This section outlines aspects of the physical and social realities of living in an informal settlement.
101 During the fieldwork conducted for this research I was able to collect anecdotal evidence from people who were moved to transit camps ‘temporarily’ (up to 3 months) but stayed there in excess of 4 years and without assurance about the delivery of houses. In a few cases, residents described that their names have ‘disappeared’ from housing lists.
Emergence and statistics
There are approximately 10 million South Africans (about 16,3% of households across the country) living in informal dwellings, such as shacks or shanties in informal
settlements or in backyards (World Bank Institute, 2012). Despite the millions of houses delivered through the RDP programme, the number of shack dwellers has increased since the ANC came to power in 1994 (Magebhula, 2011).
Informal settlements, although having existed for decades, have grown and expanded intensely in post-‐apartheid era. Total urban population has grown from 52 to 62%, from 1994 to 2014, mostly driven by intense migration from rural populations in search of better work and education opportunities in urban environments (Fieuw, 2014). The emergence and expansion of informal settlements was to a large extent a result of rural-‐to-‐urban migration, but they also include, rising unemployment, social inequalities, reduced marriage rates, and the greater mobility of women (Hunter, 2010).
Structure, health and security
Physically, informal settlements are hazardous environments. Most shacks are made from a combination of construction materials, including: mud, wood, zinc sheets, corrugated metal, plastic, and/or cardboard (Ross, 2005; Smit, 2006). Sanitation, access to water, and electricity is usually lacking (Seekings and Nattrass, 2005). Public toilets and water taps, where available, tend to be overcrowded (Govender et al., 2011). Unsanitary conditions, including open sewage, present a health hazard to residents, especially young children. Due to its, unofficial, unplanned, illegal occupation status, the government of South Africa is not obliged, nor willing, to provide basic services such as water and electricity, to its residents (Huchzermeyer, 2004).
Shack fires are common, usually caused by candles, paraffin lamps, or illegal electricity connections. The density of shack settlements, especially in urban areas, and the use
of flammable building materials, aggravates the problem (Chance, 2011b). On average, fires result in about one death every other day (Berkinshaw, 2008).102
Informal settlements have the highest rates of HIV infection in South Africa (Ambert, 2006; Camlin et al., 2010; Connolly et al., 2004; Hunter, 2007), and HIV positive residents are frequently stigmatized (Kahn, 2004; Kranzer et al., 2011; Mills, 2006).
Women are at higher risk of HIV infection (O’Hara Murdock et al., 2003), and are often victims of sexual and domestic abuse (Chance, 2011b; Kalichman et al., 2005).
Social structures and division
Yet, informal settlements may differ greatly from one another and are also at a constant and rapid change. As Huchzermeyer explains:
“As the process of informality responds to changing pressures, newcomers add structures, settlements densify or expand, occupants change, a rental market may emerge and expand, and may be reversed, leadership emerges and may be
challenged, struggles for formal recognition and servicing may be waged, sections may be bulldozed and others may consolidate” (2011, p.77).103
The idea of social cohesion or even the use of the term “community” is often a
misnomer to describe informal settlements (Friedman, 1993). Informal settlements are diverse places, divided along race, class, age, language, and ethnicity (Morris and Hindson, 1992), with complex internal social and economic dynamics (Bremner, 1994;
Crankshaw, 1996; Smit, 2006).104
Social divisions between different ethnic groups (e.g. Indian descendants, Zulus, Xhosa, Sotho) within informal settlements are a cause of disputes and concern among
102 Berkinshaw (2008), quoting from South Africa National Fire Statistics, stated that in Durban alone, a shack fire is estimated to happen at least once a day.
103 Huchzermeyer uses the term “informality” to refer to the unplanned, illegal occupations. The government refers to these as informal settlements.
104 Sources of these differences include: large-‐scale migration to urban centres and rapid expansion of settlements with scarce resources, such as land, water, and basic infrastructure. These scarcities have played a central role in violence and conflicts between residents of townships and informal settlements (Morris and Hindson, 1992; Taylor, 2004).
residents (Morris and Hindson, 1992; Patel, 2012). Minority migrants such as Xhosa migrants to Kwazulu-‐Natal, have often suffered prejudice and political and social exclusion within informal settlements with Zulu predominance (Bremner, 1994).
Poor foreigners and illegal immigrants, who do not qualify for the state's capital housing subsidy (Crankshaw, 1996; Smit, 2006), have to rely on informal settlements for housing. Often, the illegal status means that they are also subject to high levels of exploitation and xenophobia (Maharaj, 2009). In May 2008, xenophobic attacks occurred in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town targeting mainly African foreigners living in informal settlements (Peberdy, 2010). The attacks demonstrated that “social exclusion by the state has contributed to violent social exclusion among the poor”
(Huchzermeyer, 2011, p.59).
