Upgrading the Freedom Park informal settlement

VISION

The Development Action Group has a vision of community-centred development processes and projects which foster sustainable human settlements that enhance human rights, dignity and equity. We strive to create opportunities for greater levels of community-centred development to redress the social and economic inequity that characterises the structure of human settlements.

OVERVIEW

This project forms part of the Development Action Group’s (DAG) upgrade of an informal settlement in Freedom Park in Mitchell’s Plain in the Western Cape, together with the 300 families who have lived there in shacks since 1998 and a further 193 households from the City of Cape Town’s housing list. Initially the settlement had no access to sanitation, water or electricity and more recently has just 10 standpipes and 19 working chemical toilets for 1 500 people. Following a lengthy process of mediation with the City and the establishment of infrastructure, this project will enable DAG to facilitate the final step of house construction, using state subsidy money. DAG will train and work with the Freedom Park Development Association to ensure that the beneficiaries are centrally involved in making decisions about their future homes. DAG will also involve partner organisations in an attempt to address the community’s needs, for example, for creche facilities and income-generating opportunities. The project aims to establish itself as a good practice case study for the upgrading of settlements throughout South Africa.

WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THIS PROJECT

• DAG uses a people-centred and participatory methodology which involves the beneficiaries of the project in the major decision-making, planning and evaluation. This approach is proven to generate more sustainable (especially economically and socially) solutions and higher levels of ownership of the project outcomes by the beneficiaries of the project. Internationally this is regarded as good practice in upgrading settlements and housing construction but this approach is seldom adopted in South Africa. The Freedom Park project’s results will therefore set an important benchmark for future informal settlement upgrading.
• International best practice also indicates that upgrading of informal settlements is not just about structural upgrading, but about the social and economic development of the residents and about protecting and improving people’s lives in a meaningful way. DAG will use a multi-sectoral approach involving a broad range of stakeholders / partners to work collectively to address the community’s development priorities through a range of complementary social and development initiatives.
• DAG also uses an action-learning approach in facilitating the organisational development of the Freedom Park Development Association (FPDA) - a cyclical process involving four repetitive steps (plan, act, reflect, learn). The Association is periodically taken through a cycle of action and reflection to facilitate organisational development. This is particularly beneficial in helping the association lead the beneficiaries to take a number of collective decisions about matters related to the construction of their houses.

EXPECTED LIFE CHANGE

An investment of R496 100 will enable DAG to facilitate the process of constructing 493 homes in Freedom Park.

• This project is intended to directly benefit 300 households who are involved in the self-help project.
• In addition, the City of Cape Town will add a further 193 households from their housing waiting list to access housing through the upgrading of the settlement.
• With an average household size of 5 people, 2 465 people will therefore benefit directly from the implementation of the project.
• Direct life change at R201.26 per person.

In addition, the project will contribute to the upliftment of the broader Tafelsig and Mitchell’s Plain community. The project will also indirectly benefit the South African government and all other people in informal settlements as it will set a new benchmark in South Africa for the upgrading of informal settlements in a participatory way which enhances the capacity of residents to improve their housing conditions and their economic and social stability through skills development and job creation.

NEED

Freedom Park is an informal settlement in Mitchell´s Plain, about 40 km from Cape Town´s economic hub. Under apartheid Mitchell´s Plain was created as a township to provide 40 000 houses for people forcibly removed under the Group Areas Act. Today more than 300 000 people live in Mitchell´s Plain. The area is not well integrated into the urban context and is surrounded by an arms manufacturer, a municipal waste site, a nature reserve and small scale urban agriculture.

Tafelsig, the neighbourhood in which Freedom Park is situated, can be found at the south-eastern edge of Mitchell´s Plain. A dysfunctional public transport system connects Mitchell’s Plain with the city, limiting access to economic opportunities. Residents say that their biggest concerns are a need for housing and job opportunities. The unemployment rate is very high at 40% and those who do work earn very little: about half of the population lives below the poverty line. The lack of affordable accommodation has led to overcrowding, with many families sharing a single room or living in backyard shacks.

In the neighbourhood of Tafelsig, a clinic, several primary and secondary schools and a number of churches cater for about 50 000 people, but creches and recreational facilities are lacking. Approximately 1 500 people live in the informal settlement of Freedom Park, of which 43% are children under the age of 14. Most adults are married (53%) or living with a partner, whilst 21% are single parents. The majority of households (60%) include 4 to 6 people. Living in shacks without adequate services on an open field exposes the residents to environmental hazards: 90% are concerned about the risk of fire (in 2000 a man died in a shack fire in the settlement) and 84% report that their shacks are flooded frequently during winter.

Apart from the environmental threats residents also experience economic vulnerability due to a range of factors including the poor location of Mitchell’s Plain relative to economic opportunities elsewhere in the city. As unemployment is very high (74% in the settlement), most people depend on government grants and pursue income-generating activities in the informal sector. 79% of the households in the settlement report that they go without food at times. An important factor affecting income is poor health: 64% of Freedom Park residents complain of ill health, 23% suffer from diarrhoea, 21% from worms, 14% from tuberculosis and 4% openly acknowledge suffering from HIV and AIDS. Four children have died in the settlement due to diarrhoea, and in many cases the spread of illnesses is traced back to lack of adequate sanitation and access to potable water. As a result many families disintegrate as children are sent to live with other relatives to ensure their safety. Unemployment and social instability in the settlement are also affected by the low rate of education, domestic violence and alcohol and drug abuse.

STRATEGY

The 300 households currently living in the settlement have been actively involved in all phases of the project to date through leading and planning the upgrading process. DAG works in partnership with them, facilitating their access to information and resources and advising them on all stages of the project. The project plan for the upgrade has therefore been fully designed by the residents through their representatives, the Freedom Park Development Association (FPDA). DAG’s support programme has been developed in response to their plans and with their input on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the FPDA.

In Phase 2, infrastructure development, DAG convened workshops with the 300 households living in the settlement to develop the layout of the settlement and also to design the range of house types that would be built. In these workshops the households identified the need to create a safe neighbourhood which provides protection from gangsters in the surrounding neighbourhood, the need for privacy, recreational facilities and spaces for the youth etc. These principles were translated into designs by DAG’s team of architects and town planners and were taken back to the households for approval in another series of workshops.

The association has been involved in every aspect of the project planning since its inception, including consultations with government officials, technical professionals and the preparation of the subsidy application.

ACTION PLAN

Preparation

This SASIX project is to support the third phase of the upgrading. Phase 1 was the mediation process with the City of Cape Town, which ended when the City of Cape Town agreed that the settlement could be upgraded. Phase 2 then focused on the development of the infrastructure (sewerage connections, electrical installation, developing the road network, the development of stormwater connections, and water leading to plots). This phase commenced in 2005 and should be completed in March 2007. 25 residents were employed as labourers in the infrastructure development phase. The third phase, to which this proposal relates, involves the construction of houses.

During Phases 1 and 2, DAG focused on strengthening the Freedom Park Development Association to build their capability to plan and lead the upgrading process. This was achieved by conducting formal training courses and through working intensively with the association’s leaders. This groundwork was necessary because the community chose to take a self-help approach in upgrading their settlement, allowing them to make choices in relation to a number of important decisions about the houses. DAG also worked with the association to build partnerships with other important stakeholders so as to address the need for community facilities and economic opportunities, improving the sustainability of the project.

Implementation

Phase 3 is due to commence in April 2007 and will involve the construction of 493 houses. Of these, at least 300 will involve direct DAG support. It is hoped that the self-help approach can also be extended to the 193 contractor-built houses for waiting list beneficiaries. This phase should be concluded by September 2008.

During this period DAG will:

• assist FPDA to set up a community-based housing support centre and develop effective operating systems for the centre by May 2008
• assist FPDA leaders to recruit, appoint and manage housing support centre staff
• train and provide on-site assistance to support centre staff in beneficiary administration, plot allocation, house type selection, submission of house plans to the local authority, construction scheduling and management, quality control, financial accounting and managing stakeholder relations by June 2008
• assist the FPDA leaders to workshop all potential beneficiaries on key matters relating to the construction phase and on the conversion of the whole site to self-help – ongoing
• assist FPDA on an ongoing basis to manage their relationship with all other role-players including:
  • private sector partners
  • donors
  • service providers
  • local authorities
  • the provincial government
• assist FPDA to identify and approach various funders or potential sponsors to support the project – ongoing
• assist the FPDA to identify and implement appropriate job creation opportunities –ongoing
• prepare and submit regular technical reports to the province, the engineers and the sub-contractor
• facilitate access to information and other resource groups as may be needed
• provide ongoing organisational development support to the association, including supporting the convening of an annual general meeting, coaching and mentoring committee members, assisting office bearers to carry out their roles, providing formal leadership training to at least two committee members, assisting with production and distribution of a quarterly newsletter
• assist project leaders to plan for and conduct regular general meetings to keep all members well-informed.

Monitoring

The project’s final, post-occupation phase will be implemented until December 2008. An implementation plan will be developed for each year going forward, and progress against this plan will be monitored on a monthly basis by the Programme Manager. Monitoring tools will include reviewing the monthly progress report, carrying out site visits and carrying out internal reviews with the project team.

A bi-annual review will also be undertaken to assess progress towards meeting the strategic objectives of the project. Where necessary, plans will be revised to address unanticipated factors that may affect the overall project outcomes.

RISK PROFILE

Key Strengths

• Concept: DAG is using their self-help model, which is tried and tested and has been recognised internationally as an effective way to ensure that housing project beneficiaries’ needs are met. This project concept has been developed and refined over years by on the ground practice.
• Design: The project is designed to incorporate community participation and ownership of the project. It simultaneously builds the community in a holistic way, creating opportunities, for example where community members are employed in the construction process. The project also makes use of a multi-disciplinary team configured according to specific project needs. It combines the use of process people, who are development facilitators, and built environment professionals who are product-focused.
• Capability: DAG has strong leadership with years of experience. For their project implementation they use complementary staff skill sets to function as a whole in their multi-disciplinary teams.
• Control: The organisation, and by extension the project, has good management, governance, financial and monitoring and evaluation systems in place to ensure effective implementation.
• Sustainability: The participatory approach contributes to the project’s sustainability. This approach demands that communities seek help and show resourcefulness and commitment. The model also relies on community buy-in for the whole process as it incorporates community representatives who involve the whole community in upliftment and ensure the quality of the work done by contractors.

Key Risks

• Design: There is a risk in terms of the extra 193 households the City is bringing into the Freedom Park community relatively late in the development and implementation phase. These members do not have the same roots in the community, or buy-in to the project. However, the existing community has indicated that they want these new community members to be integrated
• Sustainability: There is the potential for community members to be persuaded later to sell their houses at a price significantly lower than market value, although this is mitigated by the community buy-in and investment built into the model.
• External: Bad weather may cause delays in construction. There is a risk of non-performance by service-providers (contractors have already been replaced in the infrastructure phase of construction). There is also the risk of sabotage from neighbours in the surrounding Tafelberg area due to resentment.