2011-10-10: Formalisation of informal settlements gains momentum in Johannesburg
THE City of Johannesburg launched a programme, in 2008, to formalize and regularise the 180 informal settlements.
The City, led by its housing department and development planning and urban management department, engaged in an all-inclusive process of formalising and regularising all informal settlements.
The aim of the formalisation of informal settlements programme is, among others, to provide certainty to people living in these areas. Once settlements have been formally recognised and infrastructure is put in place, people feel secure enough to start investing in their dwellings.
Formalisation refers to a legal processes where townships are created (township establishment) with formal services through which residents obtain formal security of tenure. This is achieved through in-situ upgrades ( instances where government build houses in the same area where there was an informal settlement), through relocation (the informal settlements is cleared and people are moved to a new development) and also through having the informal settlement declared as a township through the township establishment process bringing about clearly demarcated stands and provision of services such as water and sanitation and residents obtaining formal security of tenure.
On the 12 October 2011, the Department of Housing in the City of Joburg will be clearing three informal settlements in Soweto. These settlements are Dlamini, Mshenguville and Old Vista. Residents from these settlements will be relocated to the Lehae Mixed Income Development, close to Lenasia.
This forms part of the 90 Days Mayoral Programme led by our Executive Mayor Councilor Parks Tau.
In the State of the Nation Address of 2010, the President highlighted sustainable human settlements and improved quality of life of households as one of the expected outcomes. The national target of Outcomes 8 is to accelerate the Upgrade of Informal Settlements (400 000 households) by 2014. The City of Joburg is making progress with its Formalisation Programme, which will go a long way in the realization of the targets set by Outcome 8 - security of tenure.
The City of Joburg had 180 informal settlements and as at June 2011, 66 of them had been formalised. The eradication of the three informal settlements in Soweto forms part of this broader programme. The cleared land will be handed over to City Parks and Pikitup to take over and use for the benefit of the surrounding community.
Lehae Mixed Income Development
The Lehae Mixed Income Development to which beneficiaries will be moved to will yield 5344 units which are split as follows:
3066 subsidy houses (RDP)
770 rental units
1508 bonded units
The unit size for RDP houses is 40m2 and sizes for the rental and bonded units range from 55m2, 60 m2 and 70m2. There are also different typologies used for this development such as:
Semi-detached units,
Row units,
Stand alone
Clusters and
Walk ups.
The socio-economic amenities in this development upon completion will yield:
6 community facilities
2 secondary schools
2 primary schools
4 creche
8 religious institutions site
2 taxi ranks
4 business sites
38 public open spaces
Enquiries:
Bubu Xuba
Cel: 082 776 6926
