A rapid verification study on the informal settlements and backyard shacks' backlog and trends within the Eastern Cape

Abstract

Extensive scoping, enumeration and enquiries at municipalities across the Eastern Cape from October 2009 to March 2010 has revealed that there are in the region of 225,000 households living in informal settlements or backyard shacks. These were primarily concentrated within the two large urban areas, Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Metro, where the official municipal counts were both approximately 80,000. The remaining 65,000 (28%) were distributed across the other local municipalities, with the largest concentrations situated in King Sabata Dalinyebo (15,000), Mnquma (11,500), Maletswai (6,000) and Kouga (6,000). Additionally, there were in the region of 3,000 to 4,000 in three local municipalities: Lukanji, Umzumvubu and Engcobo. A further six local municipalities had from 1,000 to 2,000 informal households; a further seven had from 500 to 1,000; and the remaining 18 local municipalities accommodated from 0 to 500 informal households each.

Representative sample household surveys in twelve informal settlements and backyard shacks in their vicinities showed that more than a third of residents were children; 61% were in the 20 to 60 years category and 4% were older than 60 years. In Ocean View, Nompumelelo and Katilumla, however, two-thirds or more were in the 20 to 60 year group. The mean household sizes in these three settlements were the lowest (2,2 to 2,7 people) in comparison with the 3,04 mean across all settlements. Also noteworthy was that 26% of households comprise one person only.