Abstract:
The failure of governments to promote efficient housing policies coupled
with increasing speculation in land markets has resulted in scarcity of
serviced land, leading to a lack of adequate housing for the majority of the
urban population. This has resulted in illegal land use and development
and the eventual situation of informal settlements developing at a rapid
rate. However most governments in the developing world, including South
Africa have failed to acknowledge that most new urban informal
settlements are developed by an illegal process as informal settlement
residents willingly or unwittingly contravene planning regulations,
contravene laws out of ignorance of the legal requirements, coupled with
the inability to conform to the high standards set. Consequently, States
respond to this illegality in the form of eviction as it threatens the
economic, social and political stability of the urban environment.
Concepts promoted internationally and identified in international literature
recognize that the solution to informality lies in appropriate protection of
rights which should ensure access to secure shelter leading to access to
other benefits such as livelihood opportunities, public services and credits.
That flowing from International Laws and Covenants, Human Rights Law
needs to be looked at as a system of law that creates legally binding
obligations for states with the aim of protecting, respecting and promoting
housing rights for informal settlement residents. In the context of rights,
Fernandes goes further in emphasising the legal constitutional perspective
of the urban phenomenon where law is used as a vehicle for urban
development and social change as well as encouraging state action and its
attempts at socio-political legitimization in the context of informal
settlement intervention.
