Squatter Settlements in South Africa - Essay Example

Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 1 Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa Author’s Name: Institution Affiliation Location of the Research Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 2 Urbanization Abstract Urbanization has always been looked upon as a means to raise an individual’s standard of living and therefore for scores of people in developing countries, urban living has always been a major attraction. However, in trying to live in an urban residential locality, these poor people soon realize that they do not have any access to owning a piece of tenured land and hence decide to ‘squat’ on any vacant piece of land, either public or private. Depending on various parameters each country has its own definition of ‘squatter settlements’. In this essay and attempt is being made to highlight the problems of those living in these Squatter settlements, focusing on Durban, South Africa in particular, and analyze the Government’s reaction to find solutions to these problems. Introduction Generally, ‘Squatter Settlements’ can be defined as urban residential areas that are inhabited by very poor people, illegally, as they do not have any legal right to own tenured land of their own and just ‘squat’ on any public or private property and live on it illegally. Also referred to as ‘informal housing’ people who migrate from the rural areas to the urban areas and settle in such squatter settlements lead very deplorable lives instead of raising their standard of living. Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 3 Squatter Settlements – ‘A Social Evil’ People in the poor and developing countries find it difficult to search for suitable jobs in their own country and their poverty forces them to migrate to the urban areas to work and try to earn a living for their families. These people take possession of such unauthorized premises and begin their lives here. Many such houses together form a ‘settlement’ and they have been in existence since a very long period of time. The houses that make up a squatter settlement are built by individuals who do not own the land. However, in those days, ‘squatter settlements were not considered to be illegal as such, but today, it has taken a new connotation altogether, and it is considered to be an illegal confiscation of land. Now-a- days, with a more westernized initiated development, such settlements are not looked upon in a hostile manner, but it is rather viewed as a place where protection and support are offered. In defining a ‘Squatter settlement’ Abrams refers to squatting as a sort of ‘conquest of city areas for the purpose of shelter’ (Abrams, 1964) On the other hand, (Payne, 1977) looks at squatter settlements “ as the overall perspective of urban growth in the Third World…”. In trying to satisfy the necessity of getting better jobs and looking after their families, these migrants are forced to occupy vacant land that gradually grows to be squatter settlements which are made up of rudimentary shelters. According to (Turner, 1969) who perceives the problem in a positive perspective and believes that these Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 4 settlements are ‘successful solutions to the housing problem faced in urban areas in the developing countries. Squatter settlements are considered to be a social evil due to the problems it creates, not only for its residents but for the society as a whole. These shelters have appalling living conditions for the mere fact, that the people who live here are very low paid and therefore unable to spend money on maintenance. The services available to them are very few and far between and not adequate to live a life of quality. These services include poor sanitation, bad roads and drainage systems, very limited water and electricity supply, and very few schools, health centers and market areas. Some of these houses may not have electricity or water supply at all and suffer greatly due to it. Roots and Effects of the Burgeoning Squatter settlements Most of those who live in these settlements fall in the very low income group such as daily wage laborers. However, if there are many earning members in one household, then they would be a bit more comfortable than the others. Predominantly, the squatters are migrants who migrate from rural – urban or urban – urban areas, but there are also second or third generation squatters, whose families had come and settled here a long time ago. Squatter Settlements have gained a poor reputation for themselves due to the deplorable conditions suffered by its occupants. Nevertheless, it has managed to attract the attention Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 5 of the Government and case studies show that in 1976 a Habitat Conference was held at Vancouver, where the poor conditions of people in squatter settlements were highlighted and this step, helped to pave the path towards a commitment in trying to solve the issues that faced them. Apartheid and the many factors that led to it, contributed as one of the major causes that led to widespread Squatter settlements in Durban, during the latter half of the 20th century. In addition to this, the Land Act of 1913, further served to alienate the African people from owning land, thus forcing them to take up employment as wage earners for their survival. Unable to pay huge rents in the urban areas where most of them were employed, they constructed informal settlements on a massive scale on the fringes of the urban borders during the 1930’s. Further escalation of the problem of these informal settlements was the introduction of ‘independent states’ that lay adjacent to the boundaries of the city, which included formal residential areas of the African people. This arrangement further helped to increase the growth of Squatter settlements on the urban border. The massive lack of housing facilities, coupled with heavy droughts in the 1970’s and 1980’s compelled them to move towards the urban areas to seek their livelihood along the urban regions. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) During the 1990’s, gradually newer but smaller informal settlements began to spring up, but in a more clandestine manner and much nearer to the city and closer to Asian Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 6 residential limits. These Squatter settlements were at a high risk of landslides and floods. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) In fact, such erstwhile settlements are in such a degenerated condition, that there is a dire necessity to rehabilitate them to at least a livable standard. Some of the factors taken into consideration to classify these settlements as ‘informal’ are ownership of land, size and tenure of these structures, zoning of land and access to necessary amenities. Squatter settlements comprise of varying degrees of permanence as they make use of a wide range of materials for their construction. Some of the materials utilized for their buildings are corrugated iron ore, timber, sheets of metal, plastic and in some cases they use the traditional wattle and daub and the major population living in these areas are essentially African. Besides, these informal dwellings that are poor and inadequate, is the overcrowded hostels, that are mostly rented out to male workers. Durban’s population comprises of 33% of Africans, with males making up 44% while the females are 56%. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) These informal households are looked upon as incubators of vice and a trap for diseases because of the poverty and squalor that surrounds it. However, many of these people are also considered to be ‘undeserving poor’ because they are too lazy to go to work and instead engage in many nefarious activities such as drinking and drug trafficking. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 7 (2003) In Durban violence runs rampant and due to this many deaths occur in these settlements. Responses of the Governments, Communities; and NGOs to this problem. Recognizing the various problems faced by the residents of these Squatter settlements was the first step to taking some action to remove them. The Department of Local Government and Housing in Durban in association with other Local Governing Bodies such as local Communities and NGO’s, found the necessity to deal with the numerous problems faced by the people and framed important objectives and goals to raise awareness and put into action, some of the problem –solving decisions made by them. Firstly, they recognized that the squatter settlements inmates faced high risk of becoming a prey to many dreadful diseases due to the squalid living conditions, poor sanitation and lack of water. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) One of the main issues was bad housing, which meant that most of these houses had inadequate air or sunlight, poor toilet and bathing facilities that did not give privacy and were badly in need of repair, over crowding, inadequate heating facilities, dumps, and prone to fire hazards. Though steps were taken to improve and develop the poor housing scenario, yet the outcomes of the policies show that they had not been able to address the problem adequately. Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 8 In order to lend economic security to the population of white people, the Government tried hard to curtail the burgeoning expansions of these Squatter settlements by extending the boundaries of the city. Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) The primary idea of the Government was to gain some sort of control over them so that they could bring about some positive transformation by way of problem solving, development planning, and issues surrounding equity. The local communities are also being initiated about the problems in these settlements and are integrated to share participation in the developing and planning process. On critical reflection regarding the urban development and housing facilities, there are many factors that came as a huge hindrance that prevented the progress and it was mostly a failure. Some of the key issues that impeded progress were the rapid growth of dense population in these areas, the absence of a good support framework and strong security policies and of course the socio- economic legacy that was handed down from generation Colin Mary & Sarah Charlton. (2003) to generation that led to bigger problems in society. However, the most salient reason responsible for all the above reasons was that the Government comprised of different tiers which made implementing laws and development programs extremely slow and this resulted in a huge backlog to solve the housing problem in a significant and permanent manner. Moreover, the complexity of the various problems only led to much bigger problems. Running head: Squatter Settlements in Durban, South Africa 9 Continuous migration into Durban’s informal settlements resulted in high density population and along with it came scores of complex problems such as poor sanitation and drainage, scarcity of good drinking water and electricity, and even massive fires that were brought about because of the flammable materials used in their construction. Fanned by strong winds, these fires spread rapidly and created havoc killing people and destroying the little valuables they had and rendering many of them homeless. To control the devastation brought about by fires, the Government together with the community are training people especially those in high risk areas, to fight fires by making use of fire retardant paint and distributing fire extinguishers to be used in emergency in households that are at great risk. South African Informal Settlements. (2013) Despite the major problems faced by these people, yet for the unemployed and new migrants, informal settlements such as these are their only solution to their problems. Conclusion The Government of South Africa are well aware of the dire need for a more stringent holistic approach and a more thorough planning and better legislation and enforcement of laws in order to bring this huge problem under control. The Government and the community are still striving to do their best and relocating people who are displaced to temporary locations for their safety. They are also trying their best to improve emergency facilities to these areas, but due to the huge population that continuously flood these settlements, work continues at a very slow pace, while people living in these Squatter settlements continue the hassle of facing very challenging problems. References Abrams, Charles (1964), Man's Struggle for Shelter in an Urbanizing World. Cambridge: The MIT Press. Colin Marx & Sarah Charlton. (2003) UN Habitat. Global Report on Human Settlements. The challenge of the slums. Earthscan. Part IV. Summary of City Case Studies. Pp. 195 – 228. Retrieved from the web from: Marx and Sarah Defining Squatter Settlements – Global Development Research (GDRC) www.gdrc.org/uem/define-squatter.html Payne, Geoffrey K. (1977), Urban Housing in the Third World. London: Leonard Hill. South African Informal Settlements www.mtweb.mtsu.edu/garbharr/MTSU/south_african_informal_settlements.htm South African Informal Settlements. (2013) Africa – News and Analysis. Retrieved from web from: www.africajournalismtheworld.com Turner, John (1969) "Uncontrolled Urban Settlement: Problems and Policies" in G. Breese (eds.) The City in Newly Developing Countries: Readings on Urbanism and Urbanization. Prentice Hall, pp. 507-534. Read More