Abstract
Housing tenure insecurity remains a challenge in South Africa, especially among single mothers in informal settlements. While studies have focused on informal settlements’ living conditions and upgrading projects, few have examined single mothers’ tenure experiences in informal settlements. To add to the existing literature, the study explored the experiences of single mothers’ housing tenure insecurity in Vlakplaats informal settlement, based in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg. To investigate single mothers’ vulnerable and precarious tenure positions in these economically marginalised communities, the study adopted an Intersectional-Marxist Feminism (IMF) theoretical framework, which allowed the study to analyse how the structural roots of housing tenure insecurity, such as neoliberal policies, low wages, unemployment and the continued privatisation of unpaid domestic work intersect with identities such as race, class, gender, and migration status to perpetuate the single mothers’ marginalisation, economic vulnerability and housing tenure insecurity in Vlakplaats.
The study employed a qualitative methodological approach. It followed a phenomelogical research design, which focused on the participants’ subjective experiences. The study also employed purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among ten single mothers to understand their lived experiences. Through thematic data analyses, the study’s findings revealed that migration and high housing costs were the main drivers of tenure insecurity among single mothers in Vlakplaats. The findings also indicated a relationship between the informal settlements’ poor infrastructural planning and limited basic services, such as a lack of electricity and the use of communal mobile toilets and taps. The findings further revealed that housing tenure insecurity exacerbates the single mothers’ economic burdens. These highlight the need for government and policy interventions such as increasing access to affordable housing, providing financial support and resources, and implementing policies that protect single mothers’ rights to promote a more equitable and just urban society for all. Thus, this research not only fills critical knowledge gaps about the lived realities of marginalised populations but also empowers policymakers and practitioners to design targeted strategies that improve ...