http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2008/11/big-threat-to-informal-settlements.html

The Big Threat to Informal Settlements

by Mzonke Poni

More than 50% of people who do not have houses in South Africa are living at informal settlements, and informal settlements have been viewed as a step towards getting a house in South Africa.

Most people when getting to the City from rural areas, most of the time when they come they'll first squat (live) with their friend, family members or relatives, while they are still looking for a work but once they get a job the first thing that they will think about is to get their own place first so that they can have their own space or privacy. Most of the time people view this option as the best option to jump the queue from the housing list as they know that if they bought a house at informal settlement and when the area is being relocated or being developed they will also benefit as they also owned a house from the area and this most of the time create problem between people who are coming out side the City and with people who have been in the City longer or people who have been born in the City but does not have a house.

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2008/11/fires-at-rr-section.html

Fire At RR Section, Khayelitsha, Cape Town

More than 100 shacks burned down over the weekend at RR Section Site B and left more than 500 people homeless including women, children and disabled people.

It was early in the morning past one on Saturday when the fire started at RR Section and it started at one shack which is owned by a 30 year old man, according to the neighbour's he was drunk and left paraffin stove unattended and most people believed that he was the cause of the fire.

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2008/11/matt-spent-10-days-living-at-qq.html

'Be a visitor, not a spy' - QQ Section, Site B, Khayelitsha

Matt Birkinshaw, October 2008

Introduction

For the first time in history more people in the world now live in cities than in rural areas. Globally one in five people live on land that does not legally belong to them. The UN predicts that this will rise to one in three by 2050. The future, to paraphrase Mike Davis, is not made of glass and steel, but of plastic, zinc and cardboard.

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/2008/10/upgrading-of-informal-settlements.html

Upgrading of Informal Settlements
(Don't destroy it upgrade it)

This is a very good concept, and ABM WC support the concept, because:

1. It house people where they have established them selves

2. It gives them legal status

3. It gives people security of tenure

4. It does not remove people where they are performing their daily economic activities

As much as we support the concept, there are few problem or challenges regard to this that still need to be addressed such as;