Cities overwhelmed by demand for housing

SA is battling to deal with its housing backlog due to migration to urban areas, human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Sunday in Pretoria.

Kubayi said there were over a million shacks in at least 2,600 informal settlements around the country that created a huge strain on the economy.

Kubayi was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of an initiative dubbed the Global Action Plan Framework on Informal Settlements and Slums.

She was joined by ministers from other African countries including the UN Habitat director Maimunah Mohd Sharif.

“We acknowledge that with the rapidly rising urbanisation, our government is still battling to keep pace with demand, and we are ever more aware that we need to create more partnerships to respond to the needs of nearly 1.4-million households living in informal settlements across SA.

“It is a national priority to respond systematically to the increasing rate of urbanisation. Thus the upgrading of 2,600 informal settlements is a central objective of our urban management strategy,” Sharif said.

Over the last decade, SA has seen a rapid increase in illegal land invasions, with shacks being erected at key points in cities.

When residents take to the streets to protest against a lack of service delivery, they place burning tyres and large rocks, blocking key intersections, which often disrupt economic activity in cities.

Kubayi said municipalities have often been blamed for inciting such actions by their failure to block land invasions.

“We want to make sure our cities are integrated, resilient and sustainable because the issue of informal settlements and slum dwellings continue to threaten how people live and be integrated – but more importantly bring them closer to opportunities.

“We know that by 2050, quite a number of people will live in cities, which is why it’s important to deal with informal settlements. Many cities such as Tshwane and the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini municipality have quite a lot of challenges when it comes to that. The migration of people to urban areas and also the migration of people from SADC regions into our cities pose a challenge.

“We found that not everyone in informal settlements needs breaking new ground or an RDP [house]. We found that not everyone needs free housing but rather need affordable spaces to live in. They can rent or buy and that’s why we want to see our social housing expand in the coming years.

“We’re saying to cities, when people illegally invade land, evict them immediately so that we don’t have a problem later. When people aren’t evicted, this creates problems later on. South Africans are saying you are incentivising invasion of land,” Kubayi said.

The delegation also visited Fleurhof development, a mixed-used housing project in the southwest of Johannesburg which, once completed, will consist of 11,000 units where more than 80,000 families will reside.

Sharif said despite efforts to achieve zero slums by UN member states, more than 1-billion people live in informal settlements.

“This means that one out of four persons are living in urban areas, in slum-like conditions. People lack access to water, sanitation, decent housing and are sharing a room with three or more people. If no transformative action is taken, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be 3-billion people living in slums,” Sharif said.