The inaugural Southern African Housing Foundation (SAHF) Housing Awards Function was held on the second evening of the recent SAHF Conference and Exhibition. Over a three day period the conference covered key areas such as housing strategy; built environment; social development issues; social housing; finance; sustainable communities; policy and delivery; training and an international exchange that saw representatives from China, The United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and Botswana on the podium sharing their knowledge with those in attendance

In the August 2005 edition of Housing in Southern Africa the magazine put its neck on the chopping block, by printing an article on the front page titled 'Ponte City sets example for Hillbrow turnaround'. As was to be expected a fair amount of criticism was received in addition to a number of positive comments about the coverage of the apartment building that was the most sought after address in Johannesburg when it was first built in the mid 1970's - and then slumped to one of the most dangerous dirty addresses in the city in the early 1990's

In her keynote address to the delegates at the Southern African Housing Foundation International Housing Conference and Exhibition held in Cape Town between October 9 and 11, the South African Minister of Housing, Lindiwe Sisulu, highlighted the fact that no other period in modern history has seen more political commitment to the attainment of poverty alleviation by both Africa and developing countries

The third SHiFT innovation in Social Housing competition drew its finalist from three parts of the country this year. The winners, Leon Witbooi and Henk Boogertman were from the Tshwane University of Technology. Their entry proposed an innovative scheme that impressed the judges with its robust design making it suitable for inner city application