Durban - The eThekwini, Cape Town and Tshwane metros say land invasions pose one of the biggest challenges to development plans, including housing projects, in their municipalities.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the eThekwini Municipality and Msunduzi Municipality in Pietermaritzburg have said the proliferation of informal settlements has made it difficult for them to pursue their development ambitions over the years.
The impact of informal settlements on cities’ budgets was acknowledged by a number of cities including Pietermaritzburg, the City of Cape Town and City of Tshwane (Pretoria).
The two KZN municipalities are now appealing to lawmakers to amend the Prevention of Illegal Eviction (Pie) Act which they contend has loopholes that lead to the mushrooming of informal settlements in all parts of their cities.
Addressing co-operative governance and traditional affairs portfolio committee members recently, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda told how City development plans had to be put on ice because the land earmarked for such projects had been invaded.
“Our appeal is that the committee assists with the amendment to the Pie Act because the funds that are earmarked for development suddenly have to go towards servicing informal settlements which were never part of the plan,” he said. He told committee members that while they understood that eThekwini offered hope to people from many parts of KZN and South Africa, the influx of resident was impacting negatively on the City’s ability to plan and operate effectively.
“Our city currently has 600 informal settlements which need servicing and that impacts on the City’s budget.”
Msunduzi city manager Lulamile Mapholoba said informal settlements posed a serious problem for the municipality, adding that invasion of land affected housing projects.
“People are invading land that is meant for housing, land that is privately owned or not suitable for human habitation, and suddenly the municipality has to foot the bill in servicing the people that have invaded the land,” he said.
According to the municipality, the city is struggling to timeously meet some of the key deliverables to the residents due to land invasion and informal settlements. He said it was important for cities to band together in order to deal with the challenge of informal settlements.
Mapholoba added that the municipality supported the call by eThekwini for an amendment that would give power to municipalities.
He argued that the Pie Act had given rise to shack lords who targeted prime land in major cities. “Although we have not made a formal presentation to any committee, we believe that an amendment to the act is a correct call,” he said.
City of Cape Town mayoral committee member James Vos said unlawful land occupations had risen sharply since the Covid-19 shutdown.
“Land invasion has an intense impact on the City’s Integrated Development Plan and its Budget; it has extreme health and safety risks and impacts on planned service-delivery programmes as well as human settlements project.”
He added that in spite of the City’s efforts, it was clear that the financial implications of the land occupations would have a long-term effect. “The City does not have the resources to cater for all newly formed settlements, often immediately asking for services.”
According to Vos, the City had lobbied the national government and Parliament for greater reform in the human settlements sphere as local governments could not solve the crisis on their own.
“The unprecedented large-scale unlawful occupations created over the Covid-19 national lockdown period and thereafter, led to the creation of 186 new informal settlements, or more than 69 000 new structures (between March 2020 and December 2021).
“The impact on housing beneficiaries is that 4 728 housing opportunities were lost and it will cost more than R263 million in cap,” the member added.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba also conceded that land invasion posed the biggest challenge in implementing the City’s human settlements plan. “After invading land, the illegal occupiers require services which they, in most cases, acquire illegally at the expense of the City and the law-abiding citizens. The invasion further makes our planning and development mandate extremely difficult and impacts negatively on our environment, especially on environmentally sensitive areas.”
Abahlali baseMjondolo shack dwellers movement deputy president Mqapheli Bonono said they were not surprised by the remarks.
“This push for the amendment of the Pie Act is basically an admission of failure by cities to provide houses to poor people. The leadership simply wants to see people being on the periphery and we will not allow that,” he said.
He warned that the group would fight any proposed amendments and take the matter to the Constitutional Court if necessary.