Government - Community Partnerships Archives - Page 5 of 6

Oct 24

SA and Zim Federations reach out to Botswana

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, uTshani Fund No Comments

By Kwanele Sibanda (on behalf of CORC)

The Republic of Botswana is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. It is a mid-sized country of just over two million people. Environmentally, Botswana faces two major problems: drought and desertification. Despite its middle-income status, Botswana continues to grapple with significant social challenges including unequal distribution of wealth, high levels of poverty, unemployment and HIV/AIDS prevalence. On health issues, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS was estimated at 24% for adults in 2006. In the fight against the disease the government of Botswana solicited outside help in fighting HIV/AIDS and received early support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Minister purchasing some of the federation's income generating products Between 16 – 19 October, South African and Zimbabwean federations associated to Shack / Slum Dwellers International (SDI) reached out to the young and emerging Botswana federation. The federation of Botswana was initially mobilized by the Zimbabwean federation and established in 2011 in Francistown as a community based organisation, which has since expanded to Gaborone, Selibe, Maun and Phikwe. The NGO called Trust for Community Initiatives (TFCI) was registered on the 31st of May 2012 as a non profit trust. The NGO is currently staffed 2 full time staff members and 3 board members oversee governance.

This exchange was in the making for a few months. Following the nomination in Francistown where the Botswana federation was mentioned for best practices in fighting poverty in June 2014, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (Peter L. Siele) requested a meeting with the federation in Francistown on 17 October 2014. Since the Botswana federation is still at its early stages of development, it requested the support of the Zimbabwean and the South African federations. The Minister witnessed three projects that the federation members do: traditional attires and baskets, poultry and a cool drink making business. The minister and his team were taken around while the project leaders explained how the businesses are conducted.

Minister visits poultry project

On the morning of the 17th, prior to the commencement of the meeting with the Honourable Minister, a brief planning session was held with the hosts to look into the program and also strategize on key objectives intended to be achieved from the exchange. During the planning session the Zimbabwean and South African delegates were encouraged to focus their presentation more on savings, partnerships and projects. The meeting on 17 October was attended by:

Botswana
- Federation of Botswana – Francistown, Maun, Gaborone, Selibe and Phikwe
- Trust for Community Initiatives – Goitsemang B. Maano and Mark
- Officials: Minister of Local Government and Rural Development – Peter L. Siele, Town Clerk – L. Israel, Office of the District Commissioner – Opelo, Head of Community Development – Mrs Phama, Deputy Mayor of Francistown – Mrs Phama

Zimbabwa
- Zimbabwe Homeless People’s Federation– Sekai Catherine Chiremba, Sazini Ndlovu, R. Ncube.
- Dialogue on Shelter– Beth Chitekwe and Givemore Nyamaponda

South Africa
- FEDUP– Maureen, Sophy and Sarah
- CORC– Kwanele Sibanda

The federation welcomes the Minister

The Botswana Federation outlined the growth of the movement over the past three years, expanding their reach from Francistown to Selibe, Phikwe, Gaborone and Maun. 42 saving schemes have been established and the total number of active members is 1,126 (1036 females and 90 males). Their total daily savings to date is P (Botswana pula) 257 807.91 (ZAR310,000) and the balance of their Urban Poor Fund is P20 834.85 (ZAR 25,000). Public health is a major focus area for the Federation, and projects have included installation of water taps, electricity and flush toilets. They also have income generating projects such as poultry and catering.

The Zimbabwe federation followed and outlined the work of SDI in Southern Africa. They challenged the minister to meet the Botswana federation’s savings and enter into a partnership agreement. The South African federation spoke about their “pledge” agreement / MoU with the Department of Human Settlements as tool for long term engagement. they argued that to enhance their work so as to support more communities, the government- community partnerships different level to build more than 15 000 quality houses by ourselves for ourselves. In working with the government we always emphasize that the Batho Pele (People First) principle must be applied.

When the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development replied, he addressed the needs of the Botswana federation by outlining some of the programs that different government departments are offering in line with what the federation is doing. He furthermore encouraged them to take advantage of funds such as those offered by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA). The Women’s Affairs Department is mandated to facilitate mainstreaming of Gender Issues in the development process. As a way of empowering women’s CBOs, the Government of Botswana allocates funds to the Women’s Affairs Department annually in order to assist the organisations.

On 18 October, the Zimbabwean, South African and Botswana Federations exchanged ideas on community-centred development.

We are savings for land, to build houses as well as other projects.
We are contributing UPF so that we can give each other loans
We had an incident were some group members contributed towards UPF, but the treasure did not deposit the money.
It is difficult for me to distinguish between daily savings and UPF
We started the UPF contributions after an exchange to Gwanda in Zimbabwe; however after report back and starting not many members understood the concept.

Botswana federation during the UPF group discussion

One member of the exchange reported that,

I am so grateful for the exchange has enlightened me on many federation issues especially the Urban Poor Fund.

Another said that

We feel motivated by the presentations made by the federations that have been doing the work for many years and we are inspired to grow our federation the same way.

Ongoing support to the Botswana Federation will be focused on getting the Urban Poor Fund up and running. In group sessions, discussions from delegates from Zimbabwe and South Africa were advising on writing key points that relate to UPF in their respective countries. Botswana was on the other hand listing what they have so far been using as principles around UPF. As a way forward it was agreed that a final decision of principles around UPF cannot be taken in the particular meeting because consultation first has to be made from a savings scheme level; however an agreement was reached on what the respective saving schemes have to input towards a final national UPF policy.

Oct 15

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Minister Sisulu speaks about Partnership with SA Alliance

By Yolande Hendler Archive, FEDUP, Resources, uTshani Fund No Comments

2006 Pledge Conference with Minister Lindiwe Sisulu

In anticipation of The National Human Settlements Indaba and Exhibition (16-17 October 2014) we share a speech made by Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements in 2006 about the Department’s partnership with Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP).

