A risk assessment framework for communicable diseases in informal settlements: a case study of COVID-19 in Melusi, City of Tshwane, South Africa

The management of greywater and sanitation in South Africa's urban informal settlements is a pressing concern. This review critically examines the legal framework that governs greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements, aiming to shed light on the existing regulations, gaps, and opportunities for sustainable greywater reuse. By scrutinizing the legal framework, the review identifies gaps and challenges in the regulatory environment, including inconsistencies, lack of clarity, and limited enforcement mechanisms. It explores the potential for international best practices to inform possible amendments to the existing legal framework. This was a quantitative research design utilizing a cross sectional survey model. Questionnaires were administered electronically to a sample of 17 municipal leaders from the City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg and Buffalo City municipalities whose responsibilities were on water management. Descriptive statistics were employed in analysis of the data. Outcomes were reviewed against the alignment or the lack thereof with the SANS 1732:201x standards. This paper underscores the critical need for a coherent and robust legal framework to support responsible greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements. The paper's insights contribute to the ongoing discourse on water governance, shedding light on the pathways toward a more equitable water future.

Abstract. Informal settlements, also known as slums or shanty towns, are characterised by rapid and unstructured expansion, poorly constructed buildings, and in some cases, they are on disputed land. Such settlements often lack basic services, such as electricity. As a result, informal settlement dwellers turn to hazardous alternative sources of energy, such as illegal electricity connections and paraffin. Solar power is a clean and safe alternative. However, informal settlements are often located on undesirable land on the urban fringe where the topography may hinder the use of solar energy. The high density of dwellings could also be a hindrance. Therefore, the solar potential needs to be assessed before any implementations are planned. Solar potential assessment functionality is generally available in geographic information system (GIS) products. The nature, cost and accessibility of datasets required for the assessment vary significantly. In this paper, we evaluate the results of solar potential assessments using GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) for a number of different datasets. The assessments were done for two informal settlements in the City of Tshwane (South Africa): Alaska, which is nestled on a hill; and Phomolong, a densely populated settlement with a rather flat topography. The results show that solar potential assessments with open source GIS software and freely available data are feasible. This eliminates the need for lengthy and bureaucratic procurement processes and reduces the financial costs of assessing solar potential for informal settlements.

Assessing urban sprawl using remote sensing and landscape metrics: A case study of City of Tshwane, South Africa (1984–2015)

The unprecedented influx of people into urban areas has led to the horizontal and vertical growth of urban environments. One of the notable impacts of urbanisation is the encroachment of urban-like environments into non-urban areas. This is common in both developed and developing countries, and South Africa’s City of Tshwane, the administrative capital of the country, has been affected by urbanisation because of migration. One of the parameters or proxies used to quantify urban growth is vegetation cover. There is a consensus that with the increase in the population of urban dwellers, vegetation cover will decrease. To assess and monitor vegetation cover, the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is commonly used. In this study, MODIS NDVI data with a 250m spatial resolution was used to assess the impact of urban growth on vegetation. A time series analysis of the MODIS NDVI with a spatial resolution of 250m was used to establish the patterns of vegetation cover. Trends in vegetation change were determined in newly developed residential areas, informal settlements, and various vegetated areas. Sen's slope estimator and Mann-Kendall’s statisticwere used to analyse the spatial trends and variations in trends among different land cover classes. The slope of the trends differs significantly but there is a general decline in vegetation cover. The temporal profiles revealed the high and low NDVI values, respectively showing greening (high vegetation) and browning (low vegetation) trends from 2000 to 2016. It is concluded that urban growth has an impact on vegetation cover. However, this does not disturb the seasonal changes in vegetation where high NDVI values prevail in summer and low values in winter.

The growing population in informal settlements expedites alterations in land use and land cover (LULC) over time. Understanding the patterns and processes of landscape transitions associated with informal settlement dynamics in rapidly urbanizing cities is critical for better understanding of consequences, especially in environmentally vulnerable areas. The study sought to map and systematically analyze informal settlement growth patterns, dynamics and processes, as well as associated LULC transitions in Durban Metropolitan area, from 2015 to 2021. The study applied an object-based image classification on PlanetScope imagery within the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Further, intensity analysis approach was utilized to quantitatively investigate inter-category transitions at category and transition levels. Thus far, no study of land conversion to and from informal settlement areas in South Africa has exploited both GEE and intensity analysis approaches. The results suggest spatial growth of informal settlements with a total net gain of 3%. Intensity analysis results at category level revealed that informal settlements were actively losing and gaining land area within the period, with yearly gain and loss intensity of 72% and 54%, correspondingly, compared to the uniform intensity of 26%. While the growth of informal settlements avoided water bodies over the studied period, there was an observed systematic process of transition between informal settlements and other urban land. Government policy initiatives toward upgrading informal housing could be attributed to the transitions between informal and other urban settlements. This study illustrates the efficacy of intensity analysis in enhancing comprehension of the patterns and processes in land changes, which aids decision making for suitable urban land upgrading plans in the Durban Metropolitan area.

