Our mission is to eradicate urban poverty in South Africa by building sustainable communities.

By replacing shacks with low cost, high quality housing and providing community facilities, we aim to improve the quality of life for disadvantaged people living in the townships of South Africa.

A twin objective of the charity is to increase the spirit of volunteerism and philanthropy in Ireland and abroad.

The South African Housing Crisis

Urbanisation is a growing phenomenon in South Africa. As urban areas are the centre of economic and political development, they become magnets for the poor seeking refuge from conflicts, looking for employment, and aspiring for a better future for their families. By 2010 it is predicted that 73% of the South African population will live in urban areas.

South African Government has made phenomenal progress on the housing problem since the fall of apartheid in 1994. Over 2 million subsidized houses have been built in this time, moving millions of shack dwellers into houses for the first time in their lives.

Despite these great achievements, there remains an estimated 2.4 million families living in shacks in South Africa. These shacks lack basic amenities such as running water, electricity, and sanitation. The residents of these areas are highly susceptible to the elements, such as fires, floods, the wind and the rain.



South Africa has come a long way in its first ten years of freedom and the road ahead is alive with possibility. However, it still desperately needs our help. It requires us all to work together to bring an end to inequality and to build a united nation.

Living in a shack has been shown to have a negative impact on health, education and self-esteem.

. Without a sense of ‘home’, peoples’ self-respect can be diminished.

. Without basic housing, families are not equipped to face the other challenges poverty brings like crime, poor education, inadequate nutrition, decaying neighbourhoods and sub-standard healthcare.

The South African Government currently delivers approximately 250,000 units a year. As many as 500,000 houses will need to be built annually in order for the South African government to meet its target to provide all South Africans with adequate housing and eradicate township by 2014.

We are a house building charity which also provides additional support in townships, including community facilities and technology infrastructure. We currently employ 22 people in Ireland and approximately 2000 in South Africa. Employment and training of township residents is a vital component of our work.

Through partnering the communities in which we work we develop relationships with the people and learn about their way of life, their needs and how we can work together to provide long term solutions to some of the issues they face on a daily basis.

Furthermore, employment offers the people from the townships the opportunity to develop skills, gain experience and enjoy the job and financial stability they so desperately seek and deserve.

The Niall Mellon Township Trust aims to have built more than 5000 houses by the end of this year. We need your support.

If you would like to volunteer on our building blitz, please click here. If you would like to make a donation, please click here.