Over 12.5 million families in South Africa live in slums without access to adequate housing. Previous studies projected that meeting housing demand in South Africa will take hundreds of years with the available resources and technologies. Therefore, achieving sustainable and affordable housing solutions remain a pressing goal. This study assessed the perception of experts and end-users on the barriers to the use of sandbag material technology as a Sustainable Affordable Housing Solution in South Africa. The study draws on focus group discussions held with 12 leading experts on alternative technologies and local South African end-users to obtain data to address the research objective. It emerged that lack of social acceptance, lack of support from the government, limited Professional Expertise, and Access to finance are barriers to the use of sandbag material technology in South Africa. The study concludes with some recommendations and adds significantly to the limited knowledge on alternative building material technologies such as Sandbag technology.

There is a high level of homelessness in South Africa. Sandbag building technologies (SBTs) have been offered as economical and sustainable alternative building materials capable of speeding housing provision in South Africa. However, their degree of adoption in South Africa remains relatively low. Furthermore, limited research has examined the low adoption and social acceptance of SBTs, requiring thorough research. Therefore, this research investigates the key social barriers to accepting SBTs in housing provision. The study adopted a mixed method research approach that employs a comprehensive literature review in identifying 18 social barriers to using SBTs and a questionnaire survey of 228 building experts based in South Africa to obtain empirical data. The study findings indicated that the significant impediments were related to the lack of understanding of the benefits of sandbags, a lack of sandbag courses and training, and a lack of professional knowledge and skills, among others. A comparative analysis of the perceptions of the diverse categories of survey participants was conducted and discussed. This study’s evaluation of significant barriers offers government agencies and construction partners a framework to make realistic and well-informed decisions toward more sustainable and affordable housing delivery.

It is estimated that 1.6 billion people live in substandard housing, and more than 100 million people have no housing. In South Africa, about 12.7% of households lived in informal dwellings in 2019. This suggests that the existing conventional methods of construction and materials are incapable of solving the housing problems. The sandbag building material has been proposed as an affordable, sustainable, and recyclable alternative building material capable of accelerating housing provision in South Africa. However, previous studies show significant variations in filling materials used. There is also a lack of understanding of the sandbag wall based on the infill material. Therefore, this study examined the structural properties of the sandbag when filled with dune sand and crusher dust. Laboratory tests included compressive load on a three-bag stack, frictional shear strength between the interface of sandbags, and the structural stability of sandbag walls when subjected to vertical loading. A key finding was that although the displacement limits were reached before the bags failed, the bags of both fill materials could sustain compressive loads far beyond the ultimate design loads with large deflections in the bags. This suggests that the filled sandbags are not the determining factor in the design of sandbag structures.

Purpose Sandbag building technologies (SBTs) have been offered as a cost-effective and sustainable alternative building technology (ABT) capable of accelerating house construction in South Africa, but its acceptance remains low. However, knowledge about how to effectively improve SBT social acceptance is limited. This study aims to develop and prioritise SBT social acceptability strategies towards providing a comprehensive framework for the successful deployment and widespread adoption of sandbag technology. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative research strategy that included a literature review and a structured questionnaire survey of 228 ABT professionals and stakeholders in the South African housing industry. The study statistically analysed 13 strategies for the social acceptance of SBT. Findings The analysis showed that the top three strategies include the availability of sandbag demonstration projects in all provinces, the approval of a sandbag building code and the availability of standard design methods for earthbags. A factor analysis clustered the 13 strategies into Stakeholders integration and policy formation, Effective education and knowledge sharing and Grassroots advocacy and incentives. Practical implications The current study’s findings provide a broad framework for the effective implementation and wide acceptance of sandbag technology in housing projects. It offered certain best practices that policymakers and practitioners might use to promote ABT and SBT societal acceptability. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study represents the first and only attempt to investigate the viewpoints of experts and housing market stakeholders in South Africa regarding sandbag technology social acceptance strategies and contributes to the social acceptance body of knowledge in ABT and SBT.

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the perception of the local experts and end users on the drivers, barriers and strategies to the use of alternative building technologies (ABTs), with a focus on sandbag building technologies (SBTs) in the provision of sustainable housing in South Africa towards improving the public's understanding of SBTs. Design/methodology/approach This research adopted a qualitative approach that used focus group meetings as the primary data collection method for this study. This study's focus group participants comprised ABT experts and end users of ABT houses in South Africa who were selected using a convenient sampling technique. The data were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo 11 software. Findings This study found that the perceived drivers to using ABTs such as SBT comprise sustainability, affordability, job creation potentials, fire-resistant and earthquake resistance. This study revealed strategies for the SBTs, including awareness, building sandbag prototypes across cities and training. Practical implications This study's findings have practical implications for the practice and praxis of ABT implementation and uptake in South Africa. This study provides a framework for broadening the worldwide understanding of use and uptake of SBTs to provide sustainable and affordable housing. Originality/value This study adds significantly to the limited body of knowledge on ABTs, focusing on sandbag houses. Consequently, the findings provide policymakers with information on the expert and end-user perspectives on the barriers and strategies to using ABTs.