Addressing gender dimensions in energy innovations: A gender analysis framework for informal urban settlements in Africa

The formation of informal settlements is increasing rapidly, especially in some developing economies such as the Port Harcourt Municipality in Nigeria. These settlements are vulnerable to several urban challenges from natural and anthropogenic disasters, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The landscape of Port Harcourt Municipality is inundated with the proliferation of informal urban settlements especially around its southern fringes, which has engendered these settlements to become vulnerable to the vagaries of any occurring disaster such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study attempts to unfold residents' lived experiences in these informal settlements to get the narratives of their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of forty-one (41) informal settlements were identified, out of which three (3) of those settlements (Okrika, Nembe and Ibadan) were selected purposively due to ease of accessibility, safety and spread around the municipality. The study adopted the qualitative approach by applying semi-structured interviews with key informants in these selected informal settlements. A total of nine (9) key informants were selected, with three (3) comprising the head of the community development committee (CDC), Youth and Women representatives from each settlement were interviewed. In addition, photographs of these selected informal settlements were taken to depict the characteristics of those settlements. Content analysis was used to analyse the outcome of the interviews. Some key findings include poor orientation of residents regarding disease spread, no effective urban renewal scheme to improve residents' quality of life, no proper planning of those settlements and residents were not included in the planning of those settlements. This study recommends proper enlightenment of residents regarding the management of disease spread. The provision of sustainable measures that will build resilience and adaptive capacities for the dwellers and continuous urban renewal schemes to ensure the provision of basic social infrastructure that would improve the residents' quality of life. However, the study concludes that the identification and characterisation of informal settlements will provide a better understanding and knowledge of the settlements as a resource to improve the social and economic conditions of the dwellers, distribution of infrastructural facilities and services, and wealth, thereby enhancing the quality of life and wellbeing of the residents and the general urban affairs as this will equally present opportunities for proper urban planning and management.

Informal mining settlements in Rustenburg, South Africa, grew exponentially due to the removal of apartheid-era spatial controls in the late 1980s and the boom in platinum mining in the early 2000s. These informal settlements lack official recognition, and this generates collective uncertainty and engenders different forms of waiting. Residents wait for employment, services, and ultimately official recognition of their settlement and its integration into the Rustenburg Local Municipality. As residents wait, they also fashion various strategies to alleviate their situation. Drawing on ethnographic data collected from the Ikemeleng informal settlement on the outskirts of Rustenburg town, this article combines an analysis of experiences of waiting with the conditions and structures that generate waiting. It argues that waiting in informal settlements is not characterized by passive acquiesce but is an engaged activity that is informed by residents’ reflexive responses to the different structures and regimes of waiting. The article argues that informal settlements should be viewed as zones of waiting, not only because they are spaces that generate waiting, but most importantly because residents engage in active waiting.

The increasing number of AIDS orphans has led to an increase in child and youth headed households. Adjusting to the parenting role with no support from their extended family is a source of distress for orphans heading households. This study explored the parenting experiences of orphaned youth heading households in resource constraints environments. Methods: The participants were purposely selected from Youth-Headed Households (YHHs) located in informal settlements in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. The data analysis was inductive and followed the thematic approach. Results: Thirteen females and five males aged between 15-24 years were interviewed. The phenomenon of YHHs occured in impoverished informal settlements partly due to orphans being forcefully removed from their parents’ homes after the death of their mothers. The household heads felt morally obliged to care for their siblings, experienced parenting as burdensome, and the role adjustment from being a child to a parent difficult and demanding. The inability to provide adequate food to feed their siblings was a source of emotional stress. In an attempt to fulfil their parenting roles, they dropped out of school to find employment. Conclusion: Although the child support and foster grant are widely recognised for improving children's access to food, education, and basic services in South Africa, the lack thereof contributed to the economic hardships and vulnerability to food insecurity and hunger among orphans in YHHs. There is a need for multi-sectoral interventions to address food insecurity and, in so doing, improve the psychosocial wellbeing of orphans in YHHs.

Probing uncertainty levels of electrification in informal urban settlements: A case from South Africa

Access to healthcare services is largely determined by socioeconomic factors, with economically well-off individuals obtaining healthcare services more efficiently than those who are disadvantaged. This paper aims to assess the effects of socioeconomic and other related factors on access to healthcare facilities in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were sourced from the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) quality of life survey (2020/2021). Multivariate logistic regression was applied. Results showed that 66.3% of the respondents reported that they had access to public healthcare facilities within their area. Furthermore, results showed that those who lived in informal houses were significantly (OR = 0.55, 95% CI [0.37–0.80], p < 0.01) less likely to report that they had access to public healthcare facilities in their area compared to those who lived in formal houses. More efforts need to be undertaken to ensure that all citizens have access to public healthcare facilities, especially among those who are disadvantaged, such as informal dwellers. In addition, future research should encompass locality in relation to the factors that affect access to public healthcare facilities, especially during pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to have geographically targeted interventions.

