Thesis (MS en S)--Stellenbosch University, 2002. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Squatting is a form of informal settlement. These types of settlements can be found throughout South Africa and represent the attempts of the poor to provide themselves with housing. The conceptualisation of this phenomenon has undergone many changes during its history. There were times when these settlements were demolished and the inhabitants relocated to other areas. This type of approach was unsuccessful due to the extent of the problem and because the new housing that was being provided was unaffordable. A paradigm shift led to the fact that the upgrading of informal settlements is seen as an approach with a brighter future. During this process optimal use is made of the existing structures for example buildings, economic activities and social ties, within the community. The approach is adaptable to the needs and situations of individual communities. The sustainability of an upgrading project depends to a great extent on the enthusiasm and cooperation of the community that is going to benefit. Public participation can be a difficult process, especially in poor communities. This instrument can however yield great results in providing a product that is to the satisfaction of the community as a whole. During the course of this assignment the following conclusions were made from the material that was studied: • The success of upgrading programmes are highly depended on the enthusiasm of the communities that are going to benefit. • This enthusiasm is greatly increased by a process of community participation. • Upgrading must be seen as a multi-phase process. • Upgrading of informal settlements can play an important role in addressing the backlog that exists in affordable housing. • The need for an Informal Housing Act exists. From the case study the following conclusions were made: • The study presents many advantages, like providing the community with basic services and the right to property. • Further some disadvantages concerning intensification were identified. • These disadvantages can be addressed by providing smaller erven and street fronts as well as lower standards concerning residential uses. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Plakkery is In tipe informele nedersetting. Hierdie nedersettings kom op groot skaal in Suid Afrika voor en verteenwoordig die pogings van die armer lede van die samelewing om hulself met behuising te voorsien. Die konseptualisering van hierdie tipe behuising het deur die geskiedenis deur baie fases gegaan. Daar was tye gewees wat informele nedersettings bloot gesloop en die inwoners op ander plekke hervestig is. Hierdie tipe benadering was egter nie geslaagd nie, aangesien die probleem van plakkery te groot was en die nuwe behuising was in die meeste gevalle onbekostigbaar. In Paradigma skuif het daartoe bygedra dat daar nou eerder op die opgradering van sulke nedersettings gefokus word. Hierdie benadering fokus daarop om die bestaande elemente in die gemeenskap byvoorbeeld geboue, ekonomiese bedrywighede en sosiale ondersteuningsnetwerke optimaal te benut. Dit is In buigsame proses wat aanpas by die behoeftes en omstandighede van die individuele gemeenskappe. Die volhoubaarheid van In opgraderinsprojek is afhanklik van die entoesiasme en samewerking van die gemeenskap wat daardeur bevoordeel gaan word. Publieke deelname is In moeilike proses, veral in armer gemeenskappe. Dit kan egter baie waardevolle resultate lewer wanneer dit In prod uk tot gevolg het wat deur die hele gemeenskap aanvaar word. In die verloop van hierdie werkstuk is daar uit die bestudeerde materiaal die volgende resultate afgelei, naamlik dat: • Die sukses van opgraderings van informele nedersettings grootliks afhanklik is van die entosiasme en samewerking van die gemeenskappe wat deur die proses bevoordeel gaan word.Hierdie samewerking word grootendeels bevorder deur In proses van open bare deelname. • Opgradering moet gesien word as In multi-fase proses. • Opgradering van informele nedersettings kan In groot rol speel om die tekort aan bekostigbare behuising aan te spreek. • Die opstel van In Informele Behuisingswet nodig is. Uit die gevaliestudie is die volgende bevindings gemaak: • Die studie hou baie voordele, byvoorbeeld dorpstigting, eiendomsreg en die voorsiening van basiese dienste, vir die inwoners van die gebied in. • Behalwe die voordele is daar ook nadele, soos die feit dat die konsep van verdigting nie in ag geneem word nie, identifiseer. • Hierdie nadeel kan deur kleiner erwe en straatfronte en laer standaarde vir nie residensiete gebruike aangespreek word.

