Good progress is being made on the City’s master plan to provide basic services for households living in the backyards of City rental housing in Factreton, Langa and Hanover Park.
In terms of the latest report to Mayco, 156 units in Factreton have been earmarked for the implementation of services in this groundbreaking initiative. Langa and Hanover Park are being surveyed simultaneously.
The proposal is to provide each of the 156 properties with an enclosed concrete walled flush toilet with a tap and wash trough on the outside. Factreton is also due for a major electricity upgrade, replacing the ageing, overhead reticulation system with an underground network.
The intention is to install a ready-board in each backyard structure and supply these connections together with the connection to the main dwelling from a pole-mounted distribution box. This will help prevent the problem of illegal connections as well as the exploitation of backyarders by tenants.
The report also highlights the following four key intervention strategies necessary to address the needs of households living in the backyards of the City’s rental stock in Hanover Park and Langa.
- a door-to-door survey in the three pilot areas to assess needs
- the introduction of split-zoning on public rental stock land
- the identification of suitable vacant land for the development of infill housing opportunities
- the provision of water, sanitation, refuse removal and electricity to backyarders
The door-to-door survey will be conducted in the three pilot areas. About 5 600 rental properties and about 5 300 former rental properties will be visited between August and October 2011. Interviews are conducted with tenants/homeowners and backyarders to elicit their responses on a range of questions. Area committees have also been established to facilitate effective community engagement and communication.
This survey will present the City with a comprehensive analysis of the results and proposals that will inform an all-encompassing policy and sustainable and replicable strategy on addressing the backyarder phenomenon across Cape Town.
