2016 Honours Reports

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    Johannesburg city officials’ visions for low income housing typologies along the Corridors of Freedom
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Lembede, Xolile Minentle
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    Social networks, Migrants and Densification.
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Mphatsoe, Pulane
    The ambiguous nature of cities has long been discussed by many scholars. Cities are both spaces of opportunity and abject poverty; connectivity to global circuits of goods, people and ideas, yet concurrently contain spaces of marginalisation (Kihato, 2009). The increase in backyard dwellings over the years has highlighted the high demand, and low supply for low-income housing in Johannesburg where many South Africans and international migrants relocate to for greater opportunities. This research report aims to document the relationship between backyard densification and the strategies of integration of migrants into their new host society. These experiences will be documented on the basis of social networks and interaction between the migrants and the locals. The urban form associated with backyard living provides a proximity which fosters intentioned and unintended interaction between neighbours. Backyard densification facilitates access and sustainability of social networks used by migrant women. These social networks play a significant role in the post migratory experiences of migrant women living in backyard dwellings in that they offer various types of support such as trading land, financial and emotional support and childcare just name a few. This research forms part of a greater study on resilient densification in Johannesburg, and though its scope is limited, I hope it will stir up further research pertaining to migration, gender and social networks.
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    Spatial Re-Configuration of Backyard Dwelling in Bram Fischerville
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Selepe, Reitumetse
    Informal housing such as backyard housing in South Africa is essential as it has manged to absorb the low income group of people who cannot enter the formal market. Backyard housing offers a place where people can access services, employment opportunities as well as help maintain livelihoods. The research aims to illustrate how backyard dwellers have used spatial reconfiguration a strategy that helps them adapt to their accommodation circumstances. The finding has revealed the relationship between socio-economic and spatial aspects of backyard housing. These aspects not only contribute to the development of backyard housing, but as a way to maintain livelihoods.
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    The views of government officials on the Integrated Development Plan as a framework for local government that is developmental and responsive to peoples’ needs [Gauteng].
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Manzini, Siyabonga
    At the crux of the developmental approach to local government in South Africa is the Integrated Development Plan enshrined in the Municipal Systems Act 2000.The integrated Development Plan has become an important tool in post-apartheid South Africa and remains the principal strategic planning instrument which guides and informs all planning and development, and all decisions with regards to planning, management and development in the municipalities. As such the IDP as a tool provides a framework for development and is intended to coordinate the input of local as well as the other spheres of government in a rational manner that improves the overall quality of life for local communities. However, more than two decades into democracy studies still point to communities who experience socio-economic exclusion and spatial poverty, without reasonable opportunities to transform their reality. As a result, this study investigated the views of government officials (involved in municipal integrated development processes) on the Integrated Development Plan as a framework for local government that is developmental and responsive to people’s needs. This was done uncover the strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures that accompany the implementation of the Integrated Development Plan across municipalities in Gauteng.
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    Exploring City official’s practices of community engagement
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Molema, Lebogang
    Public participation is the cornerstone of democracy in South Africa, and it is at the local government that most of the community engagement is undertaken. However with this being said there are a number of signs that indicate that South African people are unsatisfied with how the state engages with them. This paper looked at public participation from the official’s perspective, as it attempted to understand some of the challenges they face, the complexities of undertaking community as well how they navigate these challenges and complexities. The research study was conducted on officials of the Development Facilitation Unit at the Johannesburg Development Agency. Two dimensions of community engagement were presented. Firstly community engagement meetings and how they were conducted, and secondly what officials do with the information that is received from communities, this is what the research refers to as ‘the behind the scene work’.
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    Evaluating the Impacts of the Zola Backyard Upgrading Programme on Landlords and Backyard Dwellers in the Area
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Hopa, Lutho
    Backyard rental accommodation is increasingly receiving attention from the state, urban planners and policy makers as one of the solutions to the housing problem in South Africa. The state in their quest to achieving sustainable human settlements, has through various policies and programmes attempted to address some of the challenges experienced by people ‘operating’ in the informal housing sector. The Gauteng Department of Housing’s (now Gauteng Department of Human Settlements) Zola. Backyard Upgrading Programme was one of these programmes, set up to revive dead capital in the township by ensuring that property owners in Zola get the maximum use value of their properties in a sustainable manner. The Department through the programme upgraded approximately 500 backyard shacks in Zola. The programme however, did not have the desired overall outcomes. This study is centred on identifying the rationalities of both the state who are implementers of the Zola Backyard Upgrading Programme, as well as, landlords and backyard dwellers, who were the target group for the upgrading programme. The research argues that the phenomenon of backyarding in Zola is best understood and explained through the perspectives and experiences of those who supply and those who occupy backyard dwellings and that often top-down state attempts at controlling and regularising such a complex and relatively functional housing sector could have negative impacts on both backyard dwellers and landlords, most of whom rely on income generated from this housing process.
