Data is arming informal settlements with information to lobby for services

When 46-year-old data collector Mfanzile Msibi and his team started mapping informal settlements more than a decade ago near Johannesburg, they realised tens of thousands of residents were unaccounted for in government records.

The Ekurhuleni government had recognised 102 informal settlements in 2009, but the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), a social movement, found more than a dozen communities were missing from records.

“We realised we needed to have information about ourselves,” Msibi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from the Johannesburg office of ISN's partner organisation, the Community Organisation Resource Centre (Corc).

“We started profiling the informal settlements, and from there it spread to other communities.”

More than one billion people globally reside in overcrowded communities, a figure projected to triple by 2050, according to the UN.

Scarce data, wary residents, and a lack of support from local authorities make it difficult to map the needs of informal settlement residents and deliver public services, data collectors said.

From Africa to Latin America, activists and residents are teaming up to collect information like family sizes and settlement plans to lobby authorities for investment in public services like sanitation and waste collection.

Ekurhuleni city officials said “there was no discrepancy (in records) but rather some informal settlements mushroomed without being noticed in the most hidden places”.

The department of human settlements recently verified and updated the number of settlements, the spokesperson said in emailed comments, adding that the most recent verification this year recorded a total of 135 settlements in the city.

Msibi confirmed that “these communities are now accounted for and receive government services.”

The ISN and Corc data collectors are piloting a project that relies on community members to collect and recycle waste in more than a dozen informal settlements in Johannesburg, said Daniel Moalahi, an ISN data collector, adding their work helps minimise protests about poor government service delivery.

For data collectors, tracking the names and the history of informal settlements is key to getting them access to facilities, infrastructure and even a spot on a map.

Initially data collection was done with paper and a clipboard by groups including Slum Dwellers International (SDI), but new technology and a younger, digitally-focused generation have made their work easier.

Data collectors, who are generally unpaid, are trained by organisations like SDI and use tablets to ask informal settlement residents about their history, hardships and what they need. This is information that can be used to lobby local government.

For example, ISN data collectors noticed there were not enough waste bins in Johannesburg informal settlements, resulting in a lack of refuse collection.

They worked to number homes and build maps of where residents were located “to figure out who is where”, said Moalahi.

Data collectors also promote “reblocking”, which is repositioning informal structures like shacks to make way for fire breaks and wider roads so emergency vehicles can pass through.

The city confirmed they are implementing a reblocking programme in Ekurhuleni to provide better water, sanitation, waste removal, healthcare services and road access to “far-flung” settlements.

Mfunidisi Masithe, another ISN data collector, said his team also “identify people who are not in school (to help register them), people who need to register for social grants and those who are disabled and need help”.

Thousands of kilometres away, Rio de Janeiro's favelas face similar issues. About 1.3-million people live in high-density communities in the Brazilian city, often without access to adequate shelter or water.

One of these is Jacarezinho, a favela of about 40,000 residents, according to a 2022 government census. At a forum in May, locals voiced their concerns about teachers' salaries, rubbish collection, police presence and unemployment.

“People want to be heard”, said Kayo Moura, a 28-year old organiser with Labjaca, a collective that researches aid in Jacarezinho.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations such as Labjaca and Catalytic Communities, a nonprofit, gathered disease data in informal settlements.

Last year Labjaca advocated for free water access for Jacarezinho dwellers living on less than 497 BRL (about R1,864) per month through interviews and at-home surveys of 70 families using a platform called KoboToolbox.

The survey results were referenced as part of a judicial action to guarantee a regular supply of water to the area in March. The outcome is pending.

Pushing for formalisation of settlements is also a big part of data collectors' work, said Msibi of ISN.

“Ekurhuleni passed a resolution in January saying they were going to focus on formalising informal settlements”, he said.

“This is the song we have been singing. But you cannot use a blanket approach to formalise all informal settlements. Each one is different with different needs.”

Data collectors from Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni reported several challenges when engaging with informal settlement residents, such as sexual harassment, suspicion about their work and requests for money.

“As a female data collector, we sometimes have to have males about. Some men will say 'Give me something in exchange' when we ask for information,” said 26 year-old Mirriam Nxangane, of the South African Federation of the Urban Poor (Fedup).

Across both Africa and Latin America, organisations cited a mutual distrust of authorities and police as well as a lack of political will as hampering efforts to improve living conditions.

Last year hundreds of heavily armed police occupied Jacarezinho in an attempt to bring security to the neighbourhood, part of a long-running project to allow the police to engage with residents.

However, the scheme suffered from budget cuts and inconsistent support from state governments. which Moura said makes it difficult for residents to trust the state or the police will improve their situation.

“Some of the solutions for favelas are already known. Some of the good practices are already known. They're simply not implemented,” Moura said.

For Beth Chitekwe-Biti, acting MD of SDI, “getting cities without informal settlements is a pipe dream but having them where people's dignity is respected is a possibility.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation