QR codes are seen as a way to connect address-less shack settlements to city services, but residents see little value in the solution
An hour outside Cape Town’s famous tourist sites, Sophy Molekoa lives in a neighbourhood where the streets have no names. When she orders a taxi or a food delivery at night, she faces a dangerous walk through dark alleys to a busy, poorly lit intersection to hunt for the vehicle.
Streets without names are a common problem in South Africa’s shack settlements, where millions of people still live, often sharing communal water taps or toilets. The informal housing system is a relic of apartheid, when spatial segregation was enforced, but it persists in the deep economic inequality of today’s
The QR code project, launched last year in the Bosasa Phase 2 area of Mfuleni, aims to create an electronic address for every resident, linked to field maps the city is drafting. Data for each home can then be displayed on a dashboard at city offices. Some commentators worry the QR codes could violate the privacy of residents by allowing access to their personal information, but the city insists all data will be legally protected and cannot be shared with unauthorized users.
“When they brought this idea, we thought it was going to help us,” said Nkokheli Ncambele, a community leader in the neighbourhood.As far as Mr. Ncambele can tell, the only benefit is that the QR codes might deter speculators from buying or selling the homes. But otherwise they provide no advantages, he told The Globe.
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