South Africa: Kennedy Road Olive Branch a Sham - The hatchet job on Durban's Kennedy Road informal settlement continued this week with an alleged 'healing process' by the KwaZulu-Natal government. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Bringing Government to the People? - S'bu Zikode, elected head of South African shackdwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, presented the following paper at a colloquium on the topic of 'Meaningful Engagement' hosted by CALS (Centre for Applied Legal Studies) at the University of Witwatersrand. [AA Urbanisation]

Nigeria: Rivers Demolition - I Am Ready to Die - Commissioner - Rivers State Commissioner for Urban Development, Barrister Osima Gina has maintained that despite repeated threat on his life as a result of the planned waterfront demolition exercise by the state government, no amount of intimidation would deter him from working within the ambits of the law to implement a blue print for urban development in the state. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Backyard Dwellers Demand Change - Angry backyard dwellers in Khayelitsha's Mandela Park - who burnt tyres in the streets of their neighbourhood - have given the provincial housing department a week to address their concerns or they will illegally occupy empty housing units in the area. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Sexwale Beds Down in Diepsloot Sleepover - HUMAN Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale stood in a pool of sewage yesterday as he spoke to residents of the informal settlement of Diepsloot. [AA Urbanisation]

By Proffesor Ndawonde

Johannesburg - Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale spent Monday night in the strife-torn informal settlement of Diepsloot as part of his "sincere listen campaign" to get first hand experience on the living conditions of the people there.

"What we are doing here is to work with people closely and close the gap between government and the poor of the poorest.

"The 24 hours that I have spent in the informal settlement was absolutely informative. We have collected valuable information about the plight of the people living in Diepsloot.

"We will use this information as part of the department's planning strategy," the minister said in an interview with 702 Talk Radio on Tuesday morning.

Minister Sexwale said his visit in the north of Johannesburg informal settlements was part of his department's listen campaign to have proper conversation with ordinary people.

He added that he spent the night in Diepsloot's extension one, the scene of recent service delivery protests, to get a better understanding of the residents living conditions.

By Proffesor Ndawonde

Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg has pledged to upgrade all informal settlements in the city by 2014, says the city's Mayor Amos Masondo.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mayor Masondo said through its innovative Informal Settlement Formalisation and Upgrading Programme, the city will formalise all the 180 informal settlements comprising of more than 200 000 households.

He affirmed the city intends to improve the lives of people living in informal settlements by building quality houses or relocating them to areas with better conditions.

"The objective of the programme is to attend to all informal settlements within the city boundaries and to improve the living conditions of residents, including their health and safety.

"We are also seeking to make significant progress in the upgrading of services and infrastructure," said Mayor Masondo.

The programme would further ensure that all settlements within the municipality boundaries are legally recognised and that where settlements are hazardously or poorly located, alternative provision would be made.

South Africa: 'Rivalry and Negligence' to Blame - Residents in Cape Town's informal settlements say political rivalry and negligence by leaders over a number of years, - and not direct political influence - are behind the spate of violent protests in the city in the past few weeks. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Alexandra - A History - Alexandra: A History is a social and political history of one of South Africa's oldest townships. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Urgent Messages in the Clattering Stones of Delivery Protests - WEEK-long protests by residents of Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, over the allocation of housing further heat up an otherwise cold winter plagued by often violent service delivery protests. [AA Urbanisation]

By Neville Maakana

Tzaneen - The Greater Tzaneen local municipality has begun formalising Mbambamencisi informal settlement near Nkowankowa outside Tzaneen to give thousands of poor people access to houses, electricity and running water for the first time in their lives.

Spokesperson for the municipality Odas Ngobeni said the sprawling informal settlement was home to some 10 000 people who are living without electricity, hence the name Mbambamencisi, which is a Shangaan word that means "groping for a box of matches in the dark".

In the past two years, five children in the area have been killed after touching exposed electricity cables installed by "izinyoka" electricity thieves.

"The residents have started getting a taste of a better life. Above all, they have received legal recognition as residents of the municipality," said Mr Ngobeni.

He said the formalisation project started two years ago when development planners demarcated streets, parks, schools, clinics, residential and business sites.

Today, 500 RDP houses are being built at a cost of about R20 million. The housing project was launched in April last year and is expected to be completed in 2010.

Tanzania: 281,000 Houses in Squatter Areas Formalized - Govt - The Government has formalised 281,028 houses constructed in unplanned areas, the National Assembly was told yesterday. [AA Construction]

By Edwin Tshivhidzo

Diepsloot - The situation in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, is reported to be calm on Monday after violent protests broke out at the weekend.

Angry residents set vehicles on fire, damaged property and stoned passing motorists and police vehicles. They also barricaded roads with burning rubble and portable toilets.

In a bid to save motorists from the angry mob, police closed the R511 and advised motorists to use the N14 to Roodeport as an alternative route. The road has since been reopened.

According to City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthathisi Modingoane, the residents began protesting when they heard rumours that they were to be relocated to Brits.

However, he explained that this was not the case.

Explaining the situation, Mr Modingoane said about 320 families are to be relocated to a nearby location, which is still within the Diepsloot area, to make way for the upgrading of an underground sewage system.

He said the residents had built their shacks illegally on top of the current sewage system.

By Proffesor Ndawonde

Johannesburg - Minister of Human Settlements Tokyo Sexwale has clarified media speculations that government will evict people living in informal settlements to hide them from tourists during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Speaking at a post Local Organising Committee press conference on Thursday, Minister Sexwale said those were dense assumptions and government had never planned to evict people living in shacks.

"There is a no policy that says government must evict people who are living in poverty or in shacks nearby venues. We cannot do that.

"We cannot hide people from the view of tourists. Actually government wants to empower these people and we will be more excited if tourists can visit these areas and buy in spaza shops in townships," he said.

LOC Chief Executive Officer, Danny Jordaan said government and the LOC cannot be hypocritical by hiding people who are stricken by poverty, adding that media must stop spreading unnecessary and fallacious statements.

"That is not a position and tourists have been in these areas and are part of South Africa. Why would the government hide them?

South Africa: Joe Slovo Residents Let Down By Court - 'A better life beckons for the people of Joe Slovo informal settlement,' the South African government has said, following a decision by the Constitutional Court that the settlement's 20,000 residents will be evicted to Delft make way for the N2 housing project. [AA Urbanisation]