Slums and informal settlements are a breeding ground for social ills’: Mmamoloko Kubayi

Human settlements minister Mmamoloko Kubayi says informal settlements are a breeding ground for social ills.

Kubayi was speaking at the UN Habitat Global Action Plan launch in Soweto at the weekend. 

The Global Action Plan on informal settlements and slums aims to improve the lives of the marginalised.

Kubayi said government has identified more than 2,600 informal settlements which accommodate about 1.4-million households that are in need of upgrading. 

“The slums and informal settlements are a breeding ground for social ills, the burden of which is often carried by women, girls and children. These settlements often lack basic services such as sanitation facilities, health, education and recreational facilities.”

Kubayi said UN Habitat’s declaration on informal settlement upgrading, signed in 2016, recognises the informal settlement challenge must be tackled through an integrated approach to sustainable urban development, taking into account national policy frameworks, legal and financial resources and spatial issues. 

She said through an inclusive process, South Africa has made progress in implementing the policy in the following;

• identifying and verifying informal settlements and gathering real-time data and monitoring the growth patterns;
• completing a baseline assessment of informal settlements to define variables for monitoring and evaluating the settlements;
• establishing forums on upgrading Informal settlements in all provinces. The forums facilitate alignment of upgrading processes with all municipalities and monitor progress in implementation and knowledge exchange with stakeholders in each province;
• developing a 13-module course called Introduction to Informal Settlement Upgrading that unpacks the critical processes required to upgrade informal settlements, and;
• rolling out an intensive capacity development programme to all provinces, municipalities, civic organisations and communities. 

“We have learnt upgrading can have a profoundly positive effect on social cohesion, resilience and safety, especially when there are targeted interventions to protect vulnerable women, youth, children, the elderly and the disabled,” said Kubayi. 

“We acknowledge, however, that with rapidly rising urbanisation our government is battling to keep pace with the demand, and we are ever more aware we need to create more partnerships to respond to the needs of nearly 1.4-million households living in informal settlements across South Africa.

“It is a national priority to respond systematically to the increasing rate of urbanisation. Thus the upgrading of 2,600 informal settlements is a central objective of our urban management strategy.”

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