During this event the minister recognised the inherent value of partnership with the Alliance and of promoting community-led development processes: she signed an MoU binding Provincial MECs to pledging 1,000 subsidies per Province per annum to FEDUP. Since 1994 the Alliance has partnered with national, provincial and local government, pioneering new methodologies of community organisation. This year’s Indaba will be held in Johannesburg and focuses on the theme of “Building partnerships for accelerated delivery of human settlements”. Both SDI and the South African Alliance have been invited as partners who reflect and voice the interest of the urban poor.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY LN SISULU MINISTER OF HOUSING AT THE CONFERENCE OF SHACK/ SLUM DWELLERS INTERNATIONAL AND THE FEDERATION OF THE URBAN POOR

19 May 2006  International Convention Centre  , Cape Town

Chairperson;

President of the Slum Dwellers International,

President of the Federation of the Urban Poor,

Representatives of other different community based organisations present here ,

Comrades ,

Invited Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I accepted the honour to open this Conference with a great deal of humility. Humility because I, who represents those who are seen to have plenty, have to stand here in front of you who represent the poorest of the poor and pretend that I have some words of wisdom to impart to you. But I stand here with pride, and I am proud too, because you have chosen my government as a partner in a cause that goes right to the heart of what we are and what we fought for all those years. For me this can only mean an endorsement of your confidence in us, that with us, through us, your ideals can be achieved.

I welcome your confidence in us for we, in turn, will use it to spur ourselves on to ensure that our common goals are realised. It is an honour for us to be counted as one of the champions of the poorest of the poor.

The great revolutions of modern times have, apart from the influences of technological advances and progress, been the result often of the kind of progressive action that had found its source from the grassroots. Such has been the influence and the power of the grassroots in the present time that none who held political power could on their own define and occupy the political space that is critical to issues of sustainable development.

We are all one human force, inexorably drawn to the ideal that until all are free, free from the shackles of poverty, none of us is free. Because by some strange reason we are bound to this universe together. There is some logic in this contradiction. If we are to move forward – progress, our collective pace will be determined by the slowest, in this case the lowest. The great irony of our time! The future of our civilisation rests on how we determine our way forward. We shall not be identified as the civilisation of great poverty, that cannot defines us, we who are proud inventors of everything that has culminated into our launching into space to seek answers about what lies beyond. Perhaps, this is a justifiable deflection as we remain unable to solve problems that lie at our feet. Intellectually, one of the best periods of recorded history, but morally very wanting. The consciousness of the rich closed to the poverty that surrounds them.

In convening this Conference, the Slum Dwellers International and the Federation of the Urban Poor, give us reason to have greater confidence that the common struggle we share against homelessness will indeed achieve its greater results during our own lifetime. No moment in the history of human society has landed itself to this possibility other than ours.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, with Jockin Arputham (President of SDI) and Rose Molokoane, National Co-ordinator of FEDUP, 2006

I have just retuned from a trip to India – a most valuable learning experience it was. I did not get to see the Taj Mahal but what I experienced was more valuable than the Taj. I went out to see the pavement dwellers of Mumbai living in the most shocking conditions on the edge of society – having lived that way for all their lives. But a people with hope. An entrepreneurial people taught me the value of saving and the spirit that drives them to ensure that they do provide a house for their families. A people determined that they will do their bit to restore their dignity.

I yearn for that spirit here. A spirit that says this is our government – how can we help it in this huge challenge to provide housing? What can I – sitting in a shack house – do to help ensure that I too have a house? We need to infuse this in our people. We were once a proud people that moved heaven and earth and did do the impossible. The present challenge is within our power to resolve.

In India, I also had a tour of projects that had been undertaken by slum dwellers, projects that demonstrated resourcefulness, originality and innovation. They vindicated the belief I had always had that if government was to accelerate the delivery of housing then the complete involvement of the poor needed to receive full support.

I then began to reflect on the 2005 World Summit Outcome that committed governments to specific actions in relation to slum prevention and slum upgrading. Key among the resolutions was the commitment to increase resources for housing and the related infrastructure.

Ghandi believed that there was an innate goodness in human nature which at all times is able to perceive the truth as though by instinct.

We are a people with a very proud history, proud of what we can do for ourselves. My worry right now is that this proud heritage is dissipating now that we have our own government, the government of the poorest of the poor, the disadvantaged. And we have ourselves to believe that the government will provide.

I have been very attracted by the founding ethos of Shack Dwellers International: that no matter how disadvantaged, we can still do it ourselves, that in fact it is nobler if we do it ourselves. Help me plant this into the heart of every disadvantaged South African. Help me inspire them to stand up.

At the Special Ministerial Conference of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD), that we held a month ago, in Nairobi, resolutions had been passed to effect these outcomes of the World Summit by focusing governments on the resourcefulness of the poor.

Having ourselves placed the issue of slum prevention and slum upgrading at the top of the international agenda we resolved not only to prevent new slum formations but to also look into the existing policies, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks that hinder our abilities to deal with slum formation in ways that affirmed and strengthened our relationship with the poor. We therefore resolved to review the frameworks that exist to enable an environment where the full capacities of community organisations and non-governmental organisations were utilised. In practice, amongst other things, this will mean the promotion of community-led development processes in slum prevention and slum upgrading and the identification of ways to assist initiatives relating to savings.

I am gratified that the relation we have cultivated with yourselves has enabled us to implement some of these resolutions already. The Homeless People’s Federation, that we had interactions with in 2004, enabled us to make this start.

The Conference cements the relationship by now enabling us to act together at the international level. It is my hope that such collaboration will help encourage a fundamental rethinking of issues connected with sustainable development and the achievement, specifically, of the Millennium Development Goals. It is a great contradiction of our times, in my view, that whilst on the one hand we correctly extol the virtues of economic progress and political stability, on the other hand, we remain unable to expend and invest sufficient resources to achieve those outcomes.

I have had occasion to look back and assess the damage done to all of us in this country by the policies of inequality. It has cost us dearly. If eighty years ago we had all progressed along the same path, I leave you to imagine where this country would be today. We held back on the development of a segment of our society and we live with those consequences.

The steps that we have taken to support and assist initiatives from the Slum Dwellers International and Federation of the Urban Poor recognizes this singular truth. As government we recognize that apart from the market mechanism other initiatives and ways that have their origins in the people who make up our cities and towns, exist.

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and President of SDI, Jockin Arputham

This is the experience that yet again I was exposed to when again I visited Thailand last year. I was exposed to a unique programs that forms partnerships between communities, government, and other stakeholders in identifying and developing suitable land for housing. This was a partnership to ensure that communities were located in the most opportune locations where their actual needs could be addressed in a sustainable manner.

We are thus committed to learn through practical experience and to enhance our programs to ensure that community needs are achieved. And I thus welcome the proposed structured cooperation arrangement that will be established during the Conference for the implementation of projects linked to policy and strategy enhancement.

The Conference is a unique opportunity for all of us to learn how partnerships with civil society are formed and should operate.