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    Commuter Choices and Prospects for Improved Urban Mobility
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Mandyanda, Aviwe
    The purpose of the study is to understand the everyday social and spatial practices that affect transportation choices in the city from the perspective of public transport commuters. My research is a qualitative inquiry of commuter mobility choices and particularly the reasons behind them. In the pursuit to better understand how transport in South Africa can become more efficient in providing improved levels of access and mobility to a wider spectrum of people, my research focuses on contributing to an understanding of how and why people make individual travel decisions. It investigates how people are responding to the increasing public transportation options and aims to gain a deeper understanding of commuter choices concerning accessibility and mobility in Johannesburg. Drawing from theoretical writings on urban mobility and travel behaviours the main argument of my study is that commuter choices between different modes of transport are influenced by both various socio-economic, spatial and cultural factors, which are attached to practices, narratives and meanings. My study focuses on two transport modes operating along the Johannesburg – Soweto corridor within metropolitan Johannesburg: the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system and the Minibus Taxis (MBTs). It investigates how the two systems have addressed commuter mobility needs, and how commuters are responding to the increased transport options that have become available to them along this corridor. Based on semi-structured interviews, imagery, literature and detailed descriptions emanating from fieldwork, this research report presents everyday life in Pimville as a negotiation and displays the MBT and BRT stations and their users as active participants in this negotiation. The different themes present the different forms of commuter life as negotiation in Pimville.
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    Investigating the sustainability of the Housing Programme of Cornubia, with regards to Sustainable Human Settlements
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Bodhi, Kavish
    After the 1994 elections, housing initiatives, aimed to address the inequalities created within Apartheid, such as racial and socio-economic segregation. This resulted in the 1994 White Paper and 1997 Housing Act which encompassed some aspects of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). However, housing policy implementation was criticised for many reasons. This resulted in emergence of the Breaking New Ground (BNG) policy which aimed at creating sustainable human settlement, as opposed to just housing provision. In the past few years under BNG, government has adopted several programmes that promote the creation of sustainable development, sustainable human settlements and sustainable housing. In order to address this challenge and create sustainable human settlements, the eThekwini municipality envisioned the Cornubia Integrated Human Settlement Project. This is a partnership between the eThekwini municipality and Tongaat Hulett Development. Cornubia proposes a mixed-use development, with retail, commercial, light industry and residential components. The project is still under development, but phase 1a of the housing programme has been completed. The research draws on aspects and principles of sustainable development, sustainable housing and sustainable human settlements; and how the South African government engages with these principles through policies and strategies. Though the state has taken the initiative to provide housing in Durban through the Cornubia development, it is no longer sufficient to just provide housing to people, as a housing development needs to address more issues than accessing shelter. Therefore this research report looks at the sustainability practices and initiatives used within Cornubia’s Housing Programme. There are many plans and strategies put in place to ensure and promote economic, social and environmental sustainability, however, given that the housing programme is still within its early stages of development, many of these plans have either not fully materialised for have not been put in place due to lack of threshold. This results in the reality of what residents experience which contrasts what is proposed for the development, with regards to sustainability. Residents interviewed stated that they have not benefitted much (if not at all) from any plans and strategies that have supposedly been put in place. Over and above advocating for the full implementation of all plans and strategies put in place to create sustainability within the housing programme, the main recommendation of this research report is to address the title deed contract between residents and the eThekwini Municipality. Residents should be able to edit their house or use their house as collateral in order to improve their lives through creating SMMEs or acquiring loans.
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    Female Planners in the Workplace and in Planning Practice
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Moraka, Sedimogang
    “Freedom cannot be achieved unless WOMEN have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. Our endeavours must be about the liberation of the WOMAN, the emancipating of the man and the liberty of the child” (Extract from a speech at opening of first democratic parliament by former SA President-, Nelson Mandela 1994) The above quote symbolizes the start of a new era, when all forms of oppression upon all men and women of different races are eliminated. Liberty was the driver of the new democratic South Africa and encompassed the drafting of new liberation policies. Its impacts included the entry of women in varied sectors of the work force, especially areas of work which were regarded as male domains. However, liberty is an immeasurable concept as it is relative to the person being liberated. The article written by Olusola Olufemi (2008) on the experiential and emotional encounters of women planners in Sub-Saharan Africa, provides a clear account of women through their entry into the male dominated planning profession; and found that they still facing different kinds of oppression.The types of oppression mentioned in her article are deemed to be tested in the current state of the planning profession and can only be known by the sharing of experiences of female planners in the workplace and planning practice.The research study does not only aim to obtain findings on the current experiences of female planners in the workplace, but also to understand the effect that the workplace context has on the planning pursuits and practices of the female planner. The research report comprises of documented experiences of women in the public, private and parastatal sectors, who occupy varied planning positions, with the second and the third chapters reviewing the foundational academic literature on women and planning as well as women’s incorporation into the planning profession.The research report concludes by elaborating on the findings of the relationship between the experiences of the workplace and its effect on the female planner’s planning practice. It also
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    Occupancy density shifts in the Jeppestown Area
    (UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Nkoane, Adelaide Mahlatse