Public Housing as a Device for White Residential Segregation in Johannesburg, 1934–1953

Public housing for whites in South Africa was introduced as an urban-segregation measure in the 1930s. The state's aim in establishing Council housing in Johannesburg is shown to have been the racial division of the residences of working-class people. The white-housing program is assessed and shown to be wanting. It is argued that, particularly in the post-World War II years, housing assistance for whites failed to ensure the racial segregation of the slum or to accomplish the social uplifting of all poor whites. Stringent selection procedures, fiscal shortages, and the shelter demands of the black working class contributed to the persistence of racially integrated suburbs despite state efforts to protect whites through Council housing supply.