “This is my dream come true,” she says, holding back tears.
The dream is reality because of Ms Qangiso’s grit—and because, unlike most people in the township, she can demonstrate ownership of her property. Aided by Bitprop, a startup, she proved her claim on the land, then used the title to raise money for the building works. Over the next decade she will split the rent with Bitprop, which also designs the flats, until its share is paid back. Thereafter the takings, as well as the increase in the asset value, are hers.