Thesis (MSc (Geography and Environmental Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / 103 Leaves printed on single pages, preliminary pages i- viii and numbered pages 1-94.I ncludes bibliography, ADDENDUM A: Questionnaire document used in the research; list of tables and figures. / Digitized at 330 dpi black and white PDF format (OCR), using KODAK i 1220 PLUS scanner. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The subject of waste management is one that evokes a variety of debates due to the overwhelming implications on the environment and on health that are associated with the management of waste. In developing urban areas associated with informal settlements, environmental problems emanating from household solid waste management predicaments such as illegal dumping, littering and overfilling of skips have become a permanent feature. This is also the case in Lwandle a developing township in Helderberg Municipality, Western Cape. This study looks into the waste management system in Lwandle with the aim to investigate institutional settings, related socio-economic factors and resultant community perceptions, and avenues for the use of environmental education and community participation. The results show waste collection to be the responsibility of the Helderberg Municipality, but the collection operation is undertaken by a private contractor. The nature of waste collection under these arrangements is mainly determined by the nature of housing and associated accessibility. Consequently, three main methods of waste collection are used: kerbside collection; communal collection where there is use of bins and communal collection where there is use of skips. These have varying efficiency among the nine housing areas. Socioeconomic conditions, which were marked by a high level of unemployment and low incomes, determine societal attitudes. These underpin finer variations and detailed conditions of waste collection. These, in tum, establish the framework for suitable environmental education and community participation. The latter was found to be minimal. Thus, a holistic approach to the improvement of waste management that first acknowledges inherent broader societal problems such as housing and unemployment is proposed as part of the recommendations. This approach then concentrates on finer aspects such as contracts for waste collection, aspects of waste collection dependent on waste stream nature of housing areas, appropriate environmental education and community participation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Afvalbestuur is 'n onderwerp wat 'n verskeidenheid van debatte uitlok vanwee die geweldige implikasies vir die omgewing en vir gesondheid wat met afvalbestuur geassosieer word. In ontwikkelende stedelike gebiede wat met informele behuising geassosieer word, het omgewingsprobleme soos onwettige storting, die strooi van rommel en oorvol stortbakke wat verband hou met die hantering van vaste afval uit huise 'n permanente kenmerk geword. Dit is ook die geval by Lwandle, 'n ontwikkelende dorpsgebied te Helderberg, in die Wes-Kaap. Hierdie studie beskou die afvalbestuursisteem in Lwandle met die doel om institusionele omgewings, verwante sosio-ekonomiese faktore en die persepsies van die gemeenskap wat daaruit ontwikkel, asook moontlikhede vir die gebruik van omgewingsopvoeding en gemeenskapsbetrokkenheid, te ondersoek. Die resultate van die ondersoek toon dat die Helderberg Munisipaliteit verantwoordelik is vir die insameling van afval, maar dat die insameling deur 'n private kontrakteur uitgevoer word. Onder sulke omstandighede word die aard van afvalinsameling hoofsaaklik deur die aard van die behuising en die verwante toeganklikheid bepaal. Daarvolgens is daar drie hoofmetodes van insameling, wat deur verskillende grade van effektiwiteit gekenmerk word, vir die nege behuisingsgebiede: sypaadjie versameling; kommunale versameling in dromme; en kommunale versameling in stortbakke. Sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede, wat gekenmerk word deur 'n hoe mate van werkloosheid en lae inkomstes, bepaal gemeenskapshoudings wat deur die verskillende maniere van afvalverwydering tot stand kom en ondersteun fyner variasies en gedetailleerde omstandighede van afvalinsameling. Dit bepaal weer die raamwerk vir gepaste omgewingsopvoeding en die deelname van die gemeenskap. Die studie het getoon dat laasgenoemde minimaal is. 'n Holistiese benadering tot die verbetering van afvalbestuur, wat eerstens inherente breer gemeenskapsprobleme soos behuising en werkloosheid erken, word dus as deel van die aanbevelings voorgestel. Hierdie benadering konsentreer vervolgens op die fynere aspekte, soos kontrakte vir afvalinsameling, aspekte van afvalinsameling, gepaste omgewingsopvoeding en gemeenskapsdeelname.

