An exploration of the plight of households living in informal settlements: a case of Mdantsane Township in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

Abstract

Evidence suggested that households who are residing in the Mdantsane informal settlements within the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa, encounter challenges regarding service delivery. Furthermore, that most of these households lack the basic services and, in some settlements, the following services are inadequately addressed: provision of water on a site-to-site basis; provision of sanitation on a site-to-site basis; electrification of informal settlements; surfacing and or tarring of roads; storm water and drainage systems; and social amenities The aim of this study was therefore to explore the plight of living conditions of households who are residing in informal settlements in the Mdantsane Township, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. An empirical study was conducted using structured questionnaires to obtain the necessary information that was analysed to bring findings and results. A total of 202 questionnaires were forwarded to randomly selected households in the Mdantsane informal settlements. Ten questionnaires were distributed to officials at the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, who were directly and indirectly involved in Informal settlement upgrading. Four questionnaires were distributed to health workers in four different sampled clinics that serve the informal settlements in Mdantsane. The purpose of interviewing the health workers was to know the diseases that affect the households residing in the informal settlements. Furthermore, three questionnaires were forwarded to policemen in the three police stations in Mdantsane that serve the formal and informal households. The purpose of interviewing the policemen was to know and gather the data of the types of crimes committed in and around the informal settlements of Mdantsane. However, only one policeman completed and responded to the questionnaire and the other two decided not to cooperate with the research. The key findings included that the majority of the respondents affirmed that the living conditions in the Mdantsane informal settlements we/re not good at all, for instance some of the households reside in old rusty shacks that leak during rainy days, and their shacks and or their roofs are blown by winds during windy and stormy days. Most of the elderly and physically challenged walk to communal toilets and to fetch water. Some residents are affected by diseases, in many cases as a result of the living conditions in the informal settlements. It is therefore recommended that: The BCMM should consider equipping unemployed youth in the informal settlements with the skills that would enable them to keep fires at bay, as an interim measure before municipal fire fighters can get to the scene. The municipality devise alternative means with which to address the issue of providing electricity to the informal settlements in Mdantsane. The BCMM should ensure that the informal settlements in its area of jurisdiction are all supplied with skips for disposing of residents’ domestic waste. The BCMM should improve the collection of waste in the Mdantsane informal settlement. This will also be better facilitated by ensuring that the roads within the informal settlement are surfaced and tarred. The BCMM should consider liaising with the Provincial Department of Health to devise ways with which to address the issue of clinics that have inadequate capacity and are therefore unable to attend to patients timeously. The BCMM and the Department of Education should collaborate to introduce apprenticeship courses that will provide training to the people in the informal settlements so that they may become certified as electricians, carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, motor mechanics, auto-electricians and information technology technicians. In conclusion, there should be sufficient co-operation between the accounting officer and the heads of the directorates at the BCMM with the common aim of ensuring that appropriate services are delivered to the households residing in Mdantsane informal settlements. The portfolio committees responsible for human settlements, infrastructure services, and spatial planning and development, need to collaborate in order to ensure that there is synergy in the three directorates that they oversee. These three committees should meet at least once every two months in order to discuss issues related to informal settlements upgrading and human settlement development in general.