Partners present included Development Action Group, the Western Cape Government, Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading, People’s Environmental Planning, Urban ThinkThank, Community Organisation Research Centre, HSRC, International Building Performance Simulation Association and the Legal Resources Centre among others. 

‘As our teams remain on the ground assisting our most vulnerable informal settlement residents affected by the extraordinary flooding, the impetus to challenge the status quo is clear, to look to solutions for informality and human settlements delivery with new vision and vigour and urgency with our sector partners. 

‘The vulnerability and scale of informal residents across the metro has increased tremendously since Covid-19 and the large-scale unlawful occupation that took place while the emergency regulations were in effect. In the past financial year, we spent a 100% of our informal settlement grant allocation, amid a worrying trend of reduced national government transfers while informality has grown tremendously. The unprecedented large-scale unlawful occupations during Covid-19 and the national lockdown, created 186 new informal settlements. Importantly, more than 60% of these new settlements are considered high risk – situated under power lines, in wetlands, retention ponds and biodiversity protected areas. We’d need about 500 ha of land for these new occupants, identified to be at risk due to their physical location. 

‘It is clear that greater partnerships are required to solve the deep challenges of human settlements. As a City, we are ready to work with all stakeholders to make sure we build Cape Town together. I will continue engaging our partners over the coming months to see what top ten new interventions we can implement together to bring short- and long-term solutions to the challenges we face. With our collective experience, and with the support of the Cape Town community, we can become a leader in partnership-driven solutions that formalises informality and creates safer and healthier neighbourhoods,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Councillor Carl Pophaim. 

Over the past financial year the Human Settlements Directorate spent 99,3% of its more than R880 million capital budget in the 2022/23 financial year. This is money being spent on directly improving the living conditions of vulnerable households and providing and enabling decent accommodation. Some R2,5 billion capital budget has been allocated for human settlements projects over the next three years.