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 2004 / In South Africa, an estimated 15 million people - 38% of our population - do not have adequate sanitation. Every citizen has a constitutional right of access to basic services, which local government has the responsibility to provide. In reality such provision to people living in poverty is a daunting development challenge, exacerbated by growing unemployment and the spread of unplanned informal settlements. On the other hand, increased government investment in accelerating provision is a significant opportunity to link sanitation delivery to local economic development, as suggested in the recently revised Water Services Strategy document (DWAF, 2003). There is evidence that these two aspects of national policy can be brought together fruitfully. Community involvement, described as "a commitment to building on people's energy and creativity" (WSSCC, 2001) is consistently advocated by international, national and local government (DPLG, 2001) as essential to sanitation provision. There is broad agreement that a community-based approach is the cornerstone of sustainable service provision. This research focused on the context of urban poverty in informal settlements, taking community responses to sanitation delivery by local authorities into account. Prevailing approaches have had limited success in preventing health hazards, which relies on community-level actions to deal with poor use, inadequate maintenance and dysfunction of such sanitation services as are provided. Implicit in the principles underlying the involvement of communities are substantial community-based roles and functions that the research seeks to make explicit. Diverse local level capacities emerge as quite distinct opportunities for residents to become more actively involved in improving and sustaining their sanitation services.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / This research analyzes the experience of residents for the Right to the City and the recognition of the Special Zone of Social Interest (ZEIS) of Lagamar, in Fortaleza. The focus is on mobilizing of residents, especially seen in the conflict between them and the government, as to the effectiveness of public policy priorities in a ZEIS and also as to the realization in the locality of a civil work for the 2014 World Cup. Inquire about what the particularities of this mobilization, including actors, connexions, strategies and challenges they faced. It should be clarified that this is a single case because Lagamar had not been recognized as ZEIS at the Master Plan for Fortaleza in 2009; it was only included in a Supplementary Law approved in 2010, due to pressures from residents. Despite the delay in the inclusion, in Fortaleza Lagamar was the first locality to elect its Management Council, demonstrating the possibility of being the first ZEIS to be implemented in the municipality. Through participant observation methodology, between 2010 and 2013 I witnessed several meetings of the Forum and the Management Council, which are ideal areas for observation and analysis. Interviews were conducted with four residents who participate in these spaces, and with one of the technicians of the city government who participated in the Council in the first administration (2011-2012). In addition, the research considered data collected in the Census Community of Lagamar (2005) and in the IBGE census of 2000 and 2010. Regarding the theoretical framework about social movements, I performed a comparison amons researches conducted by Ruth Cardoso, Evelina Dagnino, Linda Gondim, Irlys Barreira, Ana Maria Doimo, Glory DiÃgenes, Carlos Nelson Ferreira dos Santos, Daniel Cefai and Jan Bitoun. In the study of the Special Zones of Social Interest, there was a theoretical dialogue with Marcelo Lopes de Souza, Ana Lucia Ancona, Renato Pequeno, Clarissa Freitas, and Josà Afonso da Silva. / Esta pesquisa analisa a experiÃncia de moradores pelo Direito à Cidade e pelo reconhecimento da Zona Especial de Interesse Social (ZEIS) do Lagamar, em Fortaleza-CE. O enfoque à dado na mobilizaÃÃo dos moradores, em especial no conflito observado entre eles e o Poder PÃblico, quanto à efetivaÃÃo de polÃticas pÃblicas prioritÃrias em uma ZEIS e ainda quanto à realizaÃÃo de uma obra para a Copa Mundo de 2014 na localidade. Indago sobre quais as particularidades dessa mobilizaÃÃo, quais os atores, as articulaÃÃes, as estratÃgias e os desafios por eles enfrentados. Importa esclarecer que se trata de um caso singular, em virtude de o Lagamar nÃo ter sido reconhecido como ZEIS no Plano Diretor em 2009; apenas foi incluÃdo nessa categoria por Lei Complementar aprovada em 2010, a partir da pressÃo dos moradores. Apesar da demora na inclusÃo, foi a primeira em Fortaleza a eleger seu Conselho Gestor, demonstrando a possibilidade de ser a primeira ZEIS a ser implementada no MunicÃpio. AtravÃs da metodologia da observaÃÃo participante, entre 2010 e 2013 presenciei diversas reuniÃes do FÃrum e do Conselho Gestor, sendo estes os espaÃos privilegiados de observaÃÃo e anÃlise. Foram realizadas entrevistas com quatro moradores que participam desses espaÃos, e ainda uma entrevista com um dos tÃcnicos da Prefeitura que compunham o Conselho Gestor na primeira gestÃo (2011-2012). Sobre a comunidade, foram analisados dados censitÃrios colhidos no Censo ComunitÃrio do Lagamar (2005) e nos censos do IBGE de 2000 e 2010. Quanto ao referencial teÃrico acerca dos movimentos sociais, foi realizado um cotejo com as pesquisas de Ruth Cardoso, Evelina Dagnino, Linda Gondim, Irlys Barreira, Ana Maria Doimo, GlÃria DiÃgenes, Carlos Nelson Ferreira dos Santos, Daniel Cefai e Jan Bitoun. No estudo das Zonas Especiais de Interesse Social, realizou-se diÃlogo teÃrico com Marcelo Lopes de Souza, Ana LÃcia Ancona, Renato Pequeno, Clarissa Freitas e Josà Afonso da Silva.

