Housing Troubles For Recovering Informal Settlement ( June 2011 - My 2nd News Story)

It’s been nearly three weeks since a fire rapidly spread through the informal settlement,
Masiphumelele, leaving an estimate of 5000 people homeless. With immediate plans to help the
community recover, officials are facing numerous challenges regarding housing.

Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, spokesperson for the Disaster & Risk Management Centre for Cape
Town stated: ‘In terms of the constitution, we cannot refuse to provide assistance, as part of the
humanitarian belief and our constitutional obligation. We will look at alternatives in providing
accommodation’.

The first challenge the department encountered was the rapid growth of an illegal invasion of
squatters on site. This interfered with the assessment of damage, leaving the officials to work on
estimates.

The community was reluctant to evacuate the site and use the necessary relief options offered to
them, in fear of losing their plots and their personal belongings. The Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato
attempted to speak to the residents, but they were hesitant to listen. “It’s a very volatile situation.
The people were already rebuilding their shacks. After they have rebuilt them, we can’t break them
down. It’s inhumane’ stated Wilfred.

‘The ultimate in any informal settlement fire is the provision of homes’ he went on to explain, which
has been introduced through a long-term plan currently in effect, known as Housing Plan Phase
Four. This will address the housing needs of the Masiphumelele community, but according to the
spokesperson, some of the residents do not wantto be accountable for the water and rates accounts
that come with owning these houses.

‘There are some people willingly wanting accesses to affordable housing and some don’t actually
want to live like that. They say it’s a decision to be there’.

Gertrude Mhlabeni, a pensioner and resident of Masiphumelele, lost her four-room shack and all of
her possessions in the fire. She is one of the many residents whohave received relief aid from the
department, friends and family, as well as the Anglican Church. Her shack is in the process of being
rebuilt. When asked if she was happy with the way the council has assisted her, she stated: ‘I can’t
say I’m unhappy. They’ve tried to help; there are a lot of us’.

Alderman Felicity Purchase stated that the prevention of fires could not be avoided due to the close
proximity in which the shacks are placed, but as many preventative measures possible are being
implemented.

‘They’ve done an exceptional job. There are problems, it’s never a perfect job, but every time there
is a fire, there are things to improve on.’

‘From every experience, you learn something new’

(Interviews and story by Gemma-Louise Wright, edited by Karen Jayes)