This paper highlights the major challenges and considerations for addressing COVID-19 in informal settlements. It discusses what is known about vulnerabilities and how to support local protective action. There is heightened concern about informal urban settlements because of the combination of population density and inadequate access to water and sanitation, which makes standard advice about social distancing and washing hands implausible. There are further challenges to do with the lack of reliable data and the social, political and economic contexts in each setting that will influence vulnerability and possibilities for action. The potential health impacts of COVID-19 are immense in informal settlements, but if control measures are poorly executed these could also have deep negative impacts. Public health interventions must be balanced with social and economic interventions, especially in relation to the informal economy upon which many poor urban residents depend. Local residents, leaders and community-based groups must be engaged and resourced to develop locally appropriate control strategies, in partnership with local governments and authorities. Historically, informal settlements and their residents have been stigmatized, blamed, and subjected to rules and regulations that are unaffordable or unfeasible to adhere to. Responses to COVID-19 should not repeat these mistakes. Priorities for enabling effective control measures include: collaborating with local residents who have unsurpassed knowledge of relevant spatial and social infrastructures, strengthening coordination with local governments, and investing in improved data for monitoring the response in informal settlements.

The aim of this study was to explore how older orphans in youth-headed households (YHHs) experience and respond to maternal death and to examine the strategies they employ to care for their younger siblings. We interviewed 18 older orphans who were purposively selected from YHHs located in informal settlements in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. After the death of their mothers, the orphans lost the family home, lost support from their relatives, lost friendships, lost educational opportunities, and lost childhood. The orphans experienced prolonged pain, sadness, anxieties, fear, loneliness despondency, and deep-rooted and persistent anger towards their mother for dying. They suffered from prolonged bereavement because they had been denied the opportunity to mourn the loss of their parents and yearned persistently but silently for their dead mothers. Dropping out of school to seek employment in order to care for their siblings was one of the main coping strategies that older orphans used. However, dropping out of school early robbed them of their future goals of getting an educational qualification. The orphans had not been prepared for taking on an adult role and were given no support or counselling to help them recover from their parents’ death. Continuous grief counselling should form an integral component of the psychosocial support services that are provided to orphans soon after the death of a parent.

As the world is exposed to disaster risks projected to increase in types, intensity and frequency leading to the destruction of property and loss of lives, spatial planning tools emerge as the key to the reduction of disasters in informal settlements which continue to grow in South Africa. While these tools create orderly developments to reduce disaster risks, there is limited literature on their contribution towards disaster risk reduction in informal settlements in South Africa. Thus, this study focused on ascertaining spatial planning tools applied in controlling developments to reduce disaster risks, analysing water-, health- and fire-related risks in informal settlements and examining the benefits of spatial planning in informal settlements in South Africa. A systems theory was adopted to explain the concepts of the study through a descriptive research design, which comprised of data that was obtained from secondary sources and analysed thematically. The results reveal that most informal settlements are in environmentally sensitive areas, and as such, experience fire, water and health risks. The non-consideration of spatial planning tools in informal settlements leave such communities prone to disasters. Municipalities need to recognise informal settlements through a process of regularisation or formalisation to promote safe and liveable areas in South Africa.

Approximately, one billion people across the globe are currently living in informal shack settlements with a large potential fire risk. Due to the small distance between shacks, a single shack fire may spread and could cause a large area of informal settlement to be burnt in a short period of time. In this work, the critical fire separation distance between shacks is first discussed and determined using a simple physics-based theoretical model. Aerial photography within geographic information systems (GIS) is then employed to verify the calculated results based on a real informal settlement burn scar in Masiphumelele, Cape Town, South Africa. The radiative heat fluxes along the centerline of the shack window, at different distances, are calculated to estimate the ignition potential of combustible materials in adjacent shacks. Meanwhile, the potential fire risks, assuming separation distance as a proxy for risk, pre- and post- a known fire in Masiphumelele are obtained and compared. It was established that the heat flux would decay from around 100 kW/m2 within 0.5 m to the value smaller than 0.1 kW/m2 at the distance of 3.5 m away from the shack, which can be considered as a relatively safe distance. The theoretical result agrees well with the minimum effective distance of 3.3 m in real fires occurred in Masiphumelele. However, a GIS analysis of the informal settlement layout in 2015 and 2017 demonstrates that, if the critical fire separation distance is more than 3.0 m, 97% of the settlement could be at risk in a single fire incident. Therefore, more research is required to improve the understanding of fire spread mechanisms in informal settlements.