SA City Putting QR Codes On Informal Settlement Cabins To Help Services

Cape Town, South Africa’s second wealthiest city, is piloting a new plan for the 146,000 households in its informal settlements: QR-coding their homes.

City officials say documenting the settlements will help residents get repairs and services. But some are wary.

City officials say the plan is to help residents get access to government services like welfare and provide an alternative to a formal street address so they can more easily get packages delivered or hail a taxi. But privacy experts warn that the city is not being clear about how the data will be stored or used, and the digital identification of residents could lead to re-treading Cape Town's ugly history of discrimination. The programme is being piloted in Mfuleni, an informal settlement of Cape Town where enforced removals and high unemployment are an oppressive reality.

This article addresses the concerns that despite the potential benefits of having an official address, some retain suspicions about the city’s project. Academics and some locals caution that the government has not adequately addressed concerns that the real-time data of some of the city’s poorest inhabitants will be safeguarded and not abused for the aggressive bylaw enforcement that Cape Town is known for when dealing with unhoused residents and those who live in informal settlements.
 

Abstract based on source.