July 27, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
THE face of Diepsloot township, a sprawling settlement to the north of Johannesburg, is changing. The City has put in motion plans to turn one of Joburg's most densely populated and poorer townships into a habitable community.
A stone's throw from the opulent suburbs of Dainfern and Chartwell, Diepsloot is a township in transition. Bonded houses and rows of Reconstruction and Development Programme houses are replacing iron sheet and wood shacks and infrastructure is being put in place in earnest.
The City's department of development planning is spearheading the changes. Busi Mhaga, the assistant director in the department, says the main issues that need to be tackled are housing and electricity.
"There is a grave problem of overcrowding in Diepsloot and some people are staying on wetlands. But the City has made headway in the construction of decent housing and we are currently conducting a study on the impacts of establishing Diepsloot East as a de-densification alternative."
Diepsloot's more populated area has been defined within a tight urban development boundary, which has presented problems for the City's efforts to de-densify the region. Despite the glitches, it is also busy carrying out an available land study, Mhaga says.
Land is scarce
"Since land is scarce, we have to look at building two- to three-storey housing to cater for the large number of people in need of decent housing."
More than 23 000 households need housing in Diepsloot, according to the department.
Diepsloot has an estimated population of more than 150 000 people living in an area of just 5,18kmē. The unemployment rate is estimated at 46 percent and 73 percent of the residents live below the poverty line.
It was established in 1994, with the resettlement of Zevenfontein residents to Diepsloot West. Since then, it has become a dumping ground for many housing problems in the area.
In 2001 4 522 households were relocated to Diepsloot Reception Area from the banks of the Jukskei River in Alexandra. Because of the influx of people, services in the reception area became overloaded.
Soon there were more people in the reception area than there were at the time of registration of households prior to the implementation of the projects.
Households
To compound the problem, the households relocated to Diepsloot from Jukskei River did not qualify for subsidised housing benefits.
When the former Northern Municipality Local Council (NMLC) initiated housing development in Diepsloot around 1999, it was estimated that there were 1 124 families on formal stands in Diepsloot West, with a further 4 000 families living in backyard shacks.
About 6 035 families lived in the Diepsloot Reception Area, a council-established transit area.
Originally, the NMLC plan was to pass transfer of the stands in Diepsloot West to the occupiers. Thereafter, a People's Housing Process or consolidation would provide the new owners with a means of accessing a top structure.
In 2004 rumours that families would be relocated to Brits in North West province sparked protests. They complained that they had been waiting for Reconstruction and Development Programme houses since 2001. Some alleged they had been promised subsidised housing.
Since then, Johannesburg has stepped up efforts to deal with the housing backlog through a number of housing projects.
Formal townships
Diepsloot comprises formal and informal townships. Diepsloot West, the original township developed by the Transvaal Provincial Administration (TPA), is home to about 1 124 households living in formal houses.
Diepsloot West Extensions 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 , 7 and 9, the Elcon Joint project, have developed into formal townships that accommodate about 6 015 households.
Extension 5, the Mayibuye housing project, comprises 737 residential units. It was established mainly to accommodate people displaced by the de-densification of the reception area.
Housing construction in Diepsloot is in its second phase. In Extension 6, 303 erven; in Extension 7, 399 erven; and in Extension 9, 514 erven are being developed.
As in other townships in Johannesburg, the formal township of Diepsloot has its fair share of people living in backyard shacks. An estimated 3 900 households live in backyard shacks in Diepsloot West.
Diepsloot West Extension 8, otherwise known as the Diepsloot Reception Area, has more than 7 000 households living in improper housing.
Electricity
Most of the townships in Diepsloot do not have electricity, making it one area the City has to tackle urgently, Mhaga says. "Street lighting has to be erected and all households provided with electricity as a matter of urgency because this is a constitutional provision."
Since 1996, electricity has been connected to only 8 100 houses. A large number of households use paraffin and coal for cooking but City Power, the City's electricity service provider, has undertaken initiatives to install high mast lighting to prevent crime.
Already, lighting in parks has been installed, at a cost of R200 000. During the 2003/04 financial year, the City spent R450 000 on public lighting and R1,56-million the following year.
About R1,4-million will be spent on public lighting during the 2005/06 financial year. Main roads will be given priority.
Storm water management is also a problem. The region's roads are mostly gravel and do not have street names. However, the Johannesburg Roads Agency has embarked on an initiative to upgrade and name all the gravel roads.
The Alexandra Urban Renewal Project (ARP), through the Human Settlement Fund, is spending more than R15-million setting up social services in Diepsloot. At present it is serviced by a single clinic. A second clinic is being built through the ARP at a cost of nearly R1,5-million.
Schools
Similarly, there are not enough schools in the region - there is one primary school and two combined schools servicing the whole of Diepsloot. These are overcrowded and many learners are forced to travel long distances to schools, especially at secondary school level.
A primary school and a secondary school are being built at Diepsloot West Extension 1. The Gauteng provincial government is building a new library at a cost of R4,5-million with stock worth about R400 000. At present, a mobile library services the townships.
A partnership between the public and private sectors is also being considered. The City hopes such a deal will facilitate economic development and housing through provision of funding.
"A development team to spearhead on-the-ground developments in Diepsloot is in the process of being formed and we hope the team will begin initiating developments by the beginning of August this year," Mhaga says.
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