About Us - What We Do

uTshani Fund is a Section 21 Company that supports the development initiatives of the Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FedUP) , its affiliates and other communities that adhere to Shack Dwellers International Principles. Our mandate is to serve as a support organization for poor communities wishing to implement developmental projects. Our projects mostly deal with Housing and income generation. UTshani Fund has successfully supported FEDUP with people-driven housing delivery and income generation has been recognized at the highest level of government.

Our business model is based on a partnership between our clients and the South African government.

This model was first tested by Shack dwellers International who have experienced proven success in significantly decreasing the number of informal settlements in many parts of the World.

Since 1995 we have had similar success with this model here in South Africa where we have invested over R100 million in building over 13 000 homes for poor families.

We receive our funding from international financiers whose vision resonates with ours: to support a long-term effort to shift the South African housing system towards a community-led human settlement development model. International financiers with whom we have had the longest relationships are Germany?s, Misereor and CordAid, a Dutch funding organisation.

Our offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban with a total of 10 permanent staff members help us efficiently perform our various functions and deliver on our organizational priorities.

We have a Board of Directors of 9 people from various sectors in Government, business, tertiary education and community-based organisations who serve a critical task to our strategic and some operational activities.

What we do:
  1. We are an institutional and financial intermediary for the projects for the organized communities we support
  2. We source, administer, and/or coordinate technical professional support for community interface with formal housing and other external development systems
  3. We support community-based housing savings/loans systems in ways that build social capital
  4. We invest strategically to enhance development outcomes and create revenue streams for ourselves and our community partners
  5. We document and share our work and experiences