Abstract
Land remains central in housing delivery and as South Africa until now battles with enabling
people to access land, people resort to land grabs. While previous research shows that land
grabs are due to the snail pace of enabling people to access the land for housing and human
settlement, they seldom explore residents lived experiences, coping mechanisms and livelihood
activities post the land grab incident. This research explored the Greenfield residents’ lived
experience and their livelihood activities as well as changes to the residents' lives after settling
in Greenfield. A qualitative research design was used and interviews were conducted with
fifteen participants. The sustainable livelihood approach was the key foundational theory used
in this study. The results were analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that, though
the residents' everyday life experience is different in a certain aspect, their lives are difficult
due to the lack of infrastructure (proper roads, power line supplies for electricity and pipes for
tap water) and services. On the residents’ livelihood activities, only four residents were
formally employed while the remaining eleven were unemployed. Informal employment,
government grants, regular remittances, parental support and informal giving among the
residents were livelihood activities of the unemployed residents. There are positive and
negative changes to residents’ lives after settling in Greenfield. Homeownership is the first
positive benefit to the residents’ lives and it brought accompanying benefits such as freedom,
peace of mind and independence. Living in Greenfield, however, brought negative changes to
residents’ lives as residents experienced anxiety due to the delayed surveying of the stands.
The residents were also exposed to high level of crime and intimate violence. The study
recommends that the City of Tshwane and AmaNdebele-a-Moletlane conduct Imbizos with
stakeholders of the wards in Region 2 to plan the future land use of the area and earmark land
for human settlements as a matter of urgency. Moreover, the earmarked stands should be
formalised and serviced by making infrastructure and services readily available.
Keywords: Access to land, capitals, housing, human development, infrastructure, informal
settlements, land grab, livelihoods.