6.2. INTERVIEWS WITH OFFICIALS FROM THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY
6.2.4. Theme 4: Infrastructural development strategy
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The findings of the theme further revealed that the upgrading of informal settlements has not yielded the results that the city was expecting. This is witnessed through the increasing numbers of informal settlements sprawling in the city and the decisions that communities are showing in moving back to the informal settlements once they have been relocated to new areas.
Respondents indicated the frustration that the municipality is facing in dealing with informal settlements in the city as it stifles the strategies that the municipality has engaged in addressing housing backlog. Relocations to Greenfields were deemed a solution in addressing housing backlog but this has resulted to more pressure that the city is faced with in dealing with illegal transactions taking place amongst the beneficiaries. Communities also acknowledged the difficulty in paying for the services, and the result of failing to pay for the services is also another problem that the municipality is facing in dealing with the relocations.
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Infrastructure development entails the provision of “water, electricity, solid waste, sanitation, storm water, roads, sidewalks, public transport infrastructure, and bridges” (see IDP, 216/17).
Respondents noted the importance of confirmations from the various departments for any settlement that the municipality has identified. When designing the actual township, connections for bulk infrastructure should be catered for. Respondents applauded the municipality of eThekwini for ensuring that all processes have been adhered to as per the norms and standards for human settlements.
……It tells you if you are dealing with human settlement development, these are the standards in terms of services that you need to meet. Water, this is how you deal with the water reticulation, roads, storm water and other structures needed. But the space planner helps with the issue of allocation of amenities, proposed schools, crèches, worship sites, commercial etc.
In other words, the number of amenities to be accommodated in any integrated human settlement will be determined by the number of household sites that will be generated. (2)
6.2.4.2. Aligning of budgets to developments
The provision of bulk infrastructure and amenities in any integrated human settlement depends on the number of household sites that have been identified for the development and the availability of funds to provide the infrastructure.
With the case of Cornubia Phase 1A & B as per the norms and standards, a primary school should be provided for 70 units and high school for 1 500 units. (2)
In addition, crèches, sport fields, community halls and other amenities should also be provided as they are required by communities. Respondents indicated that some amenities in the area are not provided instantly, due to budgetary constraints.
Integrated development means that all other line departments should actually be ensuring that their budgets are responding – you don’t want a development that will be purely residential for the next five years, without any school, clinic not provided to communities in the area. (4) The respondents identified a gap in the provision of some services – for example schools, clinics, community halls, crèches and other facilities. The desired situation is that when an integrated development is being planned all line departments should ensure that services are provided on time, and not long after the development has taken place.
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…. If you want the clinics, department of health should allocate the funding to cater for a newly established development in terms of the clinics. That is the desired stance, but operationally it does not happen like that all the time. (2)
Infrastructure ensures easy access and mobility among beneficiaries once relocated to new areas. The findings in this theme indicated that infrastructure development requires the city to plan properly as more funds are required for such developments. The findings from this theme further indicated the importance of aligning budgets in the various departments in order to achieve an integrated human settlements strategy. The budget proposals presented to City Council for adoption should consider the competing priorities that the city is currently faced with at the same time ensuring that houses are provided to the needy. The city is currently faced with the challenge of replacing the ageing infrastructure whilst at the same time expected to provide new infrastructure to new housing developments.
Infrastructure development requires municipalities to have a proper plan to address the ageing infrastructure and develop new infrastructure as human settlements developments increases overtime. Funding the infrastructure has always been a challenge for municipalities, in the sense that if the infrastructure is not provided, it affects service delivery levels (see Agbola &
Olatubara, 2003; Khan & Thurman, 2011; Ilesanmi, 2012). It can be argued that infrastructure development can be achieved if there is cooperation between the three spheres of government, as specific roles fall within the jurisdiction of a specific sphere.
The theme further indicated the importance of bulk infrastructure in order to achieve integrated human settlements. It also indicated the role played by the planners in ensuring that the layout complies with the plan for the municipality. Planners should ensure that standards are set and that physical specifications for the infrastructure needed and services are supplied (see UN- Habitat, 2011). Ilesanmi (2012) concurs with this view in asserting that physical infrastructure such as electricity, transportation and communication networks are crucial for the sustainability of a functioning market economy, as well as the acceleration of good governance. In the absence of consistent, adequate supply of electricity, industrial activities such as manufacturing, mining and agriculture, which are usually the prime employers in developing economies – cannot thrive (see Ilesanmi, 2012).
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