The number of white households living in informal dwellings rises 197%

There seemed to be different motivations for the different population groups to move into informal dwellings. In general, blacks seemed to migrate from rural areas, where the prospects of employment were bleak, to areas that could offer economic advancement.

SHOOT: Scary.

For the Indian and white population groups, Lebone said, the loss of jobs, income and subsequently homes seems to be the primary impetus.

clipped from www.fin24.com Johannesburg - Between 1996 and 2007, the proportion of whites moving into informal dwellings has grown the fastest of all South Africa's population groups. These figures appear in this year's edition of the South African Survey, published by the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR). In the period under review, the number of white households living in informal dwellings rose by 197% from 1 972 to 5 863. Indians households registered growth of 92%, from 1 871 to 3 600. The number of white households living in open-space shacks grew by 309% while those moving into backyard shacks rose by 101%. For Indians the corresponding figures were 100% and 81%. In contrast, the number of black households residing in informal dwellings grew by a relatively low 25%, albeit from figures of 1 386 637 to 1 732 604 in the period under review. For coloured households, the increase was from 57 582 to 62 365, or by 8%.