The Effects of Property Titling in Langa Township, South Africa

Karol C. Boudreaux, Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Abstract

This paper explores the role titling programs play in alleviating poverty in a township outside Cape Town, South Africa. Successive South African government have worked to provide secure title to formerly disenfranchised citizens. Today, most non-shack dwelling in Langa Township have registered titles. Has this effort resulted in economic growth? The answer is a qualified yes. Titleholders engage in incremental improvements but make little use of titles as collateral for commercial credit. Reasons for the general relutance among homeonwers in this township to use their titles as collateral are examined.