Diabetes is a significant public health issue in South African urban slums, where access to comprehensive diabetes management programmes is limited. A longitudinal qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with participants from South African urban slums, focusing on their experiences with diabetes management programmes. Participants reported a significant reduction in blood glucose levels by 20% compared to baseline measurements, indicating the effectiveness of community-based care over time. Community-based health care programmes demonstrated promising results in improving diabetes management outcomes for urban slum residents. Further research and investment are recommended to sustain and scale up these successful programmes. Diabetes Management, Urban Slums, Community-Based Care, Qualitative Study Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.