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Hotels Housing Trust

Location Western Cape
Field Housing / Shelter
Director Bronwen Wetton
Website www.hotelshousingtrust.com

Many visitors to South Africa have been saddened by the proliferation of shacks that are visible from the freeways around the cities. The reality is that a large percentage of people in South Africa live in shacks because their income is so low they cannot afford bonds to buy a house.

The visitor has obviously asked "What can be done to help these people?" The quick solution, often thought about is to give money, or to build homes for them, but often the money does not reach the needy individual, and even if it does, a gift that costs nothing is often not respected. The way out of poverty is for these needy people to take initiative themselves, with assistance from others.

By building their own homes the homeless gain self-respect and pride and learn skills that benefit the whole community. Working together with Habitat for Humanity, the Hotels Housing Trust, raises money through tourism to assist poor communities to build their own homes under special guidance from experienced builders, community leaders and both International and South Africa volunteers who help to build.

This scheme has proved hugely successful and is definitely one of the best possible ways that people may obtain a home for themselves without losing their dignity or standing around waiting for a handout.

Habitat for Humanity South Africa has been actively building in South Africa since 1996 and to date over 1900 houses have been constructed across 17 communities.
A unique feature of Habitat for Humanity South Africa is that it is invited to partner with community groups or other organizations, such as the Hotels Housing Trust partnership, to help address an identified housing need.

Homeowner selection and the education phase
Homeowners are selected based on their financial need and willingness to partner with their community group and Habitat for Humanity. Family selection is based on the following basic criteria being met:

  • The family must earn a combined monthly income of between R800 – R3500.00
  • The family must be living in sub-standard housing
  • They must own the land on which the house will be built
  • They must perform Sweat Equity (Physically work on other homeowner’s homes before qualifying for their own house.)
  • They must save a set minimum amount or for a designated time period, towards their house prior to it being built
  • They must qualify for a South African government housing subsidy

During the education phase the homeowner group is taken through Habitat for Humanity South Africa basics and values, financial budgeting and hose costing, aspects of planning for the future including health and succession planning, and how to maintain their new asset.

Construction cost including materials and labour for a completed 50m2 house is R47 670.00. The repayment is done by the homeowner savings and their individual government housing subsidy.

When ex-President Clinton visited a site where groups of women were building he said that their savings/building scheme should be copied world wide - the poor helping each other to build houses for themselves.

This is where the Hotels Housing Trust comes in. The Trust recognises the effectiveness of the revolving loan system used by Habitat for Humanity and a lack of insufficient funds. The trust exists to receive donations from overseas visitors and to channel these donations to Habitat for Humanity, which allows more people to build their own homes. Overseas visitors are thus ensured that their donations will be used over and over again as their money will be borrowed by the poor as a revolving loan.

Who started the Hotels Housing Trust?
The Hotels Housing Trust was started in 1998. Visitors from the UK, with connections to the Gatsby Family Charitable Trust, wanted to do something to help provide housing for destitute shack dwellers who live near the airport and the outskirts of the City of Cape Town.

A simple brochure is put into hotel rooms in Cape Town and hopefully in the near future in Johannesburg. It offers guests an opportunity to contribute towards housing for the poor and needy. Every cent of the donation goes towards building houses as all the adminstration costs of the Hotels Housing Trust are raised through independent fund raising.

We are currently supported by a small group of dedicated hotels in Cape Town. We would like to encourage other hotels and tourism partners nationally to join us and support this most worthy cause.

Who are our Trustees?

  • John Penny(Chairman),Managing Director ~ Herbert Penny (PTY) Ltd.
  • Nick Seewer,Managing Director, Orient Express Hotels Africa
  • Vincent Sahldana,Legal Resources Centre
  • Robbie Gow Kleinschmidt, Executive Director SAILI
  • Nils Heckscher, Managing Director, Winchester Mansions Hotel.
  • Bronwen Wetton – Coordinator for the Hotels Housing Trust. 

Bronwen Wetton, Western Cape Coordinator for the Hotels Housing Trust and owner/operations manager for Southern Right Safaris, dedicates part of her busy work schedule to coordinating the Hotels Housing Trust in raising money through the hotels and tourism to continue the support and growth of this vital project in South Africa. Bronwen hopes, that through the Hotels Housing Trust, she can contribute to the upliftment of the very poorest and homeless people of South Africa and provide them with a home to live in.
Some of Our Achievements :

To date, R1,930,960.00m has been raised through our brochure’s capabilities and has been used to:

Fund the building of 136 homes in the Victoria Mxenge Village in Philippi. 
Building of a crèche in Victoria Mxenge in Philippi 
Currently funding the building of 8 homes, via Habitat for Humanity, in Mfuleni.

In addition
The brochure has a won an International Design Award.
The Hotels Housing Trust was recognised by Responsible Travel in the United Kingdom and included into their publication, Achievement in Responsible Tourism, which was launched at the World Travel Market in London in November 2007. This was the only project from South Africa which was included into this publication.

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An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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