Mother City pulls those trying to escape poverty, lack of services elsewhere
Sabelo Mvana knows exactly why tens of thousands of people are pouring into Cape Town.
The province was once the one part of South Africa where the African population was a minority group and where Afrikaans dominated conversation. All that is changing.
Mvana, who was unemployed in the Eastern Cape, is earning a living weeks after relocating to Khayelitsha. He is building shacks for others arriving on his doorstep who are hoping to escape poverty and poor service delivery.
But the influx of people is proving to be a major challenge for the province run by the Democratic Alliance.
Western Cape premier Helen Zille said the migration of people, mostly from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, was putting a severe strain on housing, health and education. The housing backlog of almost 470000 is expected to double, and informal settlements are spawning at an alarming rate.
Zille recently told the provincial legislature that population growth in the province was running at 2.6%, or double the national average. That is according to a report, The State of the Population in the Western Cape Province 2008, funded by the Department of Social Development.
Nearly 30% of the population in the province - which receives the second highest number of migrants after Gauteng - are migrants. The province gained 361476 people due to migration from elsewhere from 2001 to 2006.
Zille told the Sunday Times: "Migration into cities (urbanisation) is a process that continues to happen throughout the world. It is something governments need to come to terms with.
"The challenge comes where failed provinces or states lead to a rapid migration of people into other, more functional, regions, creating a situation where government services, infrastructure and the regional economy are unable to keep pace with the needs of the rapidly growing population."
According to the latest Statistics South Africa figures, the African population in the Western Cape went from being a minority group in 1996 to the second largest group, overtaking the white population in 2007. Xhosa is now the second most spoken language in the province, followed by English.
The influx of migrants has changed the landscape of Cape Town as informal dwellings - 28000 in 1994 and estimated at 105000 in 2006 - continue to mushroom.
The housing waiting list stands at 469405, with some having been on the list for more than 30 years, according to the department of local government and housing.
In his budget speech in June, MEC for housing Bonginkosi Madikizela said, "If we continue on a high growth trajectory, by 2040 the housing backlog in the Western Cape will have nearly doubled to 804000."
The influx of people is also expected to swell classes at schools. The Department of Education reported that an estimated 12000 new pupils entered the schooling system annually. And the Department of Health was "buckling under demand", Zille said in her state of the province address in May.
But Professor Sue Parnell, of the University of Cape Town, said the influx did not necessarily spell disaster: "The doom and gloom and great wave of unwashed from the Eastern Cape is nonsense. Yes of course there's very significant migration, but it is slowing. It is much more diverse. Not everybody who is coming needs a house or a job and it is manageable," she said.
Meanwhile, Mvana hopes to one day buy a house. Life is better and he is getting along with his new neighbours.
"There are no jobs in the Eastern Cape. To get a job you have to know someone in government or in the factories. Jobs are reserved for family and friends. In most cases you get turned away because you are not educated.
"The government has built roads, provided taps and electricity to rural areas, but the services don't compare with the Western Cape," he said.
Soon he plans to bring his family to his new home to visit, and those who have failed school will, like him, try to make their fortune in the Mother City.
- TimesLive
Sabelo Mvana knows exactly why tens of thousands of people are pouring into Cape Town.
'There are no jobs in the Eastern Cape. To get a job you have to know someone in government or in the factories'The 23-year-old father of five has joined the ranks of a massive migration of people which is changing the face of the Western Cape.
The province was once the one part of South Africa where the African population was a minority group and where Afrikaans dominated conversation. All that is changing.
Mvana, who was unemployed in the Eastern Cape, is earning a living weeks after relocating to Khayelitsha. He is building shacks for others arriving on his doorstep who are hoping to escape poverty and poor service delivery.
But the influx of people is proving to be a major challenge for the province run by the Democratic Alliance.
Western Cape premier Helen Zille said the migration of people, mostly from the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, was putting a severe strain on housing, health and education. The housing backlog of almost 470000 is expected to double, and informal settlements are spawning at an alarming rate.
Zille recently told the provincial legislature that population growth in the province was running at 2.6%, or double the national average. That is according to a report, The State of the Population in the Western Cape Province 2008, funded by the Department of Social Development.
Nearly 30% of the population in the province - which receives the second highest number of migrants after Gauteng - are migrants. The province gained 361476 people due to migration from elsewhere from 2001 to 2006.
Zille told the Sunday Times: "Migration into cities (urbanisation) is a process that continues to happen throughout the world. It is something governments need to come to terms with.
"The challenge comes where failed provinces or states lead to a rapid migration of people into other, more functional, regions, creating a situation where government services, infrastructure and the regional economy are unable to keep pace with the needs of the rapidly growing population."
According to the latest Statistics South Africa figures, the African population in the Western Cape went from being a minority group in 1996 to the second largest group, overtaking the white population in 2007. Xhosa is now the second most spoken language in the province, followed by English.
The influx of migrants has changed the landscape of Cape Town as informal dwellings - 28000 in 1994 and estimated at 105000 in 2006 - continue to mushroom.
The housing waiting list stands at 469405, with some having been on the list for more than 30 years, according to the department of local government and housing.
In his budget speech in June, MEC for housing Bonginkosi Madikizela said, "If we continue on a high growth trajectory, by 2040 the housing backlog in the Western Cape will have nearly doubled to 804000."
The influx of people is also expected to swell classes at schools. The Department of Education reported that an estimated 12000 new pupils entered the schooling system annually. And the Department of Health was "buckling under demand", Zille said in her state of the province address in May.
But Professor Sue Parnell, of the University of Cape Town, said the influx did not necessarily spell disaster: "The doom and gloom and great wave of unwashed from the Eastern Cape is nonsense. Yes of course there's very significant migration, but it is slowing. It is much more diverse. Not everybody who is coming needs a house or a job and it is manageable," she said.
Meanwhile, Mvana hopes to one day buy a house. Life is better and he is getting along with his new neighbours.
"There are no jobs in the Eastern Cape. To get a job you have to know someone in government or in the factories. Jobs are reserved for family and friends. In most cases you get turned away because you are not educated.
"The government has built roads, provided taps and electricity to rural areas, but the services don't compare with the Western Cape," he said.
Soon he plans to bring his family to his new home to visit, and those who have failed school will, like him, try to make their fortune in the Mother City.
- TimesLive
No comments:
Post a Comment