Abstract
This paper tells the story of how a small savings group formed by low-income women in Cape Town invaded a land site and built a house over the period of a weekend to demonstrate that they could build their own homes better and more cheaply than any government programme. It tells of their long negotiation for land on which to build, the various promises from government agencies that were broken and, finally, of the weekend invasion and construction. It also tells the story of the confrontation, first with the police and then with the local government, and how then the house had to be dismantled.