I would like to congratulate all of you for the achievements that both individually and collectively you have made in advancing the cause of slum dwellers.

Finally, Jockin, I do not know what to say to you. You remind me so much of my own father. You are beautiful in every single way!

I thank you most sincerely.

Sep 26

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Reflections on the Southern African HUB Meeting: Lusaka, Zambia

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, SDI No Comments

**Cross-posted from the SDI blog**

By Noah Schermbrucker (on behalf of SDI Secretariat)

SDI Southern African Hub Countries

HUB meetings are gatherings that bring affiliates together to collectively set the agenda for the region. They are used as a mechanism to share collective learning, devise targeted support strategies (e.g. exchanges) for individual countries and concretize planning, on a regional scale, for the next period. The Southern African HUB recently took place in Lusaka, Zambia from 12-14 September 2014. Delegations from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana and Malawi attended the 3-day meeting. A team from Uganda, who had recently hosted the East African HUB, participated in order to promote continuity. Ghana was also invited as the West African HUB has been indefinitely postponed due to the Ebola outbreak.

Below find my reflections on the meeting. I hope that they provide some insights not only into SDI processes at a regional level but also the “nuts and bolts” of which this process is comprised. This is hence not an exhaustive description of the meeting but aims to give the reader a “practical flavor” of SDI’s work as it plays out in the interactions between slum dwellers, support professionals and government.

Day 1: Engagement with Ministry of Local Government, field visit to Garden Park community under threat of eviction (only some delegates) and meeting at Lusaka City Council (LCC).

The Zambians were clear that the first day’s agenda was about taking their process forward, especially in terms of achieving tangible outputs from government. South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Malawi and Ghana all stressed the actual outputs of their relationship with government to both the Ministry of Local Government and LCC. As was noted, “ An M.o.U with government is just a piece of paper unless it has actual tangible outputs attached”.

Making the first day about taking the Zambian process really orientated us within local challenges and used the HUB as an instrument to open space with government for the Zambians (which they are now following up on). The Southern African HUB has previously been very “talk” orientated and not substantively relevant to the local process so this shift was refreshing to see. A trick that we missed out on was not inviting government officials from the countries attending as the Zambians felt that this would have deepened the impact in these engagements with government. As a federation member noted “governments like to talk to other governments”.

Through the site visit to Garden Park, evictions were placed on the table as a key issue with the HUB committing (on the final day) that each federation will draft guidelines on evictions sharing their experiences and strategies used (this emerged out of a separate federation only session)

Women from Garden Park meet to discuss eviction threat

Day 2: New Secretariat systems (L,M&E, New Secretariat structures)

Day 2 was spent at the Zambian federation’s resource center in George compound with significant participation from the Zambian federation. Mara (from the SDI Secretariat) and Muturi (from the Core Team) did a fantastic job in taking everyone through some of the new systems developed by The Secretariat including the L, M &E worksheet and call for support. There was a vibrant discussion about these new systems and some very important suggestions made as to how they could be refined (e.g. definitions of certain terms such as “secure tenure” need to be clarified). These issues were noted and will be shared with the secretariat team.

A very critical issue was raised around the learning center and its role within the HUB, a number of people felt that the HUB itself was serving as the learning center. We need to think carefully about how the learning center fits into the HUB-especially in the case of Southern Africa were conditions and experiences in Cape Town are quite different to the rest of the countries. People felt strongly that different countries had different strengths (e.g. Namibia and Zimbabwe around collection of their savings number & indicators).

“Carrying” water home in Chazanga, Lusaka

Day 3: HUB Business

The day was focused on collecting country reports that were compiled previously by each country. These will be used to aggregate a set of Southern African HUB figures that can be taken to the Board & Council (B&C) meeting. Each country handed in their reports but then spoke about the “burning issues” and what support was needed. This led to suggestions for further exchanges that have been noted. The HUB also discussed progress made on exchanges decided at the B&C. In general this approach was well received as countries did not use up time providing long lists of figures but rather focused on the key issues that they wished to raise. The exact role and nature of the CORE team was also explained at length.

Throughout the meeting the participation of members from Kenya, Uganda and Ghana was extremely helpful. Their insights were valuable and contributed to the discussions with government. The continuity between the East African HUB and this HUB was definitely beneficial and something that we could take forward.

An issue that emerged from some was how we can include more “voices” in the HUB and encourage everyone to participate and speak more fully. It seemed that when we broke into country teams it allowed for more even discussion and participation as opposed to just a few people speaking in the bigger forum.

A HUB report is currently being drafted by Zambia and will be shared shortly.

Sep 12

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Co-producing Ideas: Denver community and University of Johannesburg Studio

By Yolande Hendler CORC, ISN No Comments

By Motebang Matsela and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

Over the years, the SA SDI Alliance has been involved in several architecture and planning studios in which university students and community members co-produce ideas and scenarios around housing and upgrading. The most recent of these studios took place from July to August 2014 in Johannesburg’s Denver informal settlement together with community members, students from the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Department of Architecture, the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) and Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) who offered technical and social support and facilitation.

UJ students and community members in Denver informal settlement

Motebang Matsela (CORC technical support and CORC studio facilitator) (centre), with community members and students

Denver informal settlement

Denver informal settlement is situated in a light industrial zone that spans the southern section of Johannesburg’s central business district. It was formed in response to Denver hostel, an inner city accommodation, established around 1946 by the government of the time to house rural labour migrants. As the hostel operated for men-only, Denver informal settlement sprang up as an accommodation option for the wives of men living in the hostel. Over the years the settlement has continued to grow along with an increasing demand for housing by its residents.

Aerial view of Denver

The studio: co-producing training for students and communities

The studio developed out of a longer engagement between UJ’s Department of Architecture, CORC and ISN, who had already collaborated on past studios in Ruimsig (2011) and Marlboro South (2012) informal settlements in Gauteng. The Denver Studio, however, differed from past studios because it introduced the first of a series of project management modules.

For the SA SDI Alliance, studios lay a foundation for productive discussions with local government that voice communities’ views, opinions and requirements. They also introduce students to the necessity and value of planning with communities, which contributes to a focus that shifts away from traditional ‘top down’ product and ‘delivery’ approaches towards ‘responsive’, community-orientated approaches.