M.A. (Social Work) / Poverty is perceived by various authors to bea challenge in African countries, including South Africa. O’Brien and Mazibuko (1998, p. 140) state that poverty “is characterised by a host of factors, including under-nutrition, unemployment, illiteracy, and unequal and poor access to health, housing, education and decision-making resources”. The above-mentioned authors state that these factors both result from and perpetuate poverty. According to Rogerson (1996), the effects of poverty are seen more among the black communities, and there is more poverty in the informal settlements compared to other residential areas. After 1994, one of the South African government’s key priorities was to eradicate poverty and the focus was on the improvement of the standard of living and quality of life for all South Africans. Various strategies and policies were then introduced in order to alleviate poverty, one of them beingthe introduction of social assistance (Ellis, 2011, pp. 63-72). According to Triegaardt and Patel (2005), social security in the developing countries, including South Africa, is very important for poverty reduction and ensuring a basic minimum standard of living for the people. The above-mentioned authors also emphasise that there is a need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of social assistance as this will help to ascertainif the programme is making any contribution to the lives of the people and to help keep up with the changing environment. This study focused on the contribution of social grants to alleviating poverty in an informal settlement. The research study aimed to assess the beneficiaries’ perspectives on the contribution of social grants to alleviating poverty in an informal settlement. Some of the objectives of the study were to explore the perspectives of social grant beneficiaries in Angelo informal settlement on the role of social grants in their lives and to describe how social grant beneficiaries in Angelo informal settlement understand the impact of social grants on their poverty-stricken conditions. This qualitative study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. Ten individual semistructured interviews were conducted in the Angelo informal settlement using an interview schedule. Themes were used to categorise and analyse data. The findings indicated that social grants play a great role in alleviating poverty in an informal...

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / This dissertation investigates the establishment of a learning centre in Zandspruit, an informal settlement that is located on the northwest periphery of Johannesburg, South Africa. This study investigates an alternate method of learning as a learning culture, as an alternative to that of closed school campuses. The learning culture provides the community with an architectural space that acts as a platform for open-ended learning and engagement. The architectural intervention proposed here is thus a response to the existing context, addressing education and spatial-social disintegration. The intervention is not an attempt at replicating existing typologies or even the tentative placement of a centre for utopian societal and educational ideals. Rather, it constitutes a radical approach, seen as necessary to achieving social development, acting as a catalyst for social cohesion and spatial synthesis. Existing modes of operation, advances in education through technology, as well as other pertinent networks and connections, are considered in the approach to designing a public interface, which attempts to suggest possible remedies to the difficulties endemic to the context. Further to this, this dissertation suggests how the adaptability of learning spaces can be achieved by addressing time, space, event and programme as concepts for incremental growth leading to the changing needs of a South African learning society.

The thesis is concerned with the rural-urban interface. It questions and argues against the validity of what used to be called the rural-urban divide, and presents the rural-urban interface as a single social field. The research makes use of Daggafontein informal settlement in Gauteng, providing a general socio-economic overview of this settlement by discussing the ways in which people in this settlement make a living. Most of the people come from rural areas and the patterns of their association within the settlement reveal that they associate themselves with people from their own rural homes of origin. Movement between Daggafontein and rural areas show some level of commitment to home areas. Perceptions of the urban-rural interface by people of Daggafontein informal settlement show that these two areas are not necessarily separate from each other, but are part of the same continuum as socio-economic relations continue to straddle the rural and the urban. As people, perceptions and values move in both directions along the rural-urban interface, the classification of the informal settlement becomes highly ambiguous, because it contains both rural and urban elements.

