Preventing shack fires with paint
The Khusela Ikhaya Project, launched by social entrepreneurs Justin Zietsman and Ashley Stemmett of Transception, aims to prevent rapid spreading shack fires through the use of a specifically formulated intumescent (fire retardant) paint applied to informal dwellings.
Image source: www.transception.co.za
Their intervention was piloted in the Wag ‘n Bietjie settlement in Nomzamo Township just outside Cape Town where, just a few years ago, nearly 300 shacks burnt to the ground and devastated countless families. Since then it has been widely endorsed and they have been tasked to paint more than 700 homes as part of a fire safety campaign for the City of Cape Town and are currently in discussions to paint two much larger informal settlements there as well as in Gauteng and Mangaung, Bloemfontein.
The project will initially roll out in problematic or “hot spot” areas before expanding to blanket coverage of all informal housing areas across South Africa.
Providing training and work opportunities
Not only will the Khusela Ikhaya Project make areas safer from fire but will also provide training and much needed work opportunities to the citizens living there as well. The project will create numerous jobs and on the job training through the extended public works program (EPWP), as well as extending its community engagement into a multiplatform education initiative covering Education Development Centres (EDC), grades 1-12 and tertiary education opportunities.
The Khusela Ikhaya project broadens further into community upliftment programs and sports development initiatives by encouraging the involvement of local and national sports teams, artists, musicians and more, in a drive to evolve our most marginalised areas.
Beautification
While paint is predominantly functional, it will also provide potential for the beautification of these environments. Quite uniquely, the Khusela Ikhaya vision also extends to the rooftops of townships, which they plan to use as a collective canvas - for creative expression - to form “aerial land art” (or even branded/conceptual or even cultural imagery) that will be visible from the air.
“Our vision is not only to prevent rapid spreading shack fires, but to shift the negative perceptions of townships through the use of colour, imagery and social interaction and education, and in so doing, positively impact perceptions and even national pride,” says Justin Zietsman, CEO of Transception.
