HE provincial Human Settlement Department is crafting a law aimed at preventing the mushrooming of informal settlements and backyard shacks in the province.
Yesterday the department and stakeholders gathered in East London to consider arguments for a White Paper that could lead eventually to the promulgation of an Act.
MEC Nombulelo Mabandla said they wanted to ensure there was shared appreciation of the magnitude and challenges posed by informal settlements.
“We desire to have a collective identification of other measures to prevent the re-emergence and mushrooming of informal settlements in both rural and urban areas,” she said.
Mabandla also said their initiative was prompted by a resolution taken by a forum including the department and other MECs in 2008 that provinces should formulate legislation preventing the proliferation of shacks.
The provincial department already has a Green Paper on the issue, which sets out issues to be tackled in relation to the eradication of shacks.
The document said the housing backlog and the shortage of housing subsidies left many people with no alternative but to live in informal settlements.
It said informal settlements posed a major challenge for managers and planners.
“Failure to intervene in a manner that improves residents’ quality of life may lead to social and political turbulence,” it said.
The Green Paper proposes the need for policy to be developed to stop people from illegally occupying land or buildings, among other things, as well as proper planning to upgrade informal settlements.
The department has already commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council to do a study, preliminary results of which were presented yesterday.
The findings show that 70 percent of the province’s informal households were in Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Researcher Stephen Rule said about half of the 2878 people who participated in the study wanted to remain permanently where their shacks were.
“It is quite significant that three- quarters say they want to stay there permanently, which suggests that the province must look into in-situ upgrades rather than relocation.”
Jan Tladi, the national department’s chief director of legal services, said government faced a real problem with informal settlements because people wanted to be nearer to economic opportunities.
“We need to come up with legislation and other appropriate measures to try and prevent mushrooming of informal settlements by housing our people in decent shelters,” he said.
Jay Kruuse of the Public Service Accountability Monitor said millions lived in inadequate houses.
“The solution will require an input from a range of stakeholders. Part of the solution may be legislation,” Kruuse said.
He said, however, the department should upscale housing provision.
Mabandla said her department would visit municipalities and district settlement forums as part of the consultation process.
Yesterday the department and stakeholders gathered in East London to consider arguments for a White Paper that could lead eventually to the promulgation of an Act.
MEC Nombulelo Mabandla said they wanted to ensure there was shared appreciation of the magnitude and challenges posed by informal settlements.
“We desire to have a collective identification of other measures to prevent the re-emergence and mushrooming of informal settlements in both rural and urban areas,” she said.
Mabandla also said their initiative was prompted by a resolution taken by a forum including the department and other MECs in 2008 that provinces should formulate legislation preventing the proliferation of shacks.
The provincial department already has a Green Paper on the issue, which sets out issues to be tackled in relation to the eradication of shacks.
The document said the housing backlog and the shortage of housing subsidies left many people with no alternative but to live in informal settlements.
It said informal settlements posed a major challenge for managers and planners.
“Failure to intervene in a manner that improves residents’ quality of life may lead to social and political turbulence,” it said.
The Green Paper proposes the need for policy to be developed to stop people from illegally occupying land or buildings, among other things, as well as proper planning to upgrade informal settlements.
The department has already commissioned the Human Sciences Research Council to do a study, preliminary results of which were presented yesterday.
The findings show that 70 percent of the province’s informal households were in Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay.
Researcher Stephen Rule said about half of the 2878 people who participated in the study wanted to remain permanently where their shacks were.
“It is quite significant that three- quarters say they want to stay there permanently, which suggests that the province must look into in-situ upgrades rather than relocation.”
Jan Tladi, the national department’s chief director of legal services, said government faced a real problem with informal settlements because people wanted to be nearer to economic opportunities.
“We need to come up with legislation and other appropriate measures to try and prevent mushrooming of informal settlements by housing our people in decent shelters,” he said.
Jay Kruuse of the Public Service Accountability Monitor said millions lived in inadequate houses.
“The solution will require an input from a range of stakeholders. Part of the solution may be legislation,” Kruuse said.
He said, however, the department should upscale housing provision.
Mabandla said her department would visit municipalities and district settlement forums as part of the consultation process.
- Daily Dispatch
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