Contestations surrounding the upgrading of informal settlements in East London in South Africa
Date
2020
Authors
Tindleni, Nomampondo Thembekile Martha
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The demand for adequate and affordable housing continues to grow unabated
globally and South Africa is no exception. Currently, the global housing backlog is
estimated to be at about 330 million households. The figure is forecasted to
increase by more than 30% by 2025. This means than about 440 million
households, or 1.6 billion people won’t have access to decent housing. In South
Africa, the mushrooming of informal settlements reflects on the inability of the
state to respond to the complex issues surrounding access to housing. While the
government has attempted to address this situation through policies, it was only
until recent that it took a positive approach to dealing with informal settlements.
Through the comprehensive plan on human settlements, attention is paid on
improving the lives of informal settlement dwellers with an emphasis on in situ
upgrading process. Ironically, despite the allocation of a grant to upgrade
informal settlements in Duncan Village under the Urban Settlements
Development Grant (USDG) for bulk services to the metropolitan municipality
and Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) for top structures and social
amenities, no remarkable improvements have been witnessed in this respect.
The grant has since been returned to the Treasury while conditions on the ground
do not reflect any positive change towards upgrading of informal settlements.
This study therefore draws from these developments and investigated the
underlying contestations surrounding the failure to upgrade informal settlements
in Duncan Village. Information for this study was gathered through qualitative
research methodology where both primary and secondary sources of data were
employed. Unstructured face to face interviews shall were conducted with key
informants (those with relevant information on the subject under study).
Complementary information was gathered through observations and document
analysis where documents such as housing policies and relevant literature were
reviewed. The research unravelled that while the South African government seek
to upgrade informal settlements through policies such as the ISUP, there is a
mismatch between policy intentions and what transpires on the ground. One of
the major themes coming out from this study is that officials who are tasked with
foreseeing the upgrading of informal settlements are incompetent. The study
further observed that failure to upgrade informal settlements in East London
Duncan Village can mainly be attributed to power struggles that exist between
the national and local governance. It is within these power dynamics that there is
not enough engagement with local people when it comes to developing and
implementing policies such as the ones on informal settlement upgrading. The
study therefore recommends the need to align different government
departments in order to tap in skills and expertise from relevant officials. There is
also need to draw lessons from countries that successfully implemented projects
on upgrading of informal settlements.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment to the degree of Engineering and the Built Environment(Housing) in the School of School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, 2020
Keywords
Citation
Tindleni, Nomampondo Thembekile Martha (2020) Contestations surrounding the upgrading of informal settlements in East London in South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/>