Portfolio Committee on Housing Siyabonga Gama Transnet Limited

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Portfolio Committee on HousingSiyabonga
GamaTransnet Limited

• 14 November 2006

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Request for a briefing

• Letter dated 24 October 2006
• Request for a briefing on informal settlements
  along the railway lines

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INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS ON THE RAIL RESERVE
November 2006
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Problem statement

• Witnessed the mushrooming of informal settlements
  alongside railway lines
• Statutes dictate that you may not evict
  communities unless you have alternative property
  to resettle them
• Proximity to train operations exposes communities
  to severe danger
• Negative impact on safety, security, operations
  and asset integrity
• Fencing structures have been vandalised/removed

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Problem statement continued

• Increasing pressure on safety settlements too
  close to railway lines
• Increasing likelihood of accidents
• Illegal level crossings pedestrian and vehicles
  on daily basis increasing risk of fatalities
• Costly and time consuming evictions and
  resettlements (currently cost to Spoornet _
  R2.5m per site)

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Number of settlements
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Impact on Operations

• Negatively affects Train Schedule (speed
  restrictions)
• Illegal crossings result - on average 150
  fatalities per annum
• Crime (obstructions on railway line, theft,
  damaging signals) has escalated in areas where
  railway reserve is traversed by informal
  settlements
• Almost impossible to get emergency vehicles into
  informal settlements
• Delay in emergency and clean-up operations

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Impact on Infrastructure

• Erosion of rail embankment
• Vandalism/sabotage of signalling systems can
  lead to derailments
• Theft of overhead Cables leads to derailments
  and electrocutions
• Vandalism/sabotage of points
• Threat to maintenance personnel

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Impact on Safety

• Increased risk of accidents
• Uncontrolled pedestrian crossing of lines
• Health hazards to employees, passengers and
  inhabitants of settlements
• Illegal level crossings (vehicles)
• Hazardous goods transported by rail ammonia
  gas, fertilizer, diesel, explosives, disastrous
  consequences when trains derail

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Impact on inhabitants of informal settlements

• Death or injury in case of accident/hazmat
  incident
• Children grow up next to rail no natural fear
  for moving trains
• Lack of basic services

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Challenges

• Legal process (long)
• Dependency on Municipalities for alternative
  housing as required by Prevention of illegal
  eviction act (PIE)
• Limited capacity (manpower, funds, land
  availability)
• Community resistance

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Possible solutions

• Integrated approach (Government, Transnet, other
  SOEs)
• - Provision of housing and establishment of
  temporary relocation areas
• Interventions from the Legislature and Cabinet
• Legislative amendments
• Community awareness and participation

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Assistance required

• Municipalities to create Temporary Relocation
  Areas for urgent relocation of hot spot
  settlements (safety/crime etc)
• Provincial National Government to provide
  funding for TRAs as well as policies regarding
  establishment of TRAs and top down pressure on
  Municipalities to accommodate urgent requests for
  relocation of informal settlements
• Judiciary - courts to accept relocation to a TRA
  in the granting of an eviction order

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Assistance required continued

• Legislative amendments
• The very wide interpretation of the applicability
  of the PIE Act
• PIE to clarify at what stage an informal
  structure can still be demolished without a
  court order, and at what stage it can still be
  considered to be trespassing
• Responsibilities of SAPS to act when a new land
  invasion is reported by a land owner

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Assistance required continued

• Legislative amendments
• Permanent eviction orders for properties/land
  portions (if land gets re-invaded, repeat
  execution of initial eviction order in stead of
  going through the whole process again
• Amendment to Prevention of Illegal Eviction and
  Occupation of Land Act (Act 19 of 1998) to be
  amended to reflect all of the above

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Eviction/Relocation Procedure

• Identify and prioritise resettlement
• Negotiate with affected municipality for
  alternative housing/land (including municipal
  process for housing subsidies)
• Community consultation negotiated relocation vs
  court ordered eviction
• Registration of affected persons qualifiers vs
  non-qualifiers

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Eviction/Relocation Procedure continued

• Application for eviction order
• Execution of eviction order
• Securing the land
• Emergency Housing Policy not effective in
  urgent relocations (still takes too long)

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Stakeholders Dealing with the challenges

• Minister for Public Enterprises
• Minister of Transport
• Other Government Departments (Housing, DPLG, Land
  Affairs etc)
• Provincial and Local Authorities
• Transnet
• Judiciary
• Ward Councillors and Ward Committees
• NGOs, CBOs, Civic Organisations, Organisation
  for Landless People
• Community leaders
• Occupants of informal settlements

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Current Interventions

• Relocation Strategy Identify, prioritise,
  commence negotiations with
• Municipalities
• Ward Councillors
• Communities
• Once alternative land is made available by the
  relevant municipality, commence with application
  for eviction order
• If an eviction order is granted, Sheriff of the
  Court executes and costs referred back to
  Applicant
• Fencing of cleared land where financially and
  topographically feasible
• Pro-active identification of vulnerable areas and
  preventive fencing

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Thank you