The social divisions described above are among some of the reasons why informal settlements suffer from high levels of internal conflict. These can be aggravated by other factors. For instance, the prospect of development or unequal access to public services, creates tension among residents, at times escalating to violence (Bénit, 2002;
Bremner, 1994; Crankshaw, 1996; Huchzermeyer, 2001; Patel, 2013). Illegal
immigrants are predominantly threatened with eviction by plans to upgrade informal settlements (Crankshaw, 1996). Besides illegal immigrants, shack renters also have limited chances of being allocated a RDP house as the allocation is bound to ownership of the shack, not the residential status of the occupant (Pithouse, 2008).
Women, in particular, have been affected by traditional (or tribal) social divisions within informal settlements. Women are to a large extent excluded from local political activity (Beall, 2005a; Thomas, 2002), apart from engagement with church activities (Thomas, 2002) and some local community activities (Mosoetsa, 2004).
Governance structures within informal settlements tend to be exclusionary and reinforce existing social and economic inequalities such as the ones described above.
Relationships between shack dwellers, local community leaders and committees, and government institutions, are often complicated by corruption, nepotism, even violence,
and dominated by certain groups (Atkinson, 2007; Bénit, 2002; Blair, 2006).105 However, there is only limited research on the impact of these factors on informal settlements structure (Huchzermeyer, 2011).
Within rural and peri-‐urban informal settlements much of the leadership is dominated by traditional structures and tends to be in the hands of chiefs, who are rarely
democratically elected (Beall, 2005b).106 Chiefs’ rule is based on patronage (and cronyism), often closely linked to tribal affiliation, political parties and local government (Carter and May, 1999; Francis, 2002; Kessel and Oomen, 1997).
Chiefs in KwaZulu107, designated a Bantustan (or black state) created by the apartheid government as a homeland for ethnic amaZulu people, were leaders in anti-‐apartheid movements – such as Inkatha in rural areas (later called Inkatha Freedom Party – IFP), and the ANC in peri-‐urban and urban areas.108 Through association with these
movements, which later meant close relationships with government officials, chiefs claimed land rights, and provision of amenities and services in their areas, which in turn helped to consolidate their control over rural and informal settlements (Morris and Hindson, 1992).
Likewise, residents of urban (and peri-‐urban) informal settlements have been affected by nepotism and patronage relations which suppressed the development of
democratic structures, such as electing a community committee (Botes and van
105 Corrupt practices have been documented in various reports, see for example: “Corruption and neglect lead to township riots against ANC” (Blair, 2006); various cases of violence against shack dwellers have been documented, see for example: “Amnesty International 2012 South Africa Report”
(Amnesty International, 2012) and “South Africa: The Criminal Injustice System” (Duncan, 2013).
106 Beall (2005b) explains that the position of the chiefs tends to be hereditary, maintained through a hierarchical and patriarchal system. Chiefs often employ different social control patterns – including witchcraft – to exert power.
107 In 1994, KwaZulu was merged with the province of Natal, and became the Kwazulu-‐Natal province.
108 Disputes between political parties have intensified and often resulted in violent clashes between residents of different informal settlements (Bénit, 2002; Bremner, 1994; Crankshaw, 1996). Social divisions between rural and urban-‐based squatters correspond to political affiliations. In Kwazulu-‐Natal (KZN), rural settlements are predominately IFP, whereas townships and urban informal settlement are predominantly ANC (Morris and Hindson, 1992).
Rensburg, 2000; de Wit and Berner, 2009; Marx and Charlton, 2003).109 In Durban (and its metropolitan area – eThekwini municipality), even informal settlements that have, in principle, elected community development committees (CDCs), demonstrate a similar style of leadership.110 In some cases, arbitrary decisions by CDCs dictated the parameters, who, and under what circumstances local development projects would unfold (Patel, 2012).
Close links to political parties have also consolidated the power of CDCs (Patel, 2013), and in exchange of favours – or the expectancy of service delivery – CDCs have often delivered informal settlement as voting banks to the ‘partner’ political party, such as the ANC (Birkinshaw, 2009).
As much as clientelism, nepotism and corruption has discouraged the political mobilisation of informal settlements’ residents (Huchzermeyer, 2004), it has not prevented the emergence of new social movements focused on concerns affecting shack dwellers (Alexander and Mngxitama, 2011; Grossman and Ngwane, 2011).