Some areas of government tin houses placed one after the other are referred to as zinc towns. The close living conditions enable the spread of disease such as tuberculosis and there is poor service delivery. The crime rate in the settlements is high and there is very little security provided by local authorities. When it is cold and rainy the rain seeps through the gaps. When it is hot the tin roofs radiate intense heat. The poor living conditions of these shacks pose many concerns to residents. Many of these cobbled together settlements still exist despite government promises for better housing. Migrants built some of these shacks illegally, but the government has built the great majority as a transitional housing effort after 1994. Informal settlements of shacks popped up surrounding them. Men and boys brought here to work during the Apartheid era were given single rooms in the townships. My view out the window when driving down the M2, a major highway road that we take to the University of the Western Cape changes quickly from poor areas, such as townships and zinc towns (neighborhoods of zinc houses so close together there are no roads), to wealthy areas with lavish houses and cars. The differences, inequalities, and disparities in the social contexts in which people live their lives in Cape Town are visually striking. Housing is one the top major problems facing Cape Town today. Shacks make way for the new housing developments in Langa
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