An estimated 2000 residents were left homeless after a fire raged at the Cemetery View informal settlement. Picture: Oupa Mokoena/African News Agency (ANA)
Pretoria - Cemetery View informal settlement, which was destroyed by a fire that burnt all the shacks built with plastic and boxes, is not part of the informal settlements to be upgraded by the City of Tshwane in the current financial year.
MMC for Human Settlements Ofentse Madzebatela said, however, that the municipality had long-term plans to address informal settlements in Tshwane.
He said the informal settlements earmarked for upgrading for this financial year were Kameeldrift Ext 37, Kudube Unit 14/Stellenbosch, Mamelodi Ext 11, Stand 30859 and Stand 31726, Peach Tree Ext 29 (Laezonia AH 157 and 158), Phumekhaya and Bhubezini informal settlements (part of the remainder of Ekangala 610-JR), Pienaarspoort Ext 15, Pienaarspoort Beverly Hills (remainder of Portion 3 of Sjambok Zijn Oude Kraal 258-JR), Cullinan Ext 5 to 12, Ga-Rankuwa Unit 23, Stand 1719 and Ga-Rankuwa Unit 25, Stand 1427.
Madzebatela said there had been several fires in informal settlements recently, with the most recent being the fire that ravaged the Cemetery View, near Woodlands Mall in Pretoria east.
It emerged this week that at least 2 000 people left destitute after their shacks were gutted refused to be relocated by the city to the Stanza Bopape hall in Mamelodi east and at the community hall in Mamelodi west.
The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) supported the shack dwellers’ stance and called on Mamelodi residents to reject the city’s attempt to accommodate displaced residents in the township’s community halls.
Sanco chairperson Joseph Kgatle suggested that the city look into accommodating them in community halls in Pretoria east instead of Mamelodi, which was 11km from the settlement.
Madzebatela said the city had committed to several development plans to address the increase in informal settlements, including the approval of a city-wide upgrading strategy for informal settlements in 2021.
The strategy, he said, outlined the approach the city must follow to upgrade existing informal settlements.
“In terms of the strategy, there are currently 210 informal settlements in Tshwane; 187 of those settlements have been assessed in line with the principles of the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme, in accordance with the National Housing Code. To date, 35 informal settlements have been upgraded to Phase 2 (project initiation). In the current financial year (2023/24), the Human Settlements Department plans to upgrade 20 informal settlements to Phase 2 as contemplated by the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme of the national Department of Human Settlements,” he said.
Phase 2 will include a land acquisition agreement, surveying and registration of households within the settlements, providing basic water and sanitation services to households, undertaking pre-planning studies that will include compiling an engineering geological report, compiling reports to obtain environmental authorisation, and compiling a draft layout plan, a traffic impact assessment and a bulk services report.
“The city currently provides rudimentary sanitation to 106 informal settlements through chemical toilets and rudimentary water to 150 informal settlements through mobile water tankers,” Madzebatela said.
“The city faces the challenge of continued land invasion, which makes it difficult to manage informal settlements. The scarcity of land and the constraints of bulk infrastructure services, together with stagnant economic growth, make matters worse.”
He said the city’s Emergency Services Department had been educating residents in informal settlements on how to prevent fires.
“We are also working with all spheres of government and using grants provided to the city to upgrade informal settlements by means of installing services such as water, sewers, roads and stormwater drainage,” he said.
Pretoria News