While these outcomes are valuable aspects of collaborative work, Gauteng’s ISN leaders highlighted a current gap: community members need to gain tangible skills through the studio and upgrading process, just as the students do. Each module therefore couples practical participation in the studio with project management skills. Upon completion of every module, community residents will receive a certificate of participation. The vision is that these modules will run as an ongoing series throughout future studios and that they will incrementally build on the content of past studios, creating continuity and ongoing engagement between past and future studios.

Community members receive certificates of participation

The Studio: co-producing ideas

The course engaged eighty 3^rd and 5^th year students in a site-specific situation that used joint mapping and data to generate community action plans (CAPs). These investigated short, medium and long term planning scenarios that would encourage short-term community initiatives and support further productive discussion with local government around incremental upgrading

The students were divided into ten groups, each of which partnered with two or more residents from Denver settlement who took the lead as designated community planners and explained the community’s various concerns to the students. One of the community leaders, Chief Mbata shared his views on the studio as a platform to commence a dialogue about the urban poor and their conditions of living. He went on to speak about the over crowdedness and the illegal electrical connections that have claimed a lot of shacks and their contents in and around Denver.

“I wish to see these dangerously exposed cables go, and better connections made by the municipality, but when shall that happen?”

(Chief Mbata, Community leader at Denver informal settlement)

Students and community members then investigated the following key themes for ten areas in the settlement:

Spatial Justice
Humane Environments
Scenario Planning
Context
Spatial / Physical / Social
Systems / Networks
Interfaces / Thresholds
Undercurrents / Threats
Aspirations / Perceptions

Students and community members in Denver informal settlement

Final Student Presentations in August 2014

While they engaged with these themes, the community, supported by ISN and CORC, also undertook an enumeration of its settlement with the support of iSN – in a combined effort to collect comprehensive information.

As a community member, Daphne Ntombenhle Mabuso used her in-depth knowledge of the community and its history to compile the studio’s data in a collective documentation of Denver that represents the settlement as accurately as possible. Some of the studio’s content includes figure-ground drawings, actual land-use maps and various other maps that identify needs, constraints, observations and possibilities within Denver. This documentation can serve as the basis for continuing discussions between the community of Denver and the City of Johannesburg. (Click here to access the students’ documentation of the studio).

In the last week of August, the students presented their socio-spatial analyses of courtyards, pathways, open spaces,permanent vs. temporary structures and rental vs. owned units to Denver community. These open up a space to begin small-scale projects and a discussion with the local authorities. During this time community members also received their certificates signalling their participation in the studio and the project management skills they acquired. In this way community residents are becoming formally skilled participants and drivers of their own development in a collaborative, co-productive training space.

(Photos: Motebang Matsela, CORC)

Sep 09

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Building the Siphumelele WaSH facility / Innovation Centre in Langrug, Stellenbosch

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN No Comments

By Aditya Kumar and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

Zwelitsha is a section of Langrug informal settlement, located on the rocky ground of a mountain slope that overlooks the lush valleys and nearby town of Franschoek in Stellenbosch Municipality. Zwelitsha’s residents make up 604 people who reside in 318 structures. Langrug as a whole is home to 4700 people who live in 2118 structures. While Langrug’s other sections have access to water and sanitation facilities – including the Langrug Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) facility – Zwelitsha’s steep incline and rocky terrain have made it extremely difficult to build water and sanitation points. To this end, Zwelitsha currently has only one tap and no toilets.

Zwelitsha community members developing plans for the Siphumelele WaSH facility

Yet this situation is about to change, as community members began work on the foundations of the Siphumelele WaSH Facility and Innovation Centre last week in partnership with the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP), Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC), Touching the Earth Lightly (TEL), Sculpt the Future Foundation, Stellenbosch Municipality, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Enviro Loo (a waterless sanitation provider).

Site of Siphumelele WaSH facility in Zwelitsha section of Langrug informal settlement

Building on Experience: Learning from the Langrug WaSH facility

Based on the monitoring, evaluation and learning around the existing WaSH facility (read more here) in Langrug, Zwelitsha’s residents initiated a discussion about the possibility of a second WaSH facility. They approached ISN and CORC, WPI and Stellenbosch Municipality, all of whom had partnered with the community in building the existing WaSH facility in 2011.

Learning from the existing WaSH facility in Langrug

The discussion related to the outcomes of a sample survey that was conducted over 12 days in July and August 2013. This survey looked at the benefits of data collection, the various uses of the existing WaSH facility (economic and small enterprise, health and food security, educational, organisational meeting point) and its upkeep and maintenance.

More specifically the outcomes of the survey of the Langrug WaSH facility included:

The collection of inception data for Siphumelele WaSH facility
Current data collection for usage at both WaSH facilities from July 2014
Increased use of the Langrug facility by crèches in Langrug. (An estimated 40 children served per day at the facility around issues related to basic hygiene)
A fully functioning post-office hosted in the Langrug WaSH facility, based on previously collected enumeration (socio-demographic) data
Support for HIV / AIDS awareness in Langrug WaSH facility
Potential for small businesses selling health and hygiene products in Langrug facility
Increased food security through the greening of the existing facility in partnership with Touching the Earth Lightly
Langrug WaSH facility as a space for youth education, workshops and meetings
Dramatic increase in usage of Langrug facility due to consistent cleanliness and ancillary functions within the facility
Comparatively low maintenance and upkeep of Langrug facility
Success in preventing vandalism
Significantly, the community expressed a higher degree of ownership in relation to the Langrug WaSH facility as it was community designed, built and maintained

The challenges that emerged around the facility enhanced the monitoring, evaluation and learning around the delivery and maintenance of services, and assisted in conceptualising the Siphumelele WaSH facility.

Some of these challenges and learning points related to:

The low usage of communal showers
The slow inception of the hair salon

Building the Concept: Co-Designing the Siphumelele WaSH facility

Given the cost of maintenance and operations, the community and partners involved explored the idea of a livelihood-linked wash facility where a portion of the facility would generate revenue (through a kiosk, crèche, health and educational programme) to reduce the burden on municipal funds for maintenance. Given the community’s experience of struggling for a space of safety and dignity, the Zwelitsha design and construction team named the wash facility “Siphumelele” – “We have achieved it”.

From March to April 2014 the community, together with TEL, began co-designing the facility. The designs include toilets for men and women, a wash area and a kiosk on the ground floor. The second floor will contain a crèche and soup kitchen that will be managed by the community. After conducting a survey with Zwelitsha’s families about amenities to be included in the facility, community leaders chose to exclude showers due to their infrequent use in the Langrug WaSH facility. The community also chose to make use of Enviro Loo toilets after they visited Enviro Loo in November 2013 and received detailed explanations on how the toilets are maintained and operated. The Enviro Loo is a waterless toilet system that provides a safe, non-polluting, cost-effective solution to sanitation.