D.Ing. (Civil Engineering) / The thesis investigates the whole life cycle of the community ablution facilities in the eThekwini municipality, and aimed to identify the technical success factors in rolling out communal ablution facilities as an interim measure in the upgrading of informal settlements throughout South Africa. The eThekwini municipality is based on the east coast of South Africa. Approximately 12% of the 3.4 million inhabitants of eThekwini are housing informally in one of the 420 informal settlements scattered around the urban and peri-urban areas. The municipality is responsible for the provision of basic interim services to these informal settlements within their jurisdiction and is in the process of rolling out containerised ablution facilities to all informal settlements as an interim measure. They have successfully provided 302 communal ablution blocks from 2009. The findings of this thesis were based on the rollout of these communal ablution blocks. The thesis is structured in the life cycle of the community ablution blocks. The thesis required a broad set of data from a number of stakeholders in order to understand each stage in the life cycle, using a number of different data sources, such as (i) interviews with the municipality, professional service providers, and the caretakers, (ii) municipal and project related documentation and data, (iii) surveys of the existing community ablution blocks, and (iv) data logging of the water meters at the community ablution blocks. The pre-implementation stages of the community ablution blocks investigated the planning, design and construction stages of the project. In the planning stage, the municipality prioritised each settlement based on a set of technical criteria, such as location to existing infrastructure, transport routes, bulk water and sanitation services, social infrastructure, the population of the settlement; to ensure that all interim infrastructure are considered within an integrated framework in order to reduce fruitless capital expenditure. Each settlement required community buy-in for both the placement and provision of the ablution facility and the selection of the caretaker. The design stage deals with the hydraulic design of the water supply and sewerage pipes as these were unknown parameters. The ablution structure and the sanitary fittings were discussed, but these were not significant in the design due to the space constraints within the containerised ablution facilities. There were significant delays found in the construction phase, which increased the initial estimated time required for construction by a factor of approximately three, which not only places a burden on the municipality to maintain the momentum of the project at scale but also increases the budget required for construction. The post-implementation stages were not found to function as intended. The key success factors in the post-implementation stages were dependent on the quality of the caretaker and the quality of the support given to the caretaker. Furthermore, all maintenance work has to be performed rapidly to ensure that the caretakers remain proactive in ensuring the facility remains operational. The consequence of poor operation and maintenance has detrimental effects on the community, who have to resort to open defecation and other unimproved forms of sanitation. The thesis adds to the shared water and sanitation body of knowledge. The thesis provides both quantitative and qualitative data on the post-implementation stage of the community ablution blocks, an area which is often neglected in practice.

The evidence from both international and local literature reviews shows that, informal settlement upgrading is a global practice. The adoption (although at a minimal scale) of informal settlement upgrading programs and related policies in developing countries (South Africa included), should in the main be understood within a twofold context- first, is a failed policy on conventional public housing model, second, is a subsequent role and influence of theoretical writings of JFC Turner on informal settlement upgrading as a possible policy alternative to conventional public housing in 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, evidence from empirical study findings in Soshanguve Extension 3 area present some interesting results. Amongst others, is the extent to which implementation of upgrading project in Soshanguve Extension 3 area seems to have promoted a generally acceptable access level to certain basic service and housing infrastructure. This despite the project implementation being criticized for its deviation from certain key housing policy principles including those (principles) underpinning theoretical writings of Turner on informal settlement upgrading. Using both literature and empirical findings, the study has, in a nutshell, succeeded in presenting a balanced reflection on strengths and weaknesses in the general performance of informal settlement upgrading projects in developing context particularly South Africa. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Built Environment in Housing Johannesburg 2014 / South Africa has one of the most progressive legislative and policy frameworks for water services in the world, which includes a constitutional right to water and a national Free Basic Water policy (COHRE, 2008). However, the stark reality is that although South Africa has these progressive policies, the sanitation challenge still needs to be overcome. The growing sanitation backlog and the eradication of the bucket system has become a difficult and emotive topic. Many South Africans live in extreme poverty and in informal settlements which do not have adequate sanitation available. Generally, within these informal settlements, households are forced to share toilet facilities, and to walk far distances as the toilets are poorly located, badly maintained and users of these toilets are exposed to danger and violent crimes. This study explores perceptions of the users of ‘porta potty’ toilets in Jim Se Bos informal settlement in Phillipi, Cape Town. Understanding the users’ socio‐cultural perceptions of the porta potty toilet will contribute to future policy making, as the information can be used to improve the future roll‐out of the technology in order to make it more acceptable. The study was qualitative in nature and used a phenomenological research design. A total of 20 community members were invited of which nine respondents comprising of eight residents of Jim Se Bos informal settlement and one employee of the municipality participated in the study. The sample was selected by a convenience sampling method. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted to collect data for the study. The data were analysed by means of content analysis, which enabled the researcher to identify important themes for the study. The findings of the study revealed that perceptions of the users of ‘porta potty’ toilets were positive and that everyone accepted the sanitation system. The participants recommended that the municipality should roll out the porta potty sanitation system in other informal settlements. This recommendation is a vote of confidence for the system and that it is seen to provide the necessary relief from unsafe and vandalised sanitation systems. In conclusion, the porta potty was accepted as being a far more appropriate and dignified system that does not impede on the socio-cultural background. Key words: Porta Potty sanitation system, informal settlements, socio-cultural perceptions, users and Jim Se Bos.