Mayor Amos Masondo Speaks

Statement by the executive mayor of Johannesburg, Clr Amos Masondo, at the media briefing on the formalisation and regularisation of informal settlements, Metropolitan Centre, mayoral parlour, Braamfontein.

Speaker of Council: Clr Nkele Ntingane
Chief Whip of Council: Nonceba Molwele
MMC for Development Planning and Urban Management: Clr Ros Greeff
MMC for Housing: Clr Ruby Mathang
Members of the Mayoral Committee
Fellow Councillors
City Manager: Mr Mavela Dlamini
The Media

The City of Johannesburg has prioritised a programme to formalise all informal settlements in Johannesburg by 2014. We are also seeking to make significant progress in the upgrading of services and infrastructure. The objective of the programme is to attend to all informal settlements within the City boundaries and to improve the living conditions of residents, including their health and safety.

On the 25th of April 2008, Council adopted a new approach to “Informal Settlements – Formalisation and Upgrade”.

There are currently 180 informal settlements within the municipal boundaries of the City of Johannesburg comprising approximately 200 000 households. The actual numbers of these settlements are subject to change(in cases where settlements are being formalised or where new settlements have been formed).

The objective of this programme is to ensure that:

All settlements in the City of Johannesburg are legally recognised and that where settlements are hazardously or poorly located, alternative provision is made; All residents in the City of Johannesburg are protected in terms of health and safety regulations; Residents have adequate incentive and security of tenure to invest in improving their dwellings;

All matters relating to the ownership of land on which informal settlements are situated are resolved; Settlements are structured in a way that will allow for the provision of bulk infrastructure, including water, electricity and roads; Municipal services, including refuse removal, mobile clinics,libraries and ambulances, are provided; and Future settlement growth is properly structured and the development of further non-authorised settlement is contained.

The City has undertaken feasibility studies on approximately 70% of informal settlements and these are currently the subject of a formalisation and upgrading process.

The remaining 30% will be subject to detailed feasibility studies in the new financial year (2009/2010) to establish the risk of remaining in the current location and also to establish the potential for in situ upgrading. If the location is dangerous and the potential does not exist to upgrade in the current location, the City will need to identify a new area to relocate the residents to.

The progress made thus far on all 180 informal settlements is reflected in the following five (5) categories:

1. The first category consisting of 73 settlements reflects projects where the legal processes (township establishment) are far advanced and services are being constructed in situ. The legal processes in relation to this category should be completed by 2011 and the provision of services and infrastructure should be well advanced by this time.

2. The second category, involving 17 cases, is about settlements that are hazardously or poorly located where residents will be relocated to projects that are also far advanced in terms of legal processes and services construction. The legal work in relation to this category will also be completed by 2011 and significant progress will be made in terms of relocations.

Some of these settlements are Mshenguville, which has been cleared. This land will be turned into a park in consultation with the communities. The three Dlamini (1,2, and) camps are also relocated to Lehae. All that remains is to remove those who do not qualify for various reasons to a demarcated area so that the entire place can be handed over to City Parks.

3. The third category of about 20 settlements relates to settlements that can remain in their current location but where formal projects and township establishment processes have not been initiated. The legalisation of these settlements are being addressed through fast-track interim measures that draw on experiences from other countries including Brazil (this includes addressing matters relating to land tenure, land ownership and town planning).

4. The fourth category of 23 settlements is tied to a programme for future formalisation, but is not yet any specific project. An example of this, are the settlements within Greater Alexandra that are being addressed through the Alexandra Renewal Programme.

5. The fifth category of 47 settlements is where feasibility studies have yet to be concluded and where decisions regarding future development have not been made. These settlements may be relocated, or formalised through township establishment processes, or regularised using fast-track mechanisms. It is anticipated that feasibility studies will be completed during the current financial year (2009/2010).

6. In the past the formalisation process of was lengthy and costly. The City of Johannesburg is pioneering a new approach which enables us to deliver services much faster. The City of Johannesburg intends to give people living in informal settlements the right to occupy and use the land subject to certain conditions, which are spelt out in amendments to the town planning schemes.

These relates to aspects such as building materials, spacing between shacks, density of dwellings, and use of dwellings for non-residential purposes. The intention is also to provide a “recognised address” to the households, this we hope that will enable the residents, amongst others, to open bank accounts, enter into contracts with Telkom.

In addition, let me emphasise that for us in the City of Johannesburg, this programme –the Formalisation of Informal Settlements, is part of the bigger programme of restoring the dignity of our people. While informal settlements a reality in many urban landscape, they are also often degraded environments where the health and safety of residents is compromised.

This programme is intended to encourage people to invest in their own resources in building houses, unlock resources located within the state and leverage private sector resources.

Thank you