Co-designing with Touching the Earth Lightly

Co-designing the WaSH facility

Model of Siphumelele WaSH facility

Building the Team: Community-led Implementation

Apart from the partners already mentioned, the community has put together different teams to lead the implementation process. These include a leadership committee, a savings group and an Informal Settlement Upgrading Team (ISUT). This team is led by 8 women and includes a Community Liaison Officer, a storekeeper and a project manager who spearhead the construction process. After an exchange to a savings scheme linked to the Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP), the community set up their own savings group in July 2014 so as to manage finances to maintain and operate Siphumelele WaSH facility.

Building a voice of the urban poor in Langrug

The foundations for both WaSH facilities were laid when Stellenbosch Municipality signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the community and ISN / CORC in 2011. Since this date Langrug’s community leaders have been developing a formal relationship with the Municipality and are making a strong case for how urban poor communities successfully organise themselves to lead their own upgrading processes, and how co-design and co-planning is a step towards a more tangible ‘inclusive city’.

(Photographs: Stephen Lamb, TEL)

Phase 1 of construction

The construction team

Aug 21

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The Dept. of Human Settlements honours Patrick Hunsley & pledges R10 million to FEDUP

By Yolande Hendler CORC, FEDUP, ISN, SDI, uTshani Fund No Comments

Patrick Magebhula Hunsley, founding member and stalwart of the South African Alliance and Shack Dwellers International (SDI), was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements on behalf of the Department of Human Settlements on Thursday 14 August 2014 at the annual Govan Mbeki Human Settlements Awards ceremony held in Johannesburg.

Patrick Magebhula Hunsley

Patrick’s son, Charles Hunsley, receives the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of his father from Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu

This prestigious award ceremony (established in 2006) aims “to promote and inculcate a culture of excellence within the human settlement sector in the delivery of quality human settlements and dignity to South Africans” (Reference). The awards acknowledge excellent achievements on a Provincial and National level, in order to showcase and demonstrate the work done by the department at both tiers and to promote best practices in meeting the delivery mandate of the Presidency’s Outcome 8, which is aligned with the vision of building sustainable human settlements and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

This year, however, the minister included an additional category of awards – the Lifetime Achievement Award – that was given to only two people in honour of excellent and noteworthy contributions. When attending Patrick’s funeral in Durban on 16 August at the KwaMashu Christian Centre in Durban, the minister shared

“For the first time this year, we honoured people with outstanding qualities and recognized them as life time achievers in this area. Of all the people who have been active in this field we chose two people. The first was Joe Slovo, the first minister of housing and the second was Patrick Magebhula”.

Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements and Rose Molokoane, National Coordinator of FEDUP at Patrick Hunsley’s funeral on 16 August 2014.

Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements pledges R10 000 000 to the Federation of the Urban Poor at Patrick's funeral

Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of Human Settlements speaks at Patrick’s funeral

The Federation of the Urban Poor (FEDUP) has had a long-standing relationship with government. In the lead up to the 1994 elections, the federation of women’s savings collectives lobbied for an alternative approach to housing that focused on people-centred and controlled development – this model was appropriated by government in 1998 in the form of the People’s Housing Process (PHP). Read more here. Patrick was instrumental in these processes, negotiating with government and ‘un-blocking’ strategic regions in the country. In 2006 FEDUP secured a long term ‘subsidy pledge’ with the department of human settlements which was signed by FEDUP, uTshani Fund and then national minister of housing, Lindiwe Sisulu for 1000 housing subsidies per province in South Africa. In 2010 Patrick served as special advisor to then minister of human settlements, Tokyo Sexwale, on human settlements policy and practice. In 2011 Patrick was asked to serve on a Ministerial Task Team on Water and Sanitation, headed by Ms. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, tasked with addressing the issues of open-air, incomplete and dilapidated toilets in poor communities across South Africa.

Having worked together closely with Patrick, current Minister of Human Settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu, recognised him at the award ceremony as

“an outstanding, humble man who helped us shape our policies and understand how people who live in slum conditions are not victims, that they have the power, together with our support, to take themselves out of their poverty. His name is Patrick Magebhula and he passed away on Monday 4 August 2014. It is a sad loss for us. We will bury him on Saturday with all the dignity that he deserves. Today we honour him as an internationally recognised champion and pioneer of the empowerment of the poor and acknowledge his outstanding contribution. We and his broader family of the Federation of the Urban Poor and SDI will have to double our collective effort to further his work to ensure that his life passion was not in vain.” (Reference)

At Patrick’s funeral, which was attended by family, hundreds of fellow activists, friends and comrades the minister remembered how she and Patrick had first met in Barcelona (Cape Town) when she was a new minister together with FEDUP and Rose. As she got up to speak at one of the occasions she explained that Patrick had humorously asked her to explain who she was, who had sent her, who she was representing and what her promise would be to the Federation. After the minister had shared this anecdote, she pledged R 10 000 000 in housing subsidies to FEDUP. Kwa Mashu’s church – packed to the brim – erupted in song, cheers and ululations.

“My only regret is that Patrick is not here today to hear me but I want him to know that the promise I made to him, today, I kept in his honour. The federation will not be in want while I am around, the federation will not want for anything while the DG, the deputy minister and the department is there. The partnership we have will live in honour of this man whose humility is amazing. As the Department of Human Settlements we count ourselves as the broader family of Patrick.”

She also honoured the work of Shack Dwellers International (SDI) and its nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, which South Africa has decided to second.

“We as South Africa have pledged to second SDI’s nomination and lobby all African countries who are part of us to second the nomination so that we can celebrate with Patrick should we win the peace prize”.

The Minister then led the gathering in the song: “Lihambile iQhawe”, a famous freedom song that was also sung as Mandela was buried in December last year. The refrain goes: “Lihambile iQhawe lamaQhawa” – The Bravest of the Brave has departed.

Jul 18

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Durban and Port Elizabeth Leaders on Sanitation Exchange

By Yolande Hendler CORC, iKhayalami, ISN, SDI No Comments

By Stefanie Holzwarth and Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

Over the past years, the communities of Midrand in Port Elizabeth and Havelock in Durban have been upgrading their settlements, step by step. Last week’s exchange (8-11 July 2014) – in which community leaders visited Cape Town settlements – formed the next step in activating solutions to their specific needs for water and sanitation upgrading.

Site visit in Kuku Town

Midrand and Havelock

Midrand is located on municipal land but is not yet listed on the municipality’s database and therefore experiences great difficulty in accessing services. The community consistently experiences severe flooding. Havelock, on the other hand, is built on privately owned land and has been earmarked for “interim services” by eThekwini Municipality, indicating a willingness to deliver basic services in the short term and habitation in the long term. It is built against a hill with high shack densities that have led to shack fires, flooding and torrents of water flushes in the rainy seasons. Read more background on Havelock and Midrand.

The exchange

During the four-day exchange about ten community leaders visited five settlements in and around Cape Town. The exchange was linked to the SHARE Program (Sanitation and Hygiene Applied Research for Equity) linked to Shack Dwellers International (SDI). Read more about SHARE here. It was facilitated by the Informal Settlement Network (ISN), Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) and iKhayalami. It centrally focussed on how communities can use sanitation as a tool for upgrading and mobilisation, particularly in response to ever present and severe flooding.

Midrand community leaders, for example, spent time investigating the most suitable and relevant options for sanitation upgrading in their settlement:

Communal toilets and wash facility at the edge of the settlement (ablution blocks) without re-blocking
Sanitation and wash facility in the centre of the settlement with partial re-blocking
Individual sanitation facilities in courtyard (one-on-one sanitation) with settlement wide re-blocking

These would all require engagement with local government institutions.

Havelock’s central challenge is drainage. The settlement has already engaged with local government about constructing a sanitation unit as well as providing more sanitation units in the centre of the settlement. This would coincide with the communities’ already existing plans to re-block its settlement. Midrand and Havelock’s leaders therefore visited upgrading sites that provided an example of different options available to them.

Example of sanitation in a community-run Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) facility

One-on-One Sanitation in Kuku Town

The visitors spent the first day in Kuku Town where the community recently completed re-blocking with individual sanitation per upgraded structure. They were particularly interested in how Kuku Town managed to re-block without having to relocate people to other areas. Other questions focused on why the community chose individual toilets. Kuku Town’s leaders explained that

“single toilets are manageable because the owner is responsible for their own toilet and because there are no conflicts within the community with regards to hygiene.”

The leaders also reflected on Kuku Town’s successes and challenges throughout planning and implementation. The visitors learned how Kuku Town approached the municipality for support in terms of infrastructure services. Both Midrand and Havelock were impressed by the Council´s successful involvement in providing water and sanitation.

Sanitation and water services per upgraded structure in Kuku Town

Sanitation facility in Langrug, Stellenbosch & BM Section, Khayelitsha

In Langrug, Franschoek. the visitors saw an example of upgrading that included relocating 16 families, the construction of a second access road and grey-water and drainage channels, and a community designed, multi-purpose Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Facility. The visit offered insight into the WaSH facility, the drainage project and the local playground. The subsequent discussion facilitated an exciting learning environment with questions about the maintenance of the WaSH facility and funding. They also discovered the opportunity of hot water provision via solar heating systems in summer. The afternoon centred on projects in BM section, Khayelitsha. Its similarity (due to an uneven slope) to Havelock made it an ideal site for the exchange and delivered an essential input for its visitors.

Interior view of Langrug’s WaSH facility

Courtyard in BM section

Shared Sanitation in Mtshini Wam & ongoing re-blocking in Flamingo

The visit to Mshini Wam provided valuable lessons for the visitors – particularly in the field of funding and engaging the local authority. The visitors took special interest in understanding how Mtshini Wam managed to convince some residents to share toilets on a cluster basis while others had single toilets. The challenges relating to communal toilets were thoroughly discussed.

“The main idea was to have single toilets but due to the number of shacks and the limited space, the plan was diverted in order to accommodate communal toilets. The maintenance and cleaning of the toilets depends on the cluster groups.”

The visitors concluded their site visits in Flamingo Crescent, an ongoing re-blocking project. During a walkabout the visitors observed how shacks were broken down, how ground works were installed and how the new structures were erected.

Site visit in Flamingo during re-blocking

Midrand community discusses the way forward

On the last day, Midrand leaders and iKhayalami discussed the sanitation options available to the community and the future steps each would imply. Community leaders agreed that re-blocking with one-on-one services would be the most realistic and feasible option.

“The ablution block won´t work for us because there is lots of friction. No one wants to wait for a long time when using the facility. Community blocks won´t work because some of the people are not responsible. They leave it without taking care.” (Community Leader, Midrand)

Midrand’s leaders agreed to start saving to upgrade their structures instead of solely blocking out. They hoped to convince the municipality to come on board. Re-blocking would be conducted in phases – identifying clusters for incremental re-blocking.

One major challenge in Midrand is the lack of space. Part of the settlement land is still in private hands – which causes major tenure insecurity. Together with iKhayalami the leaders discussed various solutions. While the community leaders resolved their questions, the next step is to share these with the rest of their communities when they return.

The exchange not only offered a learning space but also enabled leaders to grow their ability in community-driven upgrading,

“I have learned a lot by being a community leader and by being part of this exchange. It has built up my confidence and my professional experience. I was a very shy person before – now I can stand up and work for our development goals.” (Midrand community leader)

Andy Bolnick (iKhayalami) discusses sanitation options with Midrand community leaders

Jun 11

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Upgrading Flamingo Informal Settlement

By Yolande Hendler CORC, ISN, News No Comments

By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

Tucked between Lansdowne’s industrial warehouses and timber depots lies Flamingo Crescent, an informal settlement situated on a street by the same name. On a walkabout through its smoke and dust-filled pathways, community leaders would tell you that Flamingo is home to about 450 people who reside in 104 structures. The entire settlement makes use of only 2 taps and 14 chemical toilets that are emptied three times a week. You would come across contained fires in tin-drums – because the absence of electricity means that fire is a central source for cooking and warmth. Most structures – consisting of old cardboard, zinc, timber and plastic pieces – are roughly situated around a broad u-shaped pathway that is intersected by smaller, narrow footpaths.

This picture is about to change as Flamingo community goes about upgrading its settlement. Since its first engagement with the Informal Settlement Network (ISN) in 2012, the community has been preparing for re-blocking and – in partnership with the City of Cape Town – is set to receive one-on-one water, sanitation and electricity services.

Aerial view of Flamingo

Fire is used for warmth and cooking

Mobilising the community

The community steering committee recounts how the first people arrived in Flamingo in 1992. Many had previously resided around the M5 motorway in Cape Town. Others had been living under Lansdowne Bridge. During the first meetings with the community, ISN introduced the ideas of informal settlement upgrading and re-blocking. It explained how communities could drive their own development processes through making savings contributions, joint planning and implementation. ISN representative, Terence Johnson, emphasises the importance of the community-led process, particularly in Flamingo, where “people had given up hope”.

“When we met with ISN it was the first time we got a partner to help us change our circumstances. After we linked up with ISN and CORC the community decided to elect a new steering committee so we could get better organised and get a better life for ourselves”

(Mark Solomons and Chirne Arnold, Steering Committee Members)

General community meeting in Flamingo

Savings, Exchanges

During a general community meeting the steering committee shared the ideas of upgrading and re-blocking with the community and explained that every community member needed to make a 20% contribution to their own re-blocked and upgraded structure. The community’s response was initially skeptical because they had expected to receive government-subsidized housing.

“But through going on exchanges the community slowly changed its mind. We saw examples of a re-blocked settlement with upgraded zinc aluminum structures in Sheffield Road and Mtshini Wam as well as the one-on-one services for every upgraded structure in Kuku Town”

(Chirne Arnold, Flamingo Steering Committee Member)

The community began saving in 2012 and to date has saved about R42 000. Each payment was made to the treasurer of the steering committee who recorded each transaction in the community savings book and counter signed the community member’s personal savings book. As the majority of Flamingo’s population is old and unemployed (50%) the collection of daily savings proved to be a challenge. Nevertheless,

“Some community members like Ouma Sarie have almost managed to save the entire amount. She started with one packet of cigarettes and sold each cigarette one by one. She has saved R860 to date and only has another R200 to go.”

(Elizabeth Rantoetse, Flamingo Steering Committee)

Other community members saved some money through working. Those that were not able to save anything are set to receive short-term employment during the construction process through the City’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

Flamingo Steering Committee and ISN Representatives. From front left to right: Melanie Manuel (ISN), Elizabeth Rantoetse, Jasmine Louw, Lenrika de Koker, Chirne Arnold, Terence Johnson (ISN), Mark Solomons

Community documented savings

Enumeration, Planning and Partnership

Flamingo’s enumeration took place in April 2012. Over a period of one week, community members, supported by the Alliance, gathered social and demographic data about their settlement. This enabled the community to gather information about Flamingo’s population, the number of structures and the exact extent of water and sanitation amenities. The enumeration also gathered details on the extent and spread of employment as well as the reasons for moving to Flamingo. During a planning studio with students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and CORC technical staff in 2013 the community surveyed the site, designed its re-blocked layout and verified its enumeration results. Later that year the community was joined by students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (USA) who assisted in conceptualising plans for a crèche and a play park.

Flamingo is one of several pilot projects supported by the City as part of a broader commitment the City made in 2012 to support the upgrading of 22 partnership projects. For more background click here. Following the 2012 agreement, the City, Alliance and Flamingo community met in a number of partnership meetings. The enumeration acted as a powerful entry point to negotiating an improved layout and one-on-one service provision. So far, the main sewer lines have been laid and two clusters of structures have been cleared and are ready to be re-blocked. As implementation continues, Flamingo community continues on-site meetings with City officials to discuss details and project developments.

Auntie Marie, Flamingo community leader, reflects on the road thus far:

“If it wasn’t for ISN, I don’t know where we would be. Through ISN we were introduced to the City and we got a partnership. We started thinking, ‘Now something is going to happen’. Flamingo is going to be re-blocked!”

CORC will continue to document project developments in future posts.

City of Cape Town site meeting with steering committee

Ground markings for laying pipes

Earth works begin

First clusters are cleared. Preparation for paving central pathways.

First upgraded structure

Auntie Marie (Flamingo Community Leader) and Nkokheli Ncambele (ISN Regional Leader)

May 15

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National Community Exchange – Durban to Cape Town (Part 2)

By Yolande Hendler CORC, iKhayalami, ISN No Comments

By Yolande Hendler (on behalf of CORC)

A four-day community exchange was underway from 29 April to 2 May 2014, during which community leaders from Durban visited informal settlements in and around Cape Town. This blog continues to trace the experiences and reflections collected on the exchange, the first two days of which have been recorded here.

Day 3 in Langrug informal settlement – Sanitation, Drainage and ‘Greening’

View of Langrug informal settlement, Franschoek

Located in the affluent wine-farming area of Franschoek, Langrug informal settlement, home to about 4500 people, is characterised by extreme poverty, poor housing and sanitation. In the face of these challenges the community signed a precedent-setting Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the locally presiding Stellenbosch Municipality that channelled government funds to community-based upgrading initiatives. This translated into relocating 16 families, the construction of a second access road, the construction of grey-water and drainage channels and a community designed, multi-purpose Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) Facility. The facility includes a communal homework area for children, a hair salon, benches and laundry basins. Click here for a comprehensive profile of Langrug. Currently, Langrug is involved in the second phase of upgrading: ‘greening’ the existing WaSH facility with vertical vegetable gardens and developing a dry sanitation facility in Zwelitsha, an ‘informal’ section of Langrug without taps and toilets.

Existing WaSH Facility after ‘greening’

KZN visitors taste Langrug’s spinach

The exchange visitors were introduced to all these aspects on a detailed walk-about. Langrug community member, Alfred Ratana, indicated the differences in depth and purpose of the drainage and grey water channels and explained the processes accompanying relocation. He emphasised the uniqueness of Langrug in that it was a municipality-driven project which was not community financed.

“Langrug shows that municipalities can have a different approach to communities. Our experience shows that municipalities can include us in their plans and construct with us – not for us”

(Alfred Ratana, Langrug community member)

Langrug community member, Alfred Ratana, speaks about Langrug’s grey water drainage

Viewing a community-constructed drainage channel

Langrug community members also explained the breakthrough presented by Zwelitsha’s dry sanitation facility: due to its location on a steep mountain slope it has been impossible to provide water and sanitation services to around 600 families. The dry sanitation facility, however, is a step towards changing this. The vertical vegetable gardens in Langrug’s existing WaSH facility (developed in partnership with Touching the Earth Lightly) showed the visitors how the community secures food and generates income. By selling the spinach it grows, the community intends to generate income to sustain daily running costs of the facility.

The visitors were also impressed by a crèche facility that had been established between external partners and mothers in Langrug who wanted to provide an alternative, more affordable option for their children. The teachers of the crèche explained that,

“getting something started is not about presenting an idea to social services. You just need to start. Once the idea is happening, you can take the outcome to social services and get it registered”.

Once back at the WaSH facility Langrug’s steering committee shared details around the developments in their settlement. The group was also joined by Diana Mitlin and visiting colleagues from Manchester University. Read about their impressions here.

Sharing impressions after the walkabout

Langrug’s steering committee explains the steps it took in the upgrading process

Day 4 in Mtshini Wam – Reflections on how to continue

The final visit to Mtshini Wam showed the visitors what a large-scale re-blocking project could look like. During upgrading, the settlement also received one on one services, some in-structure toilets and public water points. More details on Mtshini Wam’s re-blocking are documented here.

Over four days the group had seen much, listened intently, exchanged questions and pondered how to take these impressions back home. Some key points:

Visiting Langrug presented a highlight for the visitors from Durban as the topography and accompanying challenges (steep inclines, drainage and flooding) are similar to the conditions in their own settlements.
Langrug’s drainage and sanitation facilities therefore presented relevant options for the Durban visitors
The visitors were inspired by the initiative and commitment they encountered in their fellow community leaders, something they wanted to take back in responding to circumstances in their own settlements
The exchange highlighted the importance of partnerships and the ever-present opportunity to form partnerships as a foundation for wielding large scale change

A street view of Mtshini Wam after re-blocking

KZN leaders in conversation about securing service provision

Durban’s Kenville and Foreman Road settlements will share their experiences of the exchange in mass meetings with their communities this weekend (16-18 May). Their next steps are to enumerate their settlements and establish a relationship with their councillors.

As the visitors embarked on the journey home, ISN community leader, Nkokheli Ncambele, reminded them that

“it is important not to impose everything you have seen on this exchange on your communities at home. Rather take what you have learnt and present it to the community as a suggestion. Then you can decide together what you want and how to make it work in your own settlement”

Exchanges certainly are the most important learning vehicle in the South African Alliance. They facilitate the direct exchange of information, experience and skills, thereby building a horizontal platform for learning between urban poor communities. Through sharing successes and failures in projects, giving and receiving advice on engaging government, sharing in work and life experiences and exchanging tactics and plans communities become central actors.

May 13

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SDI President Jockin Arputham in Cape Town

By Yolande Hendler FEDUP, ISN, News, SDI No Comments

Jockin Arputham, president of Shack / Slum Dwellers International (SDI) received a warm welcome from the South African Alliance in Cape Town yesterday on the last of his four-day visit. As a long-standing, much-valued friend of the Alliance he spent the day with community leaders in Khayelitsha and with representatives of the City of Cape Town and Western Cape Province. Jockin spoke about the power of savings and the Indian Alliance’s partnership with the Municipality of Greater Mumbai. In this context, Jockin was accompanied by Rajiv Jalota, the Additional Municipal Commissioner for Projects in Greater Mumbai Municipality.

SDI President Jockin Arputham (Right) & Rajiv Jalota (Additional Municipal Commissioner for Greater Mumbai Municipality)

The Informal Settlement Network (ISN) has mobilised and profiled several settlements in Khayelitsha that are set to proceed on water, sanitation, drainage, re-blocking and community facility projects. Jockin’s visit linked Khayelitsha’s community leaders – many of whom are fairly new to ISN and SDI processes – to the broader context of the South African Alliance and SDI as a global network.

Community leaders welcome Jockin

An official word of welcome by Tamara Hela, Community Leader from UT Gardens Khayelitsha

National coordinators of the South African Alliance’s two social movements, Patrick Maghebhula (ISN) and Rose Molokoane (FEDUP) welcomed Jockin by speaking about the Alliance’s history with the Indian Alliance. They referred to the South African slogan – Amandla Imali Nolwazi: Power is Money and Knowledge – and its roots in the relationship with India.

“This slogan started influencing me after we went to India (in 1991). We shared ideas around democracy with the Indians. We saw that after 40 years of democracy millions of people in India were extremely poor. We realized that if you sit around and wait for democracy it will come…but it will come with its own laws that might not cater for you. We need to do something to translate these laws to our own life. And so we learnt the experience of self-reliance from the Indians. We need to drive our own lives – and we do that with savings. This is how relationships with government were formed in India. Our savings and our information give us power to influence laws. We know, that yes, we may be poor, but we are not hopeless“

(Rose Molokoane, National FEDUP co-ordinator)

Rose Molokoane (National FEDUP co-ordinator)

In the keynote address, Jockin emphasised that

“Savings are a life line. We talk about savings the whole time because money is what speaks. But when you collect money – door to door – you also collect information. When you have information you can plan action and if you act, something will happen. This is why money and information guarantee us power. We need to think about how to support ourselves”

As 40 – 50 % of Mumbai’s population – 19 million people – lives in slums, many millions do not have access to toilets. In fact, the ratio translates to about 1 toilet for every 800 people. The NSDF has therefore been working together with Mr Jalota and the Municipality to construct community planned and -owned toilet facilities. This experience, Mr Jalota explained, would help to develop more policies for Greater Mumbai.

Jockin founded the National Slum Dwellers Federation of India (NSDF) in the 1970s. Often referred to as the “grandfather” of the global slum dwellers movement, Jockin was educated by the slums, living on the streets for much of his childhood with no formal education. For more than 30 years, Jockin has worked in slums and shantytowns throughout India and around the world. After working as a carpenter in Mumbai, he became involved in organising the community where he lived and worked (Reference). He helped found SDI and has been awarded many prestigious global awards, most recently the Skoll Foundation award for social entrepreneurship. On behalf of SDI Jockin has also been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Jockin Arputham, SDI President

Government - Community Partnerships Archives - Page 5 of 6 - SASDI Alliance

SA and Zim Federations reach out to Botswana

Minister Sisulu speaks about Partnership with SA Alliance

Reflections on the Southern African HUB Meeting: Lusaka, Zambia

Co-producing Ideas: Denver community and University of Johannesburg Studio

Building the Siphumelele WaSH facility / Innovation Centre in Langrug, Stellenbosch

The Dept. of Human Settlements honours Patrick Hunsley & pledges R10 million to FEDUP

Durban and Port Elizabeth Leaders on Sanitation Exchange

Upgrading Flamingo Informal Settlement

National Community Exchange – Durban to Cape Town (Part 2)

SDI President Jockin Arputham in Cape Town

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