Tshwane's draft policy aims to manage informal settlements and generate revenue
Image: Oupa Mokoena / Independent Newspapers
The City of Tshwane's draft policy on informal settlement management, currently open for public input, aims to curb the growth of informal settlements and explore revenue-generating opportunities.
One approach is to electrify these areas, potentially generating revenue and reducing the city's annual expenditure of R1.5 billion on service provision.
Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya said the city wants to limit the number of informal settlements growing in the metro while doing something about the existing 502 ones.
'There used to be 220 informal settlements in the city but after Covid, that number grew up to 502.'
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She said the city spent about R1.5bn to provide services to informal settlements, but suggested there ought to be 'a better way of doing this'.
The draft policy follows an investigation by the Cities Support Programme team, which found that upgrading or relocating all existing informal settlements would require R32.5 bn, far exceeding the current budget and resources.
The report reveals that the city's current approach to informal settlement upgrading follows a standard township establishment process, which is unsustainable given the significant funding required to upgrade or relocate all existing settlements.
Moya said the city is exploring alternative approaches to service delivery, such as metering informal settlements and allowing residents to pay for electricity, and improving sanitation services beyond just water tankering.
'So, that is the work that we have now proposed to the council and it is now with the community,' she said.
Her comments were in response to a query about the city's plans to resettle or upgrade informal settlements in Olievenhoutbosch, following a recent mass shooting involving rival gangs at a tavern in the Choba informal settlement that claimed six lives.
She was, however, not in a position to provide details about the city's plans specifically for the Choba informal settlement.
Regarding the mass shooting at Choba informal settlements, Moya said: 'We obviously condemn such incidents and we don't want to hear more of those. We have heard of the Enyobeni incident. We don't want those things to be normalised in our society.'
She said the city will prioritise protecting its residents and ensuring compliance with regulations, including enforcing tavern closure times.
She expressed concern that Olievenhoutbosch has been neglected for years, as visible in the area's condition, and noted that allowing chaos to persist often leads to undesirable outcomes, such as lawlessness.
'The years of neglect are catching up with us because that level of lawlessness was never supposed to happen in Olievenhoutbosch,' Moya said.
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za
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