The Department of Human Settlements has made significant progress in upgrading these settlements, such that there are 1 284 informal settlements at various stages of upgrading throughout the country.

South Africa’s Social Protection, Community and Human Development cluster says the government is working around the clock to formalise the many informal settlements across South Africa to help protect residents from floods and fires.

In addition, the cluster has stressed the importance of accessing land in urban settlements, which it believes is one of the most critical factors for human settlement development programmes.

The cluster briefed the media on Sunday, led by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla.

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The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has earmarked 14 000 hectares of state land for human settlements, and to date, 2 689 hectares have been transferred to the Housing Development Agency.

Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Motshekga said the department has an additional 32 land parcels, measuring 10 350 hectares, to undertake preliminary human settlement planning.

Furthermore, 64 000 housing opportunities are planned from the released land parcels and will contribute significantly to the attainment of the prescripts of the Freedom Charter, which says there shall be "houses, security and comfort."

The cluster said that despite more informal settlements regularly being set up due to a variety of factors, the department has still made significant progress in upgrading these settlements, such that there are 1 284 informal settlements at various stages of upgrading throughout the country.

'24 671 stands created'

"In the last financial year, about 24 671 stands were created through the informal upgrading process," Motshekga said.

The process of upgrading, according to Motshekga, includes the provision of basic services such as water, electricity, sanitation, and security.

By intensifying the upgrading of informal settlements, officials are addressing some of the recent shocks caused by floods and fires in various parts of the country.

"With climate change, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and most of our infrastructure was not designed to be resilient," said Motshekga.

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In the past five days, Motshekga pointed out that the country has experienced devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

"For an effective response to these disasters, we need land, we need South Africans to embrace each other, especially when families are homeless, vulnerable and distressed. 

"It is in times like this that we need to collaborate, unite and focus on solutions that will provide relief to all those in need."

Motshekga also expressed appreciation for all the offers of assistance from partners in the private and public sectors and social partners who have initiated various interventions to assist in helping all those in distress.

"It will be a long road but together we can do so much more to minimise the impact of the devastating floods."

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