Last year, the City of Cape Town experienced an unprecedented increase in especially large-scale orchestrated unlawful land occupations. This phenomenon is having a profound impact on Cape Town. A new City framework seeks to find short and long-term innovative solutions to manage the growing informality in Cape Town, as can also be seen in many metros across South Africa.
- Between January 2020 and December 2020, the City removed 16 733 unlawfully erected vacant structures and 82 853 pegs (these are used to earmark plots for illegal occupation). Between May and July 2020, 5 000 new dwellings were created though illegal occupation.
- Unlawful occupations have mostly seemingly been orchestrated by certain groups, political parties and so-called ‘shack-farming’ criminal syndicates.
- Proactive measures are required to enable the City to pre-emptively protect land earmarked for community use, housing and bulk services; to enhance the safety of unlawful occupiers and surrounding communities; to increase affordable housing opportunities and to prevent a situation where earmarked projects and beneficiaries suffer as a result of the already limited funds being diverted to newly invaded areas.
- Unlawful occupation attempts cannot be condoned under any circumstances.
- Given Cape Town’s history of spatial segregation and inequality, the tools of land planning are critical for the building of a more equal city.
- It is estimated some R200 million alone is required just to service the newly unlawfully occupied areas where it is possible to do so (for instance, where people have not settled on privately-owned land, in wetlands, water detention ponds or under electricity lines).
- The draft Unlawful Land Occupation Framework served before the City’s Mayoral Committee today, 2 March 2021, for noting.
National Government budget cuts, the weak economy, Covid-19 pressure and red tape
Human settlements delivery is beset with challenges, including R1,3 billion in City housing projects under threat from ongoing orchestrated unlawful occupations, National Government budget cuts reducing the City’s Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) by R118 million just for human settlements, a weak national economy and regulatory red tape.
The City’s Human Settlements Directorate spent 98% of its USDG capital budget in the 2019/20 financial year despite the greatly negative Covid-19 and lockdown regulations’ impact on its programmes and operations. This illustrates the City is able to deliver on State projects as earmarked, but the need for affordable housing is pronounced and a new, whole-of-society approach is required to address the underlying cause of growing informality, which is the need for affordable accommodation.
The City recognises that unlawful land occupation, while an illegal act, is perpetrated by individuals (those who end up occupying) who find themselves in circumstances of desperation. As such, while violent activity and destruction of property will face the full might of the law, the City will always endeavour to treat the human needs that underline this activity.’
The City’s response to unlawful land occupations is made challenging by the extensive responsibilities placed on local government to act as the final provider of all basic services and housing needs, without the supporting levers to fund or catalyse these undertakings. A response which is premised on the capacity of local government alone will not work.
What we need to do
Short-term:
- In the short-term, the City is developing an Unlawful Land Occupation Safety Plan. Much of the work on this framework happened last year, and therefore, this plan is already in process. It entails, among others, a plan to proactively prevent unlawful land occupation and to preserve City-owned land resources, which are earmarked for the future growth requirements of Cape Town. Most of the recent unlawful occupations have happened on land that was never earmarked for housing, such as land that is in a wetland area and flood-prone or on road reserves (the pieces of land left open next to routes for future expansion requirements).
- Finalisation of the City’s approach to the provision of temporary basic services, particularly to recently unlawfully occupied settlements within the limited City budget and without redirecting budget away from planned basic services and human settlements programmes and projects. It is a complex matter because if services are not provided where it is possible to do so, it could encourage further unlawful occupations, while servicing newly invaded sites, might be an incentive for more occupations. We can already see this in the criminal syndicates operating in this sphere – a serviced plot that they ‘sell’ is much more expensive than a plot that has no services, or that is not situated near bulk infrastructure for services.
- All landowners must protect their own land from unlawful occupation.
Long-term:
The City is devising a long-term strategy for addressing informality: we need more affordable housing opportunities, and faster.
Last year, the City’s draft Human Settlements Strategy underwent public participation. It proposes a way forward for greater participation in the housing market for those earning less than R22 000 per month and it is based on partnerships and collaboration as the City, a municipality, cannot on its own address the shortfall of affordable accommodation in Cape Town or the housing need due to urbanisation and the dire state of the South African economy. Private sector innovation and national government housing reform are required, among others.
As a City, we are already spending almost all the budget we receive for human settlements. But due to the need, the economic deterioration and the added impact of Covid-19, new delivery models are required urgently.
Alongside and as part of the interventions that have already been proposed in the strategy, at the heart of the draft Unlawful Land Occupation Framework is the development of the Managed Settlements Programme. The programme intends to create the opportunity to allow residents to lawfully and safely erect informal structures on land that has been prepared for service access and infrastructure installation. This would be the rapid, affordable housing solution that is required.
Housing and permanent service access are captured within the Constitution of South Africa as being elementary to the basic needs of all residents of South Africa. In the resource constrained environment in which the City finds itself, providing housing and services for all, and at the same time, is not possible. However, an alternative source of provision, namely a Managed Settlement Programme, must be piloted and the City needs to lead this initiative. It will need the cooperation of communities and civic organisations to help the City make this a success. Further orchestrated unlawful occupations or incitement to occupy illegally will jeopardise such a pilot programme to the detriment of all.
Managed Settlements Programme
To work with informality and to reduce the risks that spur on unlawful land occupations, the City needs to identify those elements that the informal housing system does well and shape them into a better managed development response. This includes legally enabling residents to erect their own structures on identified land parcels; ensuring safety and environmental integrity; providing temporary basic services where possible with the future possibility of connection to the City’s infrastructure grid.
Examples of what the informal housing system does well:
- Rapid construction time
- Complex modular design
- Self-organisation
The new plan to address informality thus comprises a sustainable, legal housing response that is not a temporary relocation area.
It comprises progressive improvement over time and formalising the informality with for instance:
- Electricity prepaid meters
- Individual services per site
- Occupation recognition
- Permission to upgrade own structure with formal building material (with conditions)
- Option of site ownership
- Access criteria
- Screening criteria
- Case history (i.e. from where did they originate)
Essential to all of this is intensive engagements with our communities, other tiers of government, the private sector and residents.
All due process will be followed and we will adhere to all legislation and policies and make sure that qualifying residents who have been waiting long for an opportunity or basic services are included in this approach. We always want to follow a fair and systematic approach to the delivery of opportunities because the need is so great. For too long, the national housing regime has focused primarily on State-subsidy housing. Diversity is key.
Stronger Cape Town for all
There is a place for all types of housing delivery, such as State-subsidised housing, upgrading of existing informal settlements, rental and social housing, but we need to look at methods that also rapidly provide affordable housing opportunities to address the worsening economic situation in South Africa and to ensure that Cape Town becomes a healthier and stronger city for all.
Human Settlements Strategy