City of Ekurhuleni
Ekurhuleni, a city of 3.1 million, faces a significant housing crisis. It is estimated that the housing backlog is 450,000, which can be disaggregated as follows: informal settlements (35%), backyarders (45%), waiting list (10%) and overcrowded hostels (10%). 119 informal settlements have been identified, and the city has adopted an Informal Settlement Upgrading Policy/Strategy focused on incremental upgrading and the provision of serviced sites.
Municipal targets for capital expenditure are projected to decrease by 9% pa (38 000 households). This means that with the ISUPG, R11000 per household has theoretically been allocated for upgrading. Between 2001 and 2011, approximately 24 990 housing units were delivered. At this pace of delivery, it will take 210 years to eradicate the housing backlog, ignoring population growth.
The City is in the process of developing a Backyarder Support Plan aimed at supporting 10,000 landlords to upgrade small scale rental accommodation. With regard to informal settlement upgrading, municipal documentation expresses a commitment to incremental upgrading, and has launched a special initiative called Community Builder Programme (CBP) which aims to build the capacity of contractors in self-build housing programmes. At the same time, the city has appointed a service provider under the Management/ Prevention of Illegal Occupation programme to patrol informal settlements and